AAAS CONFERENCE: Man's Best Friend Is Shown to Share Personality Traits

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SCIENTISTS HAVE confirmed what every dog lover has suspected: pets have personalities. And a psychologist, Sam Gosling, has gone as far as to suggest that dogs and their potential owners should be matched for personality before they start living together.

Dr Gosling, of the University of Texas at Austin, has done research showing that dogs have the same sort of personality traits often used to describe people.

He told the American Association for the Advancement of Science that if owners and dogs could be suitably matched, then it may overcome the problem of many canines being left in dogs' homes because they are deemed to be "unsuitable".

"Dog shelters …