When it comes to people, some folks see the glass as half-empty, while others see the glass as half-full. Apparently, if you believe researcher Mike Mendl at Bristol University in the UK, dogs and their owners have more in common than we thought. Just as people can be optimist or pessimist, dogs can also be optimists or pessimists, according to their base personality.
“We know that people’s emotional states affect their judgments and that happy people are more likely to judge an ambiguous situation positively,” said Professor Mendl, head of animal welfare and behavior at Bristol University. “What our study has shown is that this applies similarly to dogs.”
Dogs were trained that one side of a room had bowls with food, while the other side of the room had empty bowls. When bowls were placed in the neutral portion of the room, more optimistic dogs ran right over to look for something to eat; pessimist pooches approached the food bowl more warily. This behavior breakdown is also applied to dog behavior when owners are gone. Cheerful canines are at peace, while depressed dogs are more likely to display “separation-related behavior” by trashing things and being bad.
Tags: pessimist or optimist dogs, personalities in dogs, is your dog a pessimist, unusual animals, animal psychology, Mike Mendl, Bristol University, dog psychology, separation-related behavior
