How consistent is a dog’s personality as it grows older?

Details

The researchers combined findings from studies that assessed dogs at different times. They examined whether individual differences in behavior persisted—not whether every dog’s behavior stayed unchanged.

The results supported substantial consistency overall, but age and assessment conditions mattered. Older dogs showed greater consistency, as did dogs assessed over shorter intervals or with exactly the same assessment tool each time. These findings describe patterns across studies, not evidence that changing an assessment schedule changes a dog’s personality.

Among puppies, aggression and submissiveness were the most consistent traits. Responsiveness to training, fearfulness, and sociability were the least consistent. Among adult dogs, no differences in consistency were found between personality traits.

The analysis found no difference in consistency between dogs assessed as puppies and later as adults and dogs assessed as puppies and again while still puppies. That does not establish that these assessment schedules are equivalent or make puppy tests a certain forecast of adult behavior. No differences in consistency were found between working and non-working dogs, between recording behavior in categories and assigning behavioral ratings, or between combined measures and single measures.