English Shepherd Personality
Dog Personality Survey
In 2015, 430 English Shepherd owners provided data for a study of personality traits in English Shepherds. Data were gathered using the “Dog Personality Questionnaire,” a survey tool which was developed & validated by Sam Gosling and Amanda Jones at University of Texas.
Summary of Results:
English Shepherds scored on the low side for fearfulness and aggression towards people and on the high side for engagement, companionability and responsiveness to training. Spay/neutered dogs scored higher for fearfulness (preliminary analysis appears to be statistically significant), aggression towards people, and playfulness & excitablilty.
Sample characteristics:
Sample size – All dogs, N = 430
Where was dog acquired?
- Breeder = 83%
- Shelter or Rescue = 13%
- Other = 4%
Gender: Male = 50%, Female = 50%
How old is your dog?
- < 6 mos = 4%
- 6 – 18 mos = 16%
- > 18 mos = 80%
For subgroup analyses, sample was restricted to dogs > 18 mos of age and acquired from breeder. Both spay/neuter & intact groups were evenly split between males & females.
- Intact adults, N = 114
- Spay/neutered adults, N = 149
Scale for interpreting results runs from 1 = 7, the higher the score the stronger the attribute
