There was a fascinating article published on the Psychology Today website that examines the link between anxious dogs and anxious owners. Why Do Anxious Owners Tend To Have Anxious Dogs? highlights 3 key findings from the most current research:
Recent studies have found similarities between the personalities of dog owners and their pets.
The most consistent finding is that neurotic owners tend to have neurotic dogs.
The reasons for this relationship are unclear but several studies suggest the causal arrow points from owner to pet.
Kim Brophey, author of Meet Your Dog: The Game-Changing Guide to Understanding Your Dog’s Behaviour, is an applied behavioural ethologist specialising in dogs with behaviour problems and their owners. When asked if dogs brought to her clinic with anxiety issues tended to have nervous owners, her response was “Yes, indeed. Dogs belonging to high stress/anxiety clients are often higher than average in their stress levels, and exhibit more anxiety or hyper-arousal.”
Carri Westgarth, author of The Happy Dog Owner, when asked whether she had noticed fearful shy dogs had anxious owners responded, "Absolutely!"
The Five-Factor Model of Personality
Over the past 20 years or so, human personality research has been dominated by the Five-Factor Model. This is the theory that individual differences in human personality boils down to five basic factors:
Openness to new experiences
Conscientiousness
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism or “emotional instability”
Over a dozen studies have found a relationship between at least some Big 5 traits in owners and the behaviour of their pets and the most consistent finding focuses on the neuroticism (there are links to the studies in the Psychology Today article if you want to read more).
The important thing to note is that people who score high on neuroticism often experience negative emotions such as fear, guilt, anxiety, and stress and this can be transmitted down the leash to their dog.
The article doesn't suggest a definitive answer, because relationships between humans and their pets are complicated and there are still lots of questions to be answered. the most interesting of which is "What comes first, the nervous dog or the nervous owner?”
One possibility suggested is the "like-owner/like-dog" phenomenon. Basically, a neurotic owner projects their anxieties onto their perfectly normal pet, which makes the pet as anxious as its owner.
Another theory is that anxious owners are attracted to nervous and emotionally needy dogs and seek them out as pets. After all, social psychologists have proved time and again that we choose friends and partners with similar personalities, so why not our dogs?
And then there is the possibility that the causal arrow points up the leash from dog to the owner, rather than down the leash from the owner to the dog. Owning an anxious, fearful, aggressive or reactive dog can be very stressful and often the owner ends up feeling even more anxious because they're worried about what their dog might do next.
The article's author, Abigail Fagan, concludes the most plausible explanation is that neurotic owners—at least partly—help create anxious dogs. She writes "Neurotic owners, for example, might be poor dog trainers. Indeed, the canine behaviour researcher James Serpell wrote, “I have previously speculated that neurotic owners might be like overprotective helicopter parents who don’t socialise their dogs properly, thereby making them more anxious in unfamiliar situations.”
This makes sense and confirms what we see this all the time at our Chihuahua playgroup. We get dogs who come in with nervous owners, and they are often thay way for excellent reasons. Their dog might have been attacked by a larger dog on a walk or at a dog park, come from a breeder who didn't socialise their puppies, been a rescue with a history of abuse, or had some other reason to be wary. These dogs can find it very stressful to mix with the other dogs at first.
Because our playgroup is indoors, however, completely safe and filled with Chihuahuas and Chihuahua-loving owners, there is nothing to fear. The whole ambience of the playgroup is calm and loving, and as a rule, the people tend to be stationery (what we really mean is we stand around chatting), while the dogs can roam freely, so they can approach people on their terms. Owners aren't stressed or worried about their dogs being grabbed by larger dogs, or being judged by other dog owners, (Haven't we all heard some snide remark from a big dog owner about Chihuahuas being rats), because everyone at playgroup loves and understands Chihuahuas. Within a few weeks, these dogs have settled right in and play with their little friends as if they have not a worry in the world.
We've seen this in the show ring too. An anxious handler transmits their own anxiety to their dog instead of inspiring the dog with confidence so they'll show their best. A handler worried what their dog might do when the judge approaches can easily transmit that worry to their dog and the poor thing starts thinking "Mum is worried... I can feel it... Why is mum worried?... Maybe I should be worried too... OMG! A Judge!..."
The bottom line, I guess, is to remember that your Chihuahua trusts you and relies on you to know when there is something to be fearful about. If you're anxious by nature, do both of you a favour and seek safe places to socialise your dog (like our small dog playgroup), where anxiety is lessened and your dog can be free to play because they don't have to be on alert, wondering what you're worried about.
If you live in the Christchurch area, the Dominion Chihuahua Club's safe and friendly weekly small dog playgroup can be found at Kuri, 473 St Asaph Street, Phillipstown every Saturday morning from 10:00 - 11:30.
References
Pereira, M., Lourenco, A., Lima, M., Serpell, J., & Silva, K. (2021). Evaluation of mediating and moderating effects on the relationship between owners’ and dogs’ anxiety: a tool to understand a complex problem. Journal of Veterinary Behavior.
Dodman, N. H., Brown, D. C., & Serpell, J. A. (2018). Associations between owner personality and psychological status and the prevalence of canine behavior problems. PLoS One, 13(2), e0192846.
Gobbo, E., & Zupan, M. (2020). Dogs’ sociability, owners’ neuroticism and attachment style to pets as predictors of dog aggression. Animals, 10(2), 315.
Turcsán, B., Range, F., Virányi, Z., Miklósi, Á., & Kubinyi, E. (2012). Birds of a feather flock together? Perceived personality matching in owner–dog dyads. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 140(3-4), 154-160.
Westgarth, C., Brooke, M., & Christley, R. M. (2018). How many people have been bitten by dogs? A cross-sectional survey of prevalence, incidence and factors associated with dog bites in a UK community. J Epidemiol Community Health, 72(4), 331-336.
Chopik, W. J., & Weaver, J. R. (2019). Old dog, new tricks: Age differences in dog personality traits, associations with human personality traits, and links to important outcomes. Journal of Research in Personality, 79, 94-108.
Podberscek, A. L., & Serpell, J. A. (1997). Aggressive behaviour in English cocker spaniels and the personality of their owners. Veterinary Record, 141(3), 73-76.
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