Can dogs and humans be anxious for the same reasons?

Canine compulsive behavior resembles human obsessive-compulsive disorder, for example, and impulsivity or inattention in dogs can resemble attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in us. The risk of these conditions may even be influenced by the same sets of genes. In fact, a new study based on a survey of dog owners suggests that we are so similar to our canine companions that dogs can, and should, be used to better understand health human mental. “Dogs are probably the closest model to humans you'll ever find,” says Karen Overall, a specialist in animal behavior at the University of Prince Edward Island, who was not involved in the job.

Many psychologists group the human personality into five “factors”: extroversion, neuroticism, openness, kindness and conscientiousness. These traits can be influenced by genetics and can affect a person's mental health, especially neuroticism or the tendency to feel negative emotions such as anguish and sadness. Research has shown that neurotic personalities are more vulnerable to depression or anxiety, while traits such as conscientiousness and sympathy protect against these disorders.

Any dog owner will tell you that our canine friends have different personalities like us humans. Some are bold and others are cautious; some are lazy and others are very active. Milla Salonen, a canine researcher at the University of Helsinki, and other researchers have proposed seven personality factors to group dogs: insecurity, energy, concentration in training, aggressive/dominance, human sociability, canine sociability and perseverance. Some of these factors overlap with those of people, according to Salonen. Insecurity in dogs parallels neuroticism in humans, for example.

Twenty years ago, Overall and other experts began to suggest that the dog be used as a model for human psychiatry. The same types of mental illness do not occur naturally in rodents; researchers have to induce them.

In the new study, Salonen and her colleagues wanted to assess how a dog's personality might affect her behavior and how it compares to what is seen in humans. So they came up with a survey of 63 questions for dog owners that included aspects of an animal's health and history, fears, sensitivity to noise, separation anxiety, impulsivity and inattention, and aggression towards humans or other dogs.

The owners used a sliding scale to rate claims such as “My dog barks when he meets a stranger”, “My dog hides when he hears fireworks” or “My dog seems to 'regret' after he has done something wrong.”

Scientists sent the survey to the households of 11,360 Finnish dogs of 52 breeds, from mastiffs to Jack Russell terriers. They grouped each dog's responses into the seven canine personality traits. They then used a set of equations to assess whether dogs that tended to have the same personality traits also shared common unwanted behaviors.

The team found that in dogs, as in humans, personality correlates closely with behaviors. In particular, puppies with an “insecure” personality were more likely to exhibit all the unwanted behaviors surveyed (such as aversion to strangers or fear of fireworks), report Salonen and her colleagues in Translational Psychiatry.

“This is quite similar to neuroticism and anxiety in humans,” Salonen warns. Other personality traits were also involved. Dogs with a low training focus were more likely to engage in impulsive behaviors, such as restlessness or abandonment of tasks quickly , that resemble the symptoms of attention deficit disorders in humans.

For Emma Grigg, an animal behavior specialist at the University of California, Davis, it can be difficult for dog owners to provide a clear assessment of their pets' problems in survey studies. “The way you ask questions is very important,” and respondents can still misunderstand their dogs' behaviors, even in the most carefully written surveys, she says. “But this is a well-done article with a lot of data.”

Researchers argue that their results could be used to study the genetic basis of psychiatric disorders. “Dogs are very suitable for genetic research, as they are almost genetically identical within breed groups,” says Salonen. Looking at the genes of a certain breed that is known to be more unsafe or less concentrated could reveal genetic factors that underlie anxiety or attention deficit disorders in both dogs and humans.

But scientists recognize that most dog owners only care about keeping their pet happy, healthy and safe. If your dog barks a lot or is afraid of strangers, “that doesn't necessarily mean he has serious problems,” Overall points out. She suggests taking your puppy to a specialist if he is really worried about his behavior.

KEEP READING: