There is this strange phenomenon where people seem to end up with dogs that are like a canine clone of themselves. Research has shown that this happens because people are naturally drawn to choose a dog that is like them psychically, even down to the shape of their eyes.
But this isn't the only thing that they discovered. Not only does your dog probably look like you, but it's personality is probably reflective of yours as well.
A study that was published recently tested the personalities of 132 dog owners and mapped out their "Big Five" personality traits which are agreeableness, neuroticism, extroversion, conscientiousness and openness.
What it found was that those owners who rate higher in neuroticism and were more anxious tended to have dogs who were also anxious. People who were not neurotic had calmer dogs.
"Owners and dogs are social dyads [a group of two], and they influence each other's stress coping," lead author Iris Schoberl explained. They explain that the human in the pair is more likely to be the one passing on their personality traits to the dogs than us becoming more like them.
So next time you are wondering why your dog is acting in a certain way, maybe you should take a look in the mirror!
If you want to check your personality to see how you might be affecting your dog you can take the Big Five Personality Test here for free.