Temperament comparison of shelter dogs and pet dogs

Definicija temperamenta, posuđena iz ljudske psihologije, je kako jedinka reagira na nove i izazovne situacije. Niz povezanih ponašanja se smatra značajkom temperamenta kada je stabilna kroz vrijeme i situacije, i kada su njene varijacije manje unutar jedinki nego između jedinki. Poznavanje psećeg temperamenta može biti korisno u mnogim situacijama poput odabira pasa za specifične zadatke, u profiliranju pasa iz azila da ih se bolje spoji s potencijalnim vlasnicima i u prevenciji problema u ponašanju. Cilj istraživanja je bio pomoću testa usporediti temperament pasa koji žive u različitim ekološkim uvjetima – azil i obitelj. Također, cilj je bio i usporediti pse koji su prošli barem nekakav trening nasuprot onih koji ga nisu prošli. Život u različitim ekološkom uvjetima ima veliki utjecaj na temperament pasa. Psi iz azila su postigli niži rezultat od ljubimaca u četiri od pet testiranih kategorija. Trenirani psi su postigli viši rezultat u tri kategorije naspram netreniranih pasa.Temperament definition, borrowed from human psychology, is how an individual reacts to novel or challenging situations. A set of related behaviors is considered to be a temperament trait when it is stable across time and situations, and when its variations are lower within individuals than between individuals. The knowledge of dogs’ temperament can be useful in several situations such as in the selection of dogs for specific tasks, in the profiling of shelter dogs to obtain a good match with potential owners and in the prevention of behavioral problems. The goal of this research was to compare temperament of dogs which live in different environment – shelter and family. Also, another goal was to compare dogs which had training with those which didn’t. Life in different ecological conditions has an important effect on dog temperament. Shelter dogs achieved lower score than pets in four of five tested categories. Trained dogs achieved higher score than untrained dogs in three categories