The ideal of personality

                Personalities are the basis of a person. A person has a certain set of inner qualities or tendencies that they are judged on, thus creating the perception of a personality. The question of whether a dog can have a personality deeply resides on what type of relationship the individual and that particular dog pertain. Dogs can have personalities, just like people, because dogs share a level of emotional and physical compassion for certain people, whether that be their owner or a child, dogs too can share the same level of connection to people that we share as humans. By providing tendencies, or even qualities, they too can have personalities. Actions speak louder than words, literally.

              The ideal of physical compassion.  Some might argue that it’s hard for a dog to show physical compassion, yet it might be invisible to the naked eye, by that I mean that it just isn’t noticed till you spend some time thinking about it. For most, the most logical name for a dog’s physical actions can be marked by the word “behaviors”. On Dogster.com there is a test, in this test you are finding out what type of dog breed you are based on your personality, then later they say it’s based on your behaviors, which are two conflicting descriptions because they simply aren’t the same. Upon further exploration of the website, I looked up the German Shepard breed specifically, because that’s the breed of my interesting puppy. They continue to talk about the tendencies of the dog, and this time they use the term “trademark traits” which isn’t entirely wrong considering that a “trait” and “quality” are extremely similar. They list “intelligent and eager”, “Strong-willed and fearless”, and lastly, the one most important to the argument “obedient and protective”. Importantly, being protective has its own set of certain sub qualities because in order to be protective, you must have a minimal level of care, one of the key components to defining a personality. You must also have a minimal level of compassion and feeling for that individual. You wouldn’t protect something if you had no feeling, care, or reason too. These so called “behaviors” don’t entail the meaning behind actions, and the compassion. If you have ever noticed, when you are feeling down, or you are upset, a dog might come up to you and bury its head into your chest or arms, and just sit there for however long it takes for you to move. Dogs do this to show that they care for you. Care is a key component to a personality, because it is something that we often mark people as when we describe someone close to us. We envision them as “caring”. When a dog puts forth the physical actions to touch you, or even lick you, it’s because they like you, unless they bite you, that’s just unfortunate.

           The ideal of emotional compassion. Emotional compassion can be a difficult thing to spot from a dog especially sense most of our human emotions are communicated through talking. Yet this is not entirely impossible, emotions are often also communicated through the expressions, and the way dogs act. According to the Florida dog training school, dogs can have up to 6 different personalities. They consist of aggressive, confident, outgoing, adaptable, insecure, and independent. Due to the fact that these can run very closely along the lines of behaviors, they are explained by the Florida dog training school. The one that I would be confident in saying my dog resembles would be the “outgoing” personality.  They say that “A dog with this type of personality is friendly and sociable.” They also say that these dogs have a “flexible temperament”, which in regards to the emotional factor; they are able to exhibit a wide range of different actions that define their personalities. They are able to specify if they are happy or angry, sad or energetic. Dogs are able to show compassion emotionally by being there for you, physically being there with you in the moment, almost like having a shoulder to cry on, except it’s a dog. They can provide emotional support even without words, because they can sense your feelings and read your actions. This can be seen when you are mad, and you throw something, your dog simply cowers into a corner. But if you are happy, and seem inviting, your dog (well at least my dog) will jump up and give you a nice big hug.

 This question of whether a dog can have a personality was thought of after I noticed my own dog’s actions and how they related to my feelings, my actions, and how my dog’s tendencies were repeated, unlike actions or “behaviors”. They seemed like they had meaning, and that’s what sparked this question. Describing my dog became the same, “funny, caring, and outgoing”.  It became clear to me that physical and emotional compassion were essential to the argument after realizing the way I described my dog and others that I hold very closely. Usually describing them as caring, for the reason that care being a key component of personalities. Dogs can have personalities, not just “behaviors”.

 

 

 

Sources:

Florida dog training school

"Dog Personalities - What Kind of Personality Does Your Dog Have?" Tampa Dog Training School. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.

Dogster.com

"German Shepherd Information, Pictures of German Shepherds." Dogster. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.