When your Dog is the EXTROVERT of the family

t is well-known that people can either be introverts or extroverts, according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Even though there are 16 personality types in human psychology total, the basic division comes from these two types.In brief, extroverts are known as outgoing, social, talkative, and bubbly, while introverts enjoy only the company of a few, find small-talk mentally draining, they are more private, quiet, and inward-focused.

The science behind personality types of different animals, including dogs, is rather scarce. This can be attributed to the long-held belief that animals don’t have emotions and thoughts in the same way human psychology is defined. This means that they can’t have personalities either.

The well-known Morgan’s Canon, the Occam’s razor of psychology, stated that we should always look for the simplest explanations when it comes to psychological reasons for any action, ultimately providing an excuse for attributing animals’ actions only to their natural instincts, mainly those for survival and reproduction.

Charles Darwin argued that all humans and animals show emotions in a similar way, in his 1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Unfortunately, this idea was forgotten for a long time, until new research on the matter began in the last couple of decades.

One of the people who jump-started the studies on the psychology of dogs and other animals were Dr. Samuel D. Gosling, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin. His studies led him to believe that animals have unique personalities, which arise from the evolutionary continuity between humans and animals.The work of Marc Berkoff as discussed in his book The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy ― and Why They Matter is probably the most significant and broadest, based on many years of studying social communication in different species. This book helped us realize how rich are emotional lives of animals are and change how we treat them.

Can Dogs Be Introverts or Extroverts?