Use of questionnaire-based data to assess dog personality

The study of dog personality is of general academic interest and also has applications for the management of both working dogs and pets. However, acquiring direct behavioral assessments of large numbers of animals is both time consuming and logistically difficult. An alternative approach that is becoming increasingly common is the collection of questionnaire-based information directly from dog owners. In this review, we discuss some commonly used questionnaires for dog personality traits and findings that have been published using these tools. We suggest that the use of such questionnaires may contribute to research that is based on estimation of effects from large sample sizes, for example, genomic analyses of dog personality traits.