You’ve decided to bring a dog into your life – Good for you! However, remember when choosing a dog you choose one that matches your personality. Just as humans come in a wide variety of personalities and activities, so do dogs. You want to make sure that you’re not going to clash with your dog, or this can lead to a very frustrating relationship rather than the rewarding relationship it should be. It can definitely lead to problems.
For example, let’s say you are thinking about getting a border collie. However, you aren’t very active preferring to spend your time on the couch. Before long, you are going to run into personality and activity clashes. Then again, perhaps you are a very active individual. In this case, a border collie could be an excellent choice.
If you are quiet spoken person and not very dominant you should avoid dogs that are dominant in nature such as German Shepherds, Rottweilers, or Chinese Shar Peis, because you will not have a strong enough personality to be a strong pack leader, which is very important to the more dominant breeds.
How to Find the Right Dog Breed for You
Let’s look at how you get best match for you and the best dog breed. Answer these 10 questions and you will have a good idea of what you are looking for in a dog. Then all you have to do is find the breed that matches those qualities.
1. What size dog are you most interested in?
- Tiny – up to 11 pounds
- Small – 12 to 22 pounds
- Medium – 23 to 44 pounds
- Large – 45 to 88 pounds
- Extra large – 89 to 140 pounds
- Not important
2. How energetic do you want your dog to be?
- High energy short bursts
- Active and steady she goes
- A couch potato
- Not important
3. How much time can you devote daily to exercise your dog?
- 30 to 45 minutes
- 20 to 30 minutes
- Little to none
- Not important
4. How many times during the day can you play with your dog?
- Any time all day
- A few times a day
- Once a day
- Not important
5. How affectionate do you want your dog to be?
- By my side all the time
- Love me when I come home but mostly keep to himself
- Not really looking for a companion want more of a roommate
- Not important
6. Do you have other pets?
- Yes and my new dog needs to live with my other animals
- No but I’m going to have my dog around other animals so he must be friendly
- No I’m looking for a guard dog or hunting dog so being friendly isn’t important
- No, it will be just him
7. How trainable does your dog need to be?
- Very trainable so I can teach him basic commands, or even advanced commands, and maybe some tricks
- Fairly trainable so he can learn the basic commands
- Not very trainable because I’m pretty laid back when it comes to commands
- Not important
8. How protective do you want your dog to be?
- Very protective as I need a 24/7 guard dog
- Somewhat protective so he will protect my home
- No protection needed
- Not important
9. How much grooming and maintenance are you willing to provide your dog?
- I can groom my dog every day and take to the groomer if necessary
- I can groom my dog a few times a week and occasionally take to the groomer
- I don’t want to be bothered with grooming if at all possible
- Not important
10. What temperature tolerance must your dog have?
- I live in a warm climate so must be able to tolerate hot weather
- I live in a cold climate so must be able to tolerate cold weather
- I live where its warm in the summer and cold in the winter so must tolerate both
- Not important
When you match your personality with the right dog personality, you will have a match made in heaven, as you will be both right for each other.
