Match Maker . . . Match Maker
There are one million dogs in the US who have been named as beneficiaries in their owners wills. What does this observation suggest? Since Americans don’t typically bequeath their hard earned fortunes to any but family members, perhaps it means that often we REALLY treat our dogs as family. Since they obviously weren’t born to us, perhaps it resembles a good marriage.
Contrast this love-filled fact with the less sanguine observation that nearly half of all puppy adoptions never make it through their first year. What makes the difference?
Coren’s contention is that when the puppy’s personality is compatible with that of their human “parents” the relationship works; when incompatible, the odds of early divorce is much higher.
So how can we improve the odds? Coren’s answer is the same one that has made dating services successful. Both of you take a personality test and will do the matching for you. Many believe dating services work, I have no opinion, but Coren’s approach assumes that it will work when applied to owners and dogs. So, how does it work?
It’s as elegant as it is simple. Coren has already done all the hard work. He’s conducted a large scale study of dog personalities organized by AKC breed types with an eye toward matching them with the results of commonly-used human personality tests. Then to complete the job he provides a brief and simple personality test that you can take and score in about fifteen minutes.
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So, with your personality type in your left hand and the dog type listing in your right hand, lay one over the other, so to speak, identify the groupings that are most compatible with your personality profile, and start calling vets and breeders. Okay, there’s a little more to the matching process than this, but really, not much more.
If this was all there was to the book, I’d have been glad to read it. I’ve had a long term interest in dog testing in general and dog personality testing in particular. But there’s much more. To help convince us that the approach works, I lost count at some point but there are literally dozens and dozens of vignettes about the famous and not-so famous people and their dogs. In each case we are treated to an often thoroughly researched personality analysis which he then compares to the dog personality type and ties it all together with an assessment of whether the match was made in heaven or somewhere else.
Actors, actresses, historical figures, presidents – lots of presidents - poets, authors, and on and on. Not to the point of boredom, mind you. Never that. In fact, while reading the final vignette, I seriously hoped for an epilog with at least one more of these little stories. I got hooked.
“Why We Love the Dogs We Do” is a good read, a very good read. It’s worth a read… read it.
EPILOG
Both my wife and I took the personality test and were surprised to learn that Newfies, which we have long had and loved were not on our recommended list. The matchmaking test was spot on for typifying the personality of our breed but, we believe, missed the target on capturing who are.
Bob and Hannah, January 2006.
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