gone to the dogs

This week, The Economist beats its way around the Bush (who says "Merci, y’all," by the way) just enough to get to the essential question of whether or not dogs have personalities in the same way that humans do.

Human personalities, according to the article, can be measured in the following five dimensions:
- openness to experience
- conscientiousness
- extraversion
- agreeableness
- natural reactions (how calm or sensitive to stress someone is)

A related analysis concluded that there are four principle dimensions to a dog personality. They are:
- sociability
- affection
- emotional stability
- competence (a mixture of intelligence and obedience)

So, if you haven’t read the article (it’s not online), what would you conclude? Are dogs people after all? (or vice versa?)

Thanks go to Chad for permission to use his cute doggie photo from the Westminster Dog Show in NYC. Even cuter is the name he gave it, "peek a knees." This guy has got a good eye, a penetrating wit, and a Mid-Western sensibility set in quiet but palpable contrast to his current NY address.