A recent study found that it depends on its owner's personality and how they bond with each other when training a man's best friend.
The study published in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science on Jan. 22 showed that large dogs with aggression problems showed significantly more improvement than smaller counterparts.
Lead author of the study Lauren Powell said that after six months of attending a veterinary behavioral service, the dogs showed a reduction in chasing, separation-related behavior and energy, and increased trainability.
Researchers at PennVet wanted to understand the link between canine training and their owners' characteristics, so they recruited 130 dog-owner and had them attend a six-month veterinary behavioral program.
They first had them fill out a personality assessment questionnaire and a canine behavioral questionnaire at the beginning of the study.
The owners then filled out the same dog behavior questionnaire again at the three month and sixth month period.
According to NBC News, owners were asked to rate their dog's aggression, fear, separation anxiety, excitability, trainability, and energy level.
They were then asked to rate their extroversion and introversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness, and openness to new experiences.
Researchers considered the dog's age, size, and sex as factors affecting behavioral therapy.
The study found that male dogs exhibited higher separation-related behavior and aggression, whereas female dogs exhibited greater fearfulness.
