How to Choose a Dog

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You’re thinking about adding a dog as the next member of your family, congratulations!  You can look forward to many years of companionship! Remember, the quality of your experience as a dog owner will depend in large part on how wisely you choose your new pet. But what criteria do people actually use? Which of these variables should you consider?

To explore these questions, a group of European researchers conducted a detailed analysis of how people go about choosing a particular dog. They studied a population of more than 1,000 dog owners in Austria between 2010 and 2015, exploring the decision variables people used when picking a canine. (Source: Animals, 2024) It’s possible, of course, that Austrians and Americans have different cultural attitudes toward their dogs and, therefore, may use different criteria. Nevertheless, the study results give us food for thought as we consider how to go about adding a four-pawed member to our households.

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Variables People Use in Selecting a Dog

The research team asked the study participants an open-ended question: “Why did you choose this dog?” They got a wide variety of answers, of course, which they sorted into 24 separate response categories. In filling out their surveys, respondents could write as much as they wanted and identify as many criteria as they thought relevant.

The five most common responses were:

• Breed-base choice (29%): A sizable portion of the study population said they selected their dog not primarily for individual traits, but instead because they viewed the breed favorably. (“A Golden Retriever has always been my dream.”)

• Selection based on a whim (24%): That’s right, about one-quarter of the study participants said they choose a dog based mostly on chance or serendipitous emotional connection. (“What a cute pup!”)

• Work/sport skills (22%): This variable had a prominent role in the selection process for people seeking a dog chiefly for particular work or sport activities. (“Deliberately chose a dog for sporting activities such as agility, dog racing.”)

• Active and playful (17%): An important criterion for people wanting a lively pet ready for energetic recreation. (“I liked the dog’s energy.”)

• Shelter/rescue opportunity (17%): Many owners expressed a desire to adopt or rescue a dog from a shelter. (“I wanted to give a dog that had been in the shelter for a long time a place to live.”)

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How Owner Characteristics Affect Dog Choice

Individuals bring their own portfolio of personal characteristics into their deliberations about dog choice. The researchers identified patterns of choice in five areas of demographics and experience:

• Age. They found older dog owners were more likely than younger people to mention prior experiences with similar breeds or breed types. Older survey respondents were also more likely to favor purebred dogs, whereas younger owners tended to more often say they wanted to adopt a shelter or rescue dog.

• Family composition. The more people in a household, the greater emphasis owners placed on the intelligence and trainability of the animal. Makes sense – intelligent, tractable animals are likely to make better additions to a crowded household than less-manageable dogs. People living alone said they placed high emphasis on spontaneity and happenstance.

• Presence of children. Owners living with children said they are less likely than others to adopt a rescue dog. Shelter animals may exhibit unpredictable behaviors, creating a perceived safety risk for kids. Owners with children tended to place high priority on such criteria as friendliness, manageability and calmness, traits you want to have in a dog that has to deal with little ones.

• Presence of other dogs. Owners with no other dogs already in the household were more likely to choose a dog on a whim. Manageability and trainability had a higher priority in households that already had one or more other dogs.

• Prior experience with dog ownership. Those who value dogs for sport or work tend to lean toward breed as a choice variable, along with intelligence and trainability. This stands to reason: if you’ve had performance success with dogs of a particular breed, it makes sense to stay with those dogs.

Rational Choice?

This study lays out a comprehensive set of criteria and a range of personal and family traits we might consider when selecting a new canine family member. The results suggested that breed identification and plain old love at first sight are particularly common criteria. Together, these two elements were mentioned by more than half of the survey respondents.

It appears we humans often let our high-level assumptions about dog breeds and our immediate emotional connection with individual animals override other criteria. Are these the most rational considerations? What about the individual traits of the animal – energy, intelligence, temperament, for instance?

Psychologists who study human decision-making observe we frequently rely on criteria that are less than completely rational. Perhaps we should challenge this inclination when we choose our dogs.

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