{"id":45976,"date":"2026-04-14T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/?p=45976"},"modified":"2026-04-23T17:10:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T17:10:26","slug":"do-hormones-determine-your-dogs-temperament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/do-hormones-determine-your-dogs-temperament\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Hormones Determine Your Dog\u2019s Temperament?"},"content":{"rendered":"<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><p><strong>In this article:<\/strong><\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#why-does-a-dog-s-temperament-matter\">Why does a dog&rsquo;s temperament matter, and how do we assess it?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#what-did-the-study-reveal\">What did this study reveal?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#what-do-the-results-mean\">What do the results mean?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#how-can-this-help-me-train-my-own-dog\">What does this mean for training my own dog?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"><div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div><p>The doorbell rings. How does your dog respond?<\/p><p>An excitable dog may spring into action, barking as they sprint toward the door. One who&rsquo;s calmer may barely bat an eye. The way your dog responds to stimuli like this can help reveal their temperament&mdash;a key part of their personality.&nbsp;<\/p><p>Many factors contribute to a dog&rsquo;s temperament, and new research suggests that hormonal fluctuations may be among them. <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0337781\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Published in February<\/a> in the journal <em>PLOS One<\/em> by researchers in South Korea, this paper found an association between specific hormone levels and temperament in 24 dogs.&nbsp;<\/p><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"why-does-a-dog-s-temperament-matter\">Why does a dog&rsquo;s temperament matter, and how do we assess it?<\/h4><p>All dogs deserve love and care, but temperament is an important factor when considering whether a dog is right for a specific home or job&mdash;and what kind of training and support they need. Dogs with particular dispositions may be better suited to certain tasks&mdash;calmer dogs, for example, often make good therapy animals. And when choosing a pet, people may have a certain temperament in mind&mdash;like when a family with young children seeks a mild-mannered dog.<\/p><p>The Wesen test is one tool used to evaluate canine temperament; it has played a role in selecting dogs for breeding and jobs as service animals. During the test, dogs encounter a series of stimuli, and receive scores based on their responses. The authors of this study used a version of the Wesen test to measure dogs&rsquo; temperament, and sought to find out how behavioral scores might relate to hormonal shifts.<\/p><p>&ldquo;One thing that I love about this paper is the way it seeks to make a connection between behavioral research and research that occurs on a more hormonal level,&rdquo; said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxy.edu\/academics\/faculty\/zachary-silver\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Zachary Silver<\/a>, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at Occidental College, and founder and director of the school&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxy.edu\/academics\/canine-intelligence-lab\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Canine Intelligence Lab<\/a>. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something that we don&rsquo;t have a lot of in the field right now.&rdquo; Dr. Silver was not involved in this research.<\/p><p>Hormones are chemicals that kick off various processes throughout the body in response to stimuli. Different hormones initiate different processes. These researchers studied two hormones in particular: cortisol and serotonin.<\/p><p>Dogs&rsquo; adrenal glands release cortisol in response to stress or negative emotional states (in addition to other stimuli). Serotonin&mdash;both a hormone and a neurotransmitter, or a chemical that delivers messages from neurons to all sorts of cells&mdash;helps regulate mood and serves other physiological functions.<\/p><p>Researchers have previously investigated the ways serotonin may affect dogs&rsquo; behavior; a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S155878781200007X?via%3Dihub\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2012 paper<\/a> comparing 28 aggressive dogs and 10 nonaggressive dogs found that on average, the aggressive dogs had significantly lower levels of serotonin in their blood than nonaggressive dogs.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"778\" height=\"521\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/two-white-dogs-in-grass.jpg\" alt=\"Two large white dogs lie in the grass, their tongues out.\" class=\"wp-image-45983\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/two-white-dogs-in-grass.jpg 778w, https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/two-white-dogs-in-grass-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/two-white-dogs-in-grass-768x514.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 778px) 100vw, 778px\" \/><\/figure><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-did-the-study-reveal\">What did the study reveal?<\/h4><p>The authors used a version of the Wesen test to evaluate 24 dogs of different breeds. <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0337781#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">In this test<\/a>, the researchers presented each dog with the same set of stimuli, including an unsteady walking surface, the sound of a car revving, strangers, an unknown dog, a hidden treat, and separation. They then evaluated the dogs for fear, relaxation, confidence, anxiety, and other qualities. Each dog received a score; lower scores reflected a more reactive temperament, while higher scores reflected a calmer temperament. The researchers then divided the dogs into three groups of eight indicating low, medium, and high scores.<\/p><p>Before and after the test, the researchers collected saliva samples from each dog. They analyzed these samples for cortisol and serotonin levels, using cortisol as a marker of stress&mdash;potentially driving reactive behavior&mdash;and serotonin as a marker of relaxation.<\/p><p>They found that dogs with higher scores had lower levels of cortisol before the assessment compared to dogs with lower scores. This could indicate that dogs with higher scores&mdash;that is, with calmer temperaments&mdash;may have a lower cortisol baseline, so when their cortisol levels increase in response to stress, they don&rsquo;t have as dramatic a response compared to a dog with a higher baseline.<\/p><p>Conversely, dogs with lower scores&mdash;more reactive temperaments&mdash;also had higher levels of cortisol after the assessment compared to dogs with medium and higher scores. Taken together, these results suggest a link between a dog&rsquo;s cortisol response and their overall temperament, but particularly how they handle stress.<\/p><p>As for serotonin, only 16 dogs&rsquo; salivary levels were analyzed. The researchers didn&rsquo;t find any statistically significant correlation between overall temperament scores and serotonin concentrations, but within the unsteady-surface challenge in particular, high-scoring dogs had higher serotonin levels. Dogs with higher scores also had much higher pre-assessment levels of serotonin than dogs with lower scores.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"464\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/two-white-dogs-with-a-pink-ball.jpg\" alt=\"Two white dogs stand in the grass, one playing with an oversized pink tennis ball.\" class=\"wp-image-45984\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/two-white-dogs-with-a-pink-ball.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/two-white-dogs-with-a-pink-ball-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/figure><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-do-the-results-mean\">What do the results mean?<\/h4><p>None of this is to say that high-scoring dogs are good and low-scoring dogs are bad. (All dogs are good; you don&rsquo;t need a PhD to know that.) The paper&rsquo;s findings simply suggest that dogs&rsquo; temperament may, in part, be determined by hormones.<\/p><p>&ldquo;I think this research tells us that a dog&rsquo;s temperament is something that is biological in nature,&rdquo; Dr. Silver said. While some dog owners may believe they can train a dog to do (or not do) anything, &ldquo;temperament is a hard thing to adjust,&rdquo; he said. Training methods like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/how-to-help-a-fearful-dog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">desensitization and counterconditioning<\/a> can help shape a reactive dog&rsquo;s behavior&mdash;and improve their quality of life. But, depending on a dog&rsquo;s temperament, they can only do so much. That&rsquo;s why, Dr. Silver added, it&rsquo;s important to extend grace to ourselves&mdash;and to the dog, who is doing their best&mdash;if training seems difficult.<\/p><p>Still, this paper has its limitations. <a href=\"https:\/\/brianhare.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brian Hare<\/a>, PhD, a professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University who was not involved in this study, is skeptical of using salivary cortisol to measure stress. He pointed to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-025-00425-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2025 paper he co-authored<\/a> that found cortisol levels in saliva poorly correlated with blood cortisol levels in puppies.<\/p><p>Dr. Silver acknowledged that salivary cortisol has its shortcomings as a stress indicator, but still saw value in measuring it. &ldquo;Even though the measures are not perfect, they&rsquo;re still effective,&rdquo; he said.<\/p><p>The study was also small. Other researchers want to see this research replicated with more dogs. While the 24 studied here were &ldquo;enough to potentially find an association&mdash;and they did seem to find one&mdash;it would be nice to see this hold up with a larger sample of dogs,&rdquo; said <a href=\"https:\/\/cvm.ncsu.edu\/people\/kcsmit22\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kyle Smith<\/a>, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher studying dog cognition at North Carolina State University, who was not involved in this study.<\/p><p>Dr. Silver also mentioned that there are various ways to define temperament. For him, repeating this study while looking at other measures of disposition could reinforce the idea that there is a relationship between a dog&rsquo;s hormones and temperament.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2538c53bed3a278057c6852c7ab119fb75a86b6e_4_62-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"A puppy stands on their hind legs looking at a treat that a person wearing a white sweater holds.\" class=\"wp-image-45989\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2538c53bed3a278057c6852c7ab119fb75a86b6e_4_62-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2538c53bed3a278057c6852c7ab119fb75a86b6e_4_62-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2538c53bed3a278057c6852c7ab119fb75a86b6e_4_62-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2538c53bed3a278057c6852c7ab119fb75a86b6e_4_62.jpg 797w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-can-this-help-me-train-my-own-dog\">How can this help me train my own dog?<\/h4><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.companionanimalpsychology.com\/p\/home.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Zazie Todd<\/a>, PhD, the psychologist and certified dog trainer who wrote <em>Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog,<\/em> broke down the factors informing temperament into what we can&rsquo;t change (like genetics and early life experiences) and what we can change (like environment and training).&nbsp;<\/p><p>Training <em>can<\/em> succeed at moderating reactive behavior. &ldquo;There are no guarantees, but most of the time training can make a big difference to reactivity,&rdquo; she said.<\/p><p>She recommended rewards-based methods for the best results in the long run. Sometimes dogs are reactive because they&rsquo;re scared, for which the best approach is desensitization and counterconditioning, or changing the environment to help them feel safer. &ldquo;The sooner you take action, the faster it will work,&rdquo; she said.<\/p><p>And, while training can and does affect a dog&rsquo;s behavior, this research underscores that biology is also an important factor shaping who they are. &ldquo;If we want to correct problematic behaviors, think not about changing a dog&rsquo;s overall temperament&mdash;but instead think about addressing those specific contexts,&rdquo; Dr. Silver said, making reference to the benefits of using management in conjunction with training. &ldquo;We just have to try to create situations where we are giving the dog the best possible chance to succeed.&rdquo;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Personality may, in part, have a biochemical basis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":45987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[418,198],"tags":[239,459],"class_list":["post-45976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-research","category-training-behavior","tag-research","tag-training"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45976"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46164,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45976\/revisions\/46164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}