Do you ever attribute personality traits to your dog, or to other animals, for that matter? Is a dog capable of having emotions, or good days and bad days? Do you ever feel that your dog is happy, or joyful, mopey, or sad? Can they be smart or dopey, lethargic or energetic, goofy or bright? Is it possible for them to be compliant or stubborn? Are you accepting of some traits of your pet, while discounting others?

What does it mean to "let a dog be just a dog"? Are they only to be trained or biddable,or is it possible for them to be difficult or unmamageable? Can the same dog be both at different times? Is a dog more or less capable of showing personality traits than other animals? Stubborn as a mule? Mad as a hare? Yea or nay? Hogwash, rubbish, nonsense?

Aloof
Bashful
Catty
Doting
Edgy
Faithful
Gregarious
Happy
Intense
Joyous
Keen
Listless
Mysterious
Nerdy
Obedient
Purposeful
Quiet
Reserved
Stubborn
Terse
Unruly
Vicious
Worried
Xenophobic
Youthful
Zany

All of these? Some of these? None of these?
What are the possibilities?

I am often accused of being slightly deranged when it comes to the dogs ‘personalities’ because as I have said before, I talk for them, answer for them, and conduct conversations between them in different voices, so guilty as charged!

Hootie is sweet natured, but determined to be the ‘special’ one, the little prince who makes his displeasure at the antics of the Boerboels with what I interpret to be scolding noises, you know, grumble grumble noises, but a gentleman, who I am sure would shake hands with people and say how do you do? In a voice like David Niven!

Bonnie is a self sufficient, independent girl, who thinks the pack arrangement is fine, but wouldn’t care if she was an only dog, and very slightly tapped, I think it’s the red in her, is absolutely the one they all capitulate to and don’t argue with, the matriarch, despite being physically the smallest,

Sugar is a clown and loves attention, thinks she is one of the girls, and loves being in the middle of girly activities like bubble baths, movie night and hair washing, bossy and deeply affectionate with every one, just a sweet, sweet girl.

Kaiser, without a doubt, the most childish, immature, needy and spoilt brat, a complete mummy’s boy, and just about the most oafish dog I know, follows me from room to room, has the saddest face imaginable, and I know I baby him, he is my darling boy, who drives me mad, and I would be lost without him.

In a nutshell......YES!

(I'll post more later when I have more time. This is worthy of a thoughtful, comprehensive answer.)

Yes, I have three dogs and each have their own personality.
Bindi- terrier mix, about 5 years old. She can be very silly, but she is also very serious about her training. In the morning when she wakes up, she is up, running around in the dining room and full of life and ready to go outside and hunt some poor unsuspecting creature down. She loves people, loves kids, is very gentle, but also is a great watch dog, she doesn't bark much, but when she does you know something is out there. She acts like the mom dog and cleans all the other dogs ears and disciplines them gently if they do something we do not allow in the house.Bindi is a very soft dog.
Cody- Full of life, loves to do everything! Hunts, digs with all his heart, and he loves to work. His heart is very tender toward the other dogs. If one doesn't feel well, or is in trouble, he comes and gets our attention. He loves kids, likes people, and is learning to make human friends away from home. He is very active and I would call hyper! He loves to play with his ball and he loves to run.
Terra- Extremely gentle. Very smart, very smart. Not too attached to the other dogs, loves us but could love anyone. Loves kids, she can become possessive over things, so we watch her. Does not like to rough house with the other dogs, but likes to be included in their games. She can be a barker. She gets so excited when she works, she barks as she works. She is a loner but does get along with the other dogs. She would prefer to be the only dog.
sharon and her pups

Best book I've read on this subject is Temple Grandin's "Animals in Translation." Highly recommend.

Anything with a brain has emotions--fear, rage, survival, drive to reproduce, etc.

And the more neurologically complex an animal is, the more "emotional" response--a pig is more emotionally advanced than a starfish.

Even more important is how social an animal is. Animals that evolved to live in groups as a survival strategy need these higher-order skills.

Dogs are about as social an animal as there is--among themselves, but even more so they way they have evolved alongside humans. So clearly dogs have a complex emotional life--as well as a unique ability (I think) among animals to understand the emotional/social cues of people. That's complex stuff.

I think the real question is where to peg dogs on the scale of emotional complexity. The risk is assigning them the kinds of cultural/emotional feelings that humans are capable of. I'm thinking of qualities like "shame," or "jealousy" that I'm not sure really apply. It doesn't do a dog any service to treat it like a person (with the expectation that the dog has the same capacity as you do)--but that's sometimes hard, because they are such good "readers" of our emotions.

Much easier to try to "think (emote) like a dog" to see what's really going on.

And yes--individual dogs have personalities that are genetically hard-wired the same as their coat color. They just come that way. That's what most of our conversations here are about---how to adapt the behavior modification techniques to work with the particular bundle of neurons standing before you.

My five dogs all came to me with very different personalities: thoughtful, carefree, reserved, outgoing, wary. To me, that's the fun of this whole thing: really connecting with and understanding the dog you've got, and then figuring out how to help him be successful in the life he will have with you. Psychology 101.

I love this topic.

Logan (current dog, Dutchie)
I have never had a dumb dog and Logan is the second smartest, he can let himself out of his kennel if I don't lock it and has been seen messing with the lock. He is high spirited, sweet, goofy, cocky, strong willed, sometimes rude, untamed, fiercely loyal, devoted, hard working, chaotic , obsessive, explosive, close, perceptive, fearless, can be a bully, yet a total baby, humorous, sensitive to being called names, protective, hoarding, manipulative...etc.

Sport (childhood dog, chow/setter mix)
THE smartest dog I have ever had. Very sly like a Coyote, could stealthily steal anything. She was shy, sweet, soft, quiet, a princess, jealous, insecure, nervous, pesty, sensitive, escape artist, gluttonous, obedient, snobbish, athletic, agile, fast, introverted, thoughtful, used her cuteness to great advantage, dignified,...etc.

Ali (past Dutchie, rescue, was abused)
5th smartest dog. Very affectionate, loving, very distrustful, attached (she even held onto me with her front paws), sharp, athletic, paranoid, bitchy, willing to please,

Ten (past GSD)
3rd smartest dog. Very obedient and devoted, willing to please, tenacious, determined, focused, big attitude, team player, tough, curious, very accepting, expressive, enduring, brave, friendly, driven, relaxed, ...the best temperament of all (descended from 2 LB parents).

Hanes (Fox Terror I helped raise, was never corrected by owner)
4rd Smartest dog. Sharp, hyper, high strung, nervous, playful, jumping, loud, affectionate, show-off, proud, frustrated, mischievous, manipulative, spoiled, motivated, busy, selfish lol, little buddy, misunderstood...etc.

duane , i'd agree that dogs can have any , all or none of those " human " emotions or traits , but that is only because we are limited to see them that way . . . what we see as their behaviours are just their reactions to situations , either trained or spontaneous .
of course , we attach personalities to dogs , particularly our own dogs , and that is only a natural thing to do when we spend as much time , energy , money and emotional investment as we do with our dogs .
one thing that occurred to me some years ago : as much as we humans see ourselves as leaders of our " packs " , the dogs see us as members of their " packs " . not better ( higher ) or worse ( lower ) , but as another member , each with a particular role to fulfill .

Every single dog I've ever had contact with had a personality that was at the very least slightly different from the next.

Mercy was emotional. She clearly felt everything ten times more than other dogs seem to. If you told her she was a bad dog she would sulk for days. If you rewarded her with something big for something she did well her entire day was made and she was legitimately happy. If I smiled at her she would grin at me and wiggle as hard as she could to tell me how happy she was. She told me she loved me every day through her actions toward me. The idea that dogs 'live in the moment' never applied to her. She was incredibly soulful and sensitive and was definitely capable of deep emotion and expressing them.

She was my soul mate in dog form.

"Ebullient" would be one word I chose to describe my GSD.

Do dogs possess the level of consciousness necessary to have a personality? Or is this solely a human trait? Do dogs merely react to stimuli in a predictable manner? Have they evolved to the point that they know how to get what they want from humans with certain facial expressions, or behaviors? In which case, I would ask..who is training who?

Ahhh...Great topic for Sunday morning meditation, Duane!

I was mulling this over when I was out with my lot this morning, also got Louis this weekend, so it was me and 5 dogs enjoying the peace and quiet of a rare warm and sunny bank holiday weekend, and I thought why would any of us have dogs in our lives if they didn't have personalities? why would we choose to spend so much time with entities that have no personalities? I know I prefer being with my lot over any friends or family any day of the week, because they make me laugh and lift my spirits.

Surely if we didn't believe they were full of character, we would keep a less complicated and complex pet, like the stick insects the kids had when they were very young.

Whether we interpret their idiosyncrasies as personality, or whether we don't credit them with souls capable of being individual warm blooded creatures, I think you only have to spend a few hours walking the fields with your best friends to know their worth.