People who are couch potatoes are likely to have dogs that are couch potatoes, too.

And energetic folks tend to have perky dogs, while the socially awkward, well, chances are good that their pooches will follow suit.

Research from Michigan State University proves that owners and their dogs may have more in common than they think.

The study, published last month in the Journal of Research in Personality, found that canines' personalities are shaped by their owners. The research was conducted by Dr. William Chopik and Dr. Jonathan Weaver, assistant professors from the Department of Psychology.

Chopik said he came up with the idea for the study after noticing the different personalities dogs possess, such as being friendly or anxious. Research was conducted in two months, where the professor and his team surveyed over 1,600 dogs from over 50 breeds. The canines were split closely between males and females, with dogs ranging in age from a few weeks to 15 years old. The owners answered questions about their pets' personalities along with their own.

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Chopik told Science Daily he saw correlations between the dogs and their owners in three areas: human-to-dog personality similarities, age and personality, and the quality of an owner's relationship to their dog having an influence on the dog's personality.

He also said older dogs are harder to train, and that the right time is when the canine is around age 6, after they have grown out of their puppy stage. Other traits, like being conscientious, peak around a dog's midlife.

The owner surveys showed that extroverted people often have active and excitable dogs, while more pessimistic owners had dogs that were more fearful and less likely to respond to training.

Chopik said one reason why owners and their pets are similar to each other is because owners tend to choose a canine that fits their personality.

The study found owners have a strong influence on how their pets feel and how their personalities develop and change over time.

Chopik and Weaver also discovered obedience training plays a role in a dog's personality. If a canine receives obedience training and the owner is happy during those sessions, the pets are more likely to have positive personality traits.

For his next study, Chopik is now focusing on the personalities of another common pet — cats.