A new behavioural study reveals that dogs rated as “grumpy” or assertive by their owners may actually outperform others in specific social learning tasks—particularly when learning from unfamiliar humans.
Smart through stubbornness The study tested 98 dogs using a detour-reaching task under different conditions: no demonstration, owner demonstration, and unfamiliar human demonstration. The most surprising finding? Dogs labelled as “irritable” or assertive performed significantly better when the task was demonstrated by a stranger rather than their own owner.
What irritability reveals These dogs also showed greater persistence and focus, looking back less frequently at their owners—suggesting a higher level of autonomous problem-solving and goal orientation. Meanwhile, dogs marked as “overactive” did not show a performance difference but were more easily distracted during solo problem-solving.
Implications for training and behavior The results challenge assumptions that behavioural issues like stubbornness or assertiveness are purely negative. Instead, they may reflect cognitive strength in social contexts, especially when learning doesn’t rely on a bonded human figure. The findings call for a re-evaluation of how we interpret so-called problem behaviour in dogs.
