Studies have investigated the relationship between dogs’ morphological characteristics and behavioural dimensions, but little is discussed about this relationship in the context of dogs’ responses to emotion eliciting stimuli and temperament. Based on the assumption that the developmental trajectory of behaviour and emotion processing is impacted by the interaction between organisms and environment, we analysed whether dogs’ characteristics – that determine how they perceive and interact with their surroundings – affect temperament profiles. We looked at size, height, weight, skull morphology, age, sex, reproductive status, and breed of a sample of Brazilian domestic dogs’ and their temperament (measured as Positive and Negative Activation), obtained via the PANAS questionnaire for dogs. We tested possible main effects and first-order interactions in linear mixed models. Younger dogs showed higher positive activation (i.e. sensitivity to positive stimuli; play and treats). For short snouted dogs, the older the dog, less was the negative activation (i.e. sensitivity to negative stimuli; punishment). And for long snouted dogs, larger dogs showed lower negative activation. Weight alone also showed an effect, with heavier dogs having less sensitivity to negative stimuli. Overall, our study demonstrated how morphology and age are important factors that influence temperament expression and emotional reactivity in dogs.

研究调查了狗的形态特征和行为维度之间的关系，但在狗对引发情绪的刺激和气质的反应的背景下，很少讨论这种关系。基于行为和情绪处理的发展轨迹受到生物体与环境之间相互作用影响的假设，我们分析了狗的特征——决定了它们如何感知和与周围环境互动——是否会影响气质特征。我们研究了巴西家犬样本的大小、身高、体重、头骨形态、年龄、性别、生殖状态和品种及其气质（以积极和消极激活来衡量），这些样本是通过狗的 PANAS 问卷获得的。我们在线性混合模型中测试了可能的主效应和一阶相互作用。年幼的狗表现出更高的积极激活（即对积极刺激的敏感性；玩耍和款待）。对于短吻狗，年龄越大的狗，负面激活（即对负面刺激的敏感性；惩罚）越少。对于长鼻子的狗，较大的狗表现出较低的负激活。仅体重也显示出影响，较重的狗对负面刺激的敏感性较低。总的来说，我们的研究证明了形态和年龄是影响狗的气质表达和情绪反应的重要因素。对负面刺激的敏感性；惩罚）。对于长鼻子的狗，较大的狗表现出较低的负激活。仅体重也显示出影响，较重的狗对负面刺激的敏感性较低。总的来说，我们的研究证明了形态和年龄是影响狗的气质表达和情绪反应的重要因素。对负面刺激的敏感性；惩罚）。对于长鼻子的狗，较大的狗表现出较低的负激活。仅体重也显示出影响，较重的狗对负面刺激的敏感性较低。总的来说，我们的研究证明了形态和年龄是影响狗的气质表达和情绪反应的重要因素。