[Infographic] My dog is better behaved than your dog

Question: Is your dog the best-behaved pup ever?

We bet you said yes. And maybe it’s true, but according to a new survey from U.K.-based online pet retailer Pet365, dog owners tend to believe their pets are way more behaved than they actually are. Another key finding: Puppy socialization is vital to a well-behaved dog.

Pet365 surveyed 1,000 pet owners mainly in the U.K. and United States about dog training and published the results in this infographic on the site’s blog.

Dog Training graphic created by Matt Beswick for Pet365.

The survey asked 10 questions about dog training and dog behavior of both dog owners and non-owners. Here are some of the findings:

• The survey asked dog owners to rate how well-trained their dogs are on a scale of 1 to 10 — 51.9% rated their dogs a 7 or 8. An additional 15.4% gave their dogs a 9 or 10. Only 16.1% of dog owners gave their dogs a rating of 4 or 5 on the scale, and 3.9% rated their pets’ training a 1 or 2.

• Another question asked how well-trained the average dog is — 46.2% rated the training of other people’s dogs at 4 or 5 out of a possible 10. Only 23.1% gave the average dog a 7 or 8.

“It’s fascinating that pet owners basically ignore the bad behavior of their own dogs while accentuating the same in others,” said Matthew Beswick, director of Pet365.

• The survey also asked dog owners if they had attended puppy socialization classes; 34% had attended classes, but among people who owned three or more dogs, that percentage rose to 50.6%.

Click here for the full research.

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