Your pet doesn’t actually share your genetics, but if you selected your pet it’s possible your dog or cat is a lot like you.

Are you and your pet alike? This is one of those nature vs. nurture questions, with a twist. Your pet doesn’t actually share your genetics, but if you selected your pet (rather than acquiring him through random circumstance) it’s possible you consciously or subconsciously selected a dog or cat that’s a lot like you. It’s also possible, that no matter how you acquired your pet, the two of you have become more alike in personality over the years. You share some personality traits.

Take the case of Midnight, a mixed breed, who appeared to be the laziest of the litter – he napped as his littermates played. The mother and two children who adopted him had very different personalities, yet the dog took on both the shaggy looks and strong personality of the boy in the family. Maybe it was because they were the only males, or because the son was always troubled, and the dog sensed who needed him most. Both Midnight and his male owner where intelligent, defiant risk-takers. Both tended to seek out their own adventures. And both seemed to have an angel on their backs, as they each survived accidents that put their lives at risk.