Behavior in Australian Shepherd Dogs Assessed Using the C-BARQ: A Preliminary Study of Associations with Coat Color, Sex, and Neutering Status

Domestic dogs show substantial behavioral variability shaped by genetic, biological, and environmental factors. Although breed-specific behavioral profiles are documented, associations between coat color and behavior within individual breeds remain poorly understood. This preliminary study characterized the behavioral profile of Australian Shepherd dogs and exploratorily investigated associations between behavior, coat color, sex, and neuter status using the validated Italian C-BARQ. A total of 215 Australian Shepherds aged 1-8.5 years were included; behavioral responses were analyzed using ordinal logistic regression with sex, neuter status, and coat color as predictors. Overall, Australian Shepherds showed high trainability and low aggression and fear toward humans. Sex emerged as the most consistent predictor: females showed lower odds of high-intensity responses in attachment- and excitability-related behaviors (OR ~0.44-0.56), with context-dependent differences in dog-directed and environmental responses. Neuter status was selectively associated with increased fear-related reactions to noise and stranger approaches (OR ~1.9-2.2) and reduced restlessness during separation (OR ~0.45). Coat color was not associated with generalized behavioral tendencies; item-level exploratory analyses revealed only a limited number of suggestive, context-specific associations in merle-coated dogs, and most analyses did not yield significant effects. All coat-color findings should be regarded as preliminary and hypothesis-generating. These results underscore the context-dependent nature of behavioral variation in Australian Shepherds and highlight the need for confirmatory studies with larger, coat-color-stratified samples.