SAN DIEGO -- Those who think purebred dogs look like their owners are barking up the right tree, but matching a mutt to its master is another thing, a study suggests.

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Dr. Nicholas Cristenfeld, from University of California, San Diego, wondered if dog owners grow to look like their pooches, or if they pick them with purpose.

Research indicated that when people pick a dog, they look for one that, at some level, bears some resemblance to them. And when they get a purebred dog, they get what they want.

When given a choice of two dogs, judges correctly matched 25 purebreds with their owners nearly two out of three times. With mutts, however, the pattern went to the dogs.

"It's at the selection that when you go out and pick a pet, you pick a pet that resembles you in some way," Cristenfeld said.

Cristenfeld said mutt owners such as himself make their choice on the spur-of-the-moment at a dog pound, not knowing what a puppy will look like.

Forty-five dogs and their owners chosen at random were photographed separately at three San Diego dog parks. The judges, some 28 undergraduates taking psychology classes at UCSD, were shown pictures of the owners and two dogs and asked to match the correct dog with the owner.

Out of the 25 purebreds, there were 16 correct matches and nine misses. For 20 mutts in the study, there were seven matches, four ties and nine misses.

How the aristocratic Afghan Hound or the otherworldly French Bulldog resemble their owners is unclear since the study found judges didn't use any one characteristic to make the matches. There were no significant correlation between dogs and owners on the basis of size, attractiveness, friendliness and energy level when considered separately.

"People are attracted to looks and temperaments that reflect themselves or how they perceive themselves," said Gail Miller, a spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club. Miller, who has owned several bearded collies, described her "beardies" as gregarious, active dogs.