What Makes a GREAT Dominant Partner for a Submissive?

Let’s say you are searching for your Dominant, your “One”. Sure, a full toy bag or two might be important – for a month, or a year, or, more likely a day. Floggers, cuffs and clamps can be purchased in a kazillion places, by any Joe Schmo with a credit card. But, what are the attributes and character traits that make for a great relationship with a Great Dominant? What about the behaviors that make the MAN worth considering as a life partner, or for that matter, a play partner on a Saturday night? Let’s not even call them behaviors. Let’s call them character traits and innate qualities.

Must Haves: Traits and Qualities of a Great Dominant That I Would Consider Accepting

Honesty
Trustworthiness
Integrity
Self-Control
Sense of Humor (even at himself)
Capacity to Love, Be Loved and to Express that Love
Desire to Learn and Grow, both for himself and for his partner
Dependability

Then, there are the innocuous, even silly traits that are different for every submissive. Does he adore classical music, and it grates on your ears? Is his favorite food liver and onions, while you would rather die that eat an organ that filters waste from mammals? (ok, that one is mine, but fortunately, my Master doesn’t even like the smell of liver, with or without onions) Is pink his favorite color to dress his submissive up in every day? Does pink make you retch? (ok, that one is mine too, but he can live without pink – that was part of the negotiations before we ever became a couple!) These examples are simply the ‘fluff’ of a relationship, but what about the inherent character traits that make a Great Dominant?

So, how do you know if he possesses the traits and qualities that make a great dominant?
First of all, take your time getting to know the man, not the role he might play in your life. Does he exhibit self-control? When he’s driving down the highway and someone cuts him off, does he rage and scream and try to ‘get back at’ the errant driver? Doesn’t sound like self-control to me.