ALTER DATABASE vs pg_dump

Is it desirable that pg_dump doesn't dump config settings set via ALTER 
DATABASE?

http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-novice/2008-04/msg00016.php

I just got bitten by a DateStyle not being restored on my test DB (I 
usually set it client-side in the app). I could see someone without my 
steel trap of a mind letting something like this slip through. Obvious 
problem settings would be: datestyle, locale, default-text-search

Is this a deliberate behaviour of pg_dump or just an unscratched itch?

--   Richard Huxton  Archonet Ltd