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Breeds & Instincts

IAM's Dog Breed Guide

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THE CANINE BEHAVIOR SERIES
By Kathy Diamond Davis
Author and Trainer
Breed Research: How Your Dog s Breed Affects Behavior
Does it matter what breed of dog you pick, in terms of the dog s behavior? Yes, absolutely! Many dog temperaments are neither good nor bad, but are either right for your family or are not going to make you happy. In researching a breed, what factors will help you determine that you re choosing a dog with the behavior potential for a good match with you?

Size
The size of a dog largely determines the dog s strength. One formula is that a dog is about three times as strong as a human of the same weight. In these terms, a 50-pound dog has about the strength of a 150-pound human male. Some dogs are stronger than this, particularly the terriers.

So, for example, if you are a 130-pound woman who wants to be stronger than her dog, you might look to a breed that will tend to weigh less than 43 pounds. If you want a dog for a child to handle, either for leashed walks or in dog sports, you d look to choose a dog sized for that child.

Sheer strength is not the only factor in how manageable a dog will be, as many large dogs are docile either through temperament or training and thus easier to handle than their size would indicate. This is one of many reasons it s important to thoroughly research any breed you consider adopting and if you re considering a mixed breed, research all the breeds in that mix.

In general with a large dog you should expect to put in more training time both for the dog and to develop your own technical dog-handling skills, in order to be able to handle that dog in public. Larger dogs also tend to mature more slowly. Larger dogs can do much greater damage to a house than small dogs during their longer adolescent period, or in cases of separation anxiety.

Larger dogs can do more damage if they bite people or get in fights with other dogs. Larger dogs are more likely to be able to knock people down by jumping on them, which means you have to teach the dog not to jump up on people.

Larger dogs can drag you on leash, which means more effort on your part to teach the dog to walk on a loose leash without pulling. If the larger dog is a breed that requires grooming, there will be more fur to groom, meaning more time the dog must hold still and tolerate this handling.

Coat and Grooming
A dog s coat can make surprising differences in behavior. The wonderful poodle obviously requires professional grooming. This is a turnoff to a lot of people, but it shouldn t be. When you choose a nice poodle from a good breeder and find a great groomer, you are also getting training included with grooming! A good groomer trains your dog in those regular grooming sessions. It is one of the secrets to the nice temperament found in so many poodles.

Dogs who don t get the professional grooming their coats require can develop behavior problems. Tangles tighten into mats, and matted fur pulls the underlying skin tight, eventually creating sores. Those sores can harbor maggots. When it hurts to be petted, the dog tends to become defensive and even aggressive about being touched. If your dog requires professional grooming, be sure to have it done on an appropriate schedule. Between visits to the groomer, keep the coat combed free of tangles.

Long-coated dogs stay a bit warmer depending on the coat, possibly a lot warmer and this can affect how close they want to be to people. Short-coated dogs are the ones who tend to want to get under the covers with you, especially the small ones who need help holding body heat. So if you want a bed-warmer dog, consider a dog with short coat. Be prepared, though, to teach your short-coated dog to wear dog coats and sweaters in cold weather.

Long-coated dogs may feel petting differently. If you do the grooming their coats need regularly, they re likely to adore being petted. Covered by extra hair, their skin may be more sensitive to touch, and regular grooming will help to offset any excessive sensitivity.

Carefully consider the grooming requirements of any breed you research. It will make a profound difference both in your dog s behavior and in how you will need to manage the dog for the healthiest and safest behavior.

Activity Level
A highly active dog shows obvious differences in behavior from a laid-back one. If you need a couch-potato dog, choose carefully. Some people find an active dog irritating, and in that case they want a couch-potato breed.

Some people, though, simply need a dog who won t be crashing into things. For that you might consider a small dog who has plenty of room to be active indoors without knocking the furniture over. Or you might like an agile breed that can run around the house nimbly without crashing.

One advantage to a naturally-active breed is self-exercising. Give this dog a little space and some interesting toys and people to follow around, and that may handle the exercise needs. This is especially true when you have a couple of them. Some dogs don t self-exercise, and for those you may need to expend more effort getting them out to work those muscles.

To assess the activity level of a breed and how it will feel to you, observe the breed as much as possible before getting a dog. You might offer to dog-sit or foster a dog of the breed for awhile to get a better working knowledge. This is a good way to learn about any breed.

Protection and Territorial Guarding
The basic dog if there is such a thing anymore! would have a moderate protection instinct as well as instinct to guard a home territory. One way (and there are many) to define protection attitude is the instinct to protect oneself and ones pack or family.

A male dog who barks at people when they approach the fence of his family s property is guarding that territory. If he is in that fence with a female dog who also approaches the fence and he turns around and drives her back from the fence, he is protecting her. He is placing his body between her and the potential intruder. If you see this happen in two dogs who get along well, you ll notice she yields quickly to this aggression on his part because he does not hurt her, and she knows why he s doing it.

This same behavior can turn into redirected aggression, when dogs behind a barrier are overstimulated by something on the other side. It can become dangerous to the dogs when their pack order is not easy-going and clear, such as when you have two dogs of the same sex who haven t worked out which of them is leader.

What s especially problematic in some homes when it comes to protection and territorial guarding instincts is that these have been accentuated by selective breeding in many breeds. You most likely want a moderate dog, and in some breeds you re not at all likely to get that when it comes to protection and territorial guarding.

Be very, very sure to do your homework on this aspect of any breed you are considering. The result of getting too much protection or territorial guarding instinct for your situation can be, tragically, a human fatality.

Breed Propensities
What work, if any, was the breed you are considering originally selectively bred to do? What will that mean in terms of the behavior you can realistically expect from a dog of that breed in your family?

Do you want a dog bred to go into holes, hunt down small animals and kill them? How about a dog bred to run all day fetching to the hunter? Or a dog bred to bay loudly and be heard continuously over long distances at night so the hunters can locate the pack?

Researching breed history is fascinating. It also takes away the blame game of putting a breed down for behavior you might not find desirable in your home today. That behavior was and probably still is desirable for some situations, though it might not be good for yours. Pick a dog for behavior that fits your needs, not expecting a dog to change. That doesn t work in choosing a dog any more than it works for choosing a spouse!
One of the most humane things you can do in having a dog is to choose a dog in the first place with breed propensities that fit your situation. The dog doesn t get to choose a home, which makes it our responsibility to choose the dog most likely to be happy in ours.

Children
If you have children, grandchildren, or other kids who will be exposed to your dog, carefully research how this breed does with children. Responsible breeders will be eager to tell you, especially if it s a breed not too comfortable with kids.

Children tend to run around screaming and to suddenly do things like hug a dog in the face, pull ears, or fall on top of the resting dog. Of course you ll teach your children not to treat your dog this way and you ll supervise visiting children to make sure they do not abuse your dog. But if your dog will be around kids, the dog needs the ability to tolerate a little of this behavior to give you time to get the kid under control. Some dogs are just too sensitive or too physically fragile for this exposure.

Aggression toward Other Dogs
If you want a dog who will enjoy dog-park socializing, you ll be looking for a paragon of tolerance toward other dogs. Frankly even the dog who starts out with this ability may lose it after being attacked a few times in the park. For many dogs, one attack will do it. So for best results on having a dog you can walk on leash in safe places around other dogs who are under control, avoid the dog parks.

Aggression toward other dogs is strongly bred into some dogs who have unfortunately been used for human sport, betting on dog fights. Such a dog will require special handling in any situation around other dogs. With training you can teach the dog to remain under control, provided the other dogs can be kept from actually getting into the dog-aggressive dog s face. But you ll always have to be careful.

The dog who is aggressive toward other dogs generally should not be kept with another dog of the same sex at home. These dogs tend to have extreme difficulty working out a stable pack order, and remain a risk for killing the other dog of the same sex. Such a dog may do just fine living with another dog of the opposite sex, though.

Trainability
A breed s trainability relates to the work that breed was originally bred to do. A sheep-herding or hunting retriever breed, bred to follow a human s directions when a quarter of a mile out in the field, can be a good choice for higher-level training.

If you don t plan to train your dog to a high level, though, the highly trainable dog can be exactly the wrong choice! These dogs are hard workers, bred to stay busy. They like to be close to people and they thrive on near-constant direction. If you don t enjoy an attentive dog and don t wish to cultivate in yourself a high level of dog-handling skill, this type of dog can be a terrible match.

One area of trainability in which there is huge misunderstanding is housetraining. Housetraining is not a slam dunk, especially for the tiny breeds. If housetraining is important to you, think twice about getting a male of a tiny breed and keeping him intact for mating! Since housetraining tends to be the first major training task people do with a new dog, it can be a rude awakening when they haven t done enough breed research.

Training involves manners and habits as well as intricate skills you may or may not need from your dog. Think about what you want your life with your dog to be like. Make a list of the things you need your dog to do well.

Talk to your friends who have dogs and to breeders, trainers, groomers, veterinarians and others of your acquaintance about what training they consider important. In evaluating any breed you research, ask about that breed s ability in the types of training you ve decided you need with your dog.

Homework
Researching a breed for the behavior that will fit your needs is not a simple matter. The popular notion that a dog s behavior will be determined by how the dog has been raised is incorrect. Genetic heritage breed has enormous effects on a dog s behavior.

Researching breeds is fascinating and fun. If you re looking for a dog to join your family, forget about buying a puppy for the holidays or other special occasion. Focus on doing the research and finding the right breed, the right breeder, and with that breeder s help, the right dog. Every minute you spend on this research will be worth it!

Date Published: 12/6/2004 11:13:00 AM

Dr. P's : Genetics & Breeding
Working temperament & its inheritance.

Report abuse to your local animal control or humane organization.  If you have no luck that way please contact PSPCA agents at 215-426-6300.

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Owning a dog calls for common sense and adaptability: Defining common sense dog ownership

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