By
East Valley K9 Services, LLC
Accepting a puppy into your life means that you are entering into a 10 to 15 year, sometimes even longer, commitment. This makes it extremely important to choose a puppy that fits your personality and lifestyle. This article will provide some basic information to help you with choosing the right puppy for your family.
I’m writing this because as a dog trainer I frequently work with clients in private sessions and classes that have entirely the wrong dog for their personality and lifestyle. This article will provide you with information to help ensure that you choose a puppy that will fit into your life.
When you bring a puppy into your home, any puppy, there WILL be challenges and problems; that is just how it is with puppies. Sure, some are easier than others but no matter what, there is a lot that a puppy has to learn to mature into an adult dog that is a true companion and a joy to live with.
Some Basics About Breeds
Activity Levels
Do your research. Every breed was developed for a purpose. It’s fine when purchasing a new car to select the one that you think looks the best. However, this is NOT the case when selecting a puppy. Do not choose a puppy based on how cute they are. As adorable as Border Collies may be when they are just 8 or 9 weeks old, they are workaholics and are not the breed for you if you don’t have the time or desire to spend the time and effort training and working with a dog of this type.
Of all the various traits, energy level is probably the single biggest factor that causes problems. High energy breeds are intentionally bred to have high energy. As such, they need a job. In the case of a Border Collie, that job doesn’t necessarily need to be herding livestock but they need a job, an activity of some kind. It can be a dog sport such as Frisbee, Agility, Flyball, or something creative such as picking up the neighbor’s newspapers from their driveway and dropping it by the front door on your morning walks.
Without a job, high energy breeds will create a job of their own out of frustration. The job that they create will not be one that you will like. They may decide that their job is to find out exactly what’s inside of that nice comfy couch of yours that makes it so comfy.
Size
Dogs of all sizes should be trained to have proper manners. However, a six-pound Maltese that jumps up on your elderly grandmother has a much different outcome than a 100-pound Rottweiler that engages in the same behavior. Likewise, the six-pound Maltese that pulls on the leash is much different than the 100-pound Rottweiler that does the same.
Many years ago, I had a Rottweiler that could have been walked using a piece of kite string as a leash. However, training her to that level required time, effort, physical strength and agility on my part. Take these personal attributes into account when selecting a puppy.
Breed Standards
Breed standards are a guideline of the ideal physical characteristics and desired temperament for that particular breed. Within any breed you will find examples that fall far outside the breed standard. Just like humans, dogs are individuals. For example, courage is one of the breed standards for German Shepherd Dogs. I’ve seen many GSD’s however that are fearful of just about everything.
Breeds That You Have Seen
Do not choose a breed because you saw that breed in a movie or TV show and it was an awesome dog. That dog was an acting dog and as such was highly trained and had a job, acting. My wish is that when dogs are used on TV and in movies that they would use mixed breeds. That makes it a lot harder to go out and find a dog that looks just like the one you saw in the latest blockbuster movie.
Likewise, don’t choose a particular breed because you have a neighbor or friend that has that breed and it’s an awesome dog. As mentioned previously, dogs are individuals so you may get a dog of the same breed and have an entirely different outcome. Your level of experience also must be taken into account. Your friend may be a very experienced dog owner that has the skills to handle a Rottweiler or Belgian Malinois.
The Rottweiler that I had was the best dog I’ve ever had. Her level of intelligence was unbelievable; she seemed to have a sixth sense about what I wanted from her. She loved everybody and everybody loved her yet she was also protective at the appropriate times. She was easy going and extremely easy to live with.
Yet, it bothered me when I would hear people say that they wanted a Rottweiler because of the wonderful dog that she was. Why? Because if I were to get another Rottweiler puppy, would he or she turn out to be the same as my first? It is highly unlikely. He or she may fall far short of my first one or may also be an awesome dog but with different attributes.
I made a comparison between cars and dogs in the first part of this article and it’s appropriate here too. You can go out and buy a 2020 Ford F150 and I can go out and buy the exact same truck. They’ll both have the same features, drive the same, and ride the same. We could swap them and not be able to tell the difference. This is NOT the case with dogs.
In the next installment of this article, I’ll describe personality types and how to select the right personality type for you.
Choosing the Right Puppy
Part 2 of ?
By
Steve Mark
East Valley K9 Services, LLC
Personality Types
For the purposes of this article, I’m going to classify puppies as A, B, or C personality types. However, please understand that just like people, dog’s personalities, or temperaments are complex. They don’t fit neatly into an A, B, or C classification. Breaking it down into these groups though, helps to simplify it and starts to give us an understanding. Afterall, this is a blog, not a book. The three groups are defined as follows:
A type: These are puppies that are very confident and assertive. They tend to run towards people, jump on them, and will bite at hands, shoes, or pants. They tend to play rough with other puppies and people, oftentimes at inappropriate levels and they may also bark at people and other dogs.
Puppies in the A group can be dogs that are difficult to train, stubborn, independent, overly rambunctious, reactive to other dogs and people, or even aggressive if not trained and socialized properly.
B type: These are puppies that tend to play at moderate levels. They may investigate new people or they may not even notice new people and just continue playing amongst themselves. This doesn’t mean that these puppies don’t like people, it just means that they don’t feel the need to go to an excitement level of 10 every time something new comes along.
Puppies in the B group tend to be well balanced. They accept new people, animals, and sights and sounds without being fearful, overly exuberant, or reactive.
C type: These are puppies that are shy and withdrawn with people and/or other dogs. They are easy to identify because they avoid contact and will often retreat to the farthest corner of the kennel to “get away”. Some, quite literally, are afraid of their own shadow. They are afraid of noises, sudden visual stimulation such as an umbrella opening, etc.
No personality type is better than another. These differences allow us to choose a puppy that will fit into our lifestyle.
Using This Information
Now that we have this information, let’s discuss why it is important.
Puppies are born within the spectrum of one of these personality types. Through proper training, conditioning, and socialization we can move them around to a certain extent within their area of the spectrum. Dogs are very trainable and moldable but there are limits. Don’t expect that you’re going to take home the puppy that is cowering and shaking in the back corner of the kennel and turn him into a protection dog. It ain’t gonna happen. Likewise, don’t take home that exuberant, high energy, assertive puppy and expect to turn him into a dog that will lay quietly by your side all evening while you read or do jigsaw puzzles. That ain’t gonna happen either.
An analogy that I often use is clay. Dogs are moldable, just like clay. Give an artist a piece of clay and they can make a ceramic bowl, dove, or a vase. However, no artist can make a bronze statue from a piece of clay.
Before choosing a puppy, better yet before even looking at puppies, examine your lifestyle honestly and determine what type of personality will fit your lifestyle. Are you the active type that likes to jog, hike, camp, and kayak? Or are you the type that likes to spend quiet time at home and maybe go for a short walk a few times a week? Do you want a calm dog that can accompany you to the local farmers market, art festival, and coffee shop? Do you have a strong personality that can take on a puppy that is independent, stubborn, and status seeking or do you tend to be a pushover?
It is important to assess you and your family honestly. For example, I like a dog that is confident, a little independent and assertive. My wife and I take our dogs everywhere we go. I would never take home a puppy that was in the C personality type. It just wouldn’t fit our lifestyle of camping, fishing, and traveling and I don’t have the patience to live with a fearful, skittish dog. That may sound bad coming from a dog trainer but I have to be honest with myself. There are other people however that like a dog with a type C personality and their lifestyle suits that type of dog.
