Breed Traits, Own & Accept Them!
Every breed of dog is bred or has in their DNA unique and distinctive traits that drive that dogs behavior, temperament, trainability etc…
Most folks that adopt a dog really never think about the breed of dog they are getting. We are such visual creatures, and a cute German Shepherd puppy is almost irresistible, until they are about 7 months old. That irresistibility then turns to frustration, destruction and chaos because, German Shepherd dogs, while they make good pets in the right homes, are a high maintenance breed both physically and mentally and most average owners do not have the time, space and resources to PROPERLY meet the dogs needs.
I talk all the time about owning it. Part of proper ownership is being able to recognize what your dog was bred to do and accept those characteristics.
For example: I own 3 herding dogs and here are the simple facts I MUST own about having these dogs:
- Yes, I have to play fetch at least 3 times a day at a minimum, to keep my dogs from having behavior problems due to pent up energy that gets misdirected as aggression. EVEN when I’m tired or busy or whatever is going on, it’s a must do.
- Yes they are always going to chase things, that’s what herding dogs do. While I can temper it with good focus obedience, I can count on the fact that given a bunny to chase or me to focus on, its hard for them to not choose the bunny. So I avoid situations where bunnies might be competing with me unless I want to let them chase the bunnies.
- No, my cattle dog is not a friendly dog to those outside of his circle. Cattle dogs are tenacious and bred to bite cows on the butt and legs. So, they are bitey little dogs and that has to be managed, constantly. I can socialize my Cattle Dog to a degree, but biting can be a part of owning one of these dogs.
- The Cattle Dog yip is real, and drives spikes into my spine and No I cannot train my cattle dog to have a different tone to his excited yip.
- My Border Collie is smart, very smart. She can escape and destroy a wire crate from within, she can open doors and I have to play games with her to utilize her mind. If I don’t, she digs and chews.
- Herding dogs are not great in play groups. These dogs are bred to work away from humans, by themselves, to herd stuff. This can make it difficult to integrate new dogs into your pack, and they are just not friendly players with strange dogs and or in groups.
- My herding dogs, all three of them, are high strung, non stop dogs that don’t settle super easy. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise…
Taking ownership of a dogs characteristics is key to being able to train and manage behavior. If you are going to own a herding dog or a mixed breed with herding dog thrown in, you are going to need some space and time to engage with this dog on a meaningful level for the dog. Dog sports is a great way to engage with your dog of this breed and it is fun, IF you have the time to dedicate to it.
Here are some resources to help folks understand breed characteristics:
https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/
A mixed breed of dog can have strong traits from all of the breeds that are included in the mix, so you then have to look at each individual breed within. So owning and acceptance will hopefully help the human to have a better energy towards the dogs who have undesired behavior that is breed specific. And hopefully you can take this information and then make a training plan, remember you can call us or drop a line in the dropbox as a Zoom topic for our monthly Q&A.
Here is a sampling of a few things I have come across for high energy dogs:
