5 Dog Breed Myths

1. Big dogs are hard to handle

2. All small fluffy dogs are cute

3. Rescues are better than pedigrees (or vice versa)

4. Doodles don't shed

5. Sighthounds can't recall

Well - you could call them “myths” - but I prefer to call them “excuses”! 

Because these things usually come out of the mouths of people whose dogs are in some way challenging them, so they have to produce a reason which doesn’t include the fact that they forgot to train their dog … or they have deluded themselves into getting the wrong dog for their home because of a misconception. 

Let’s take a look:

1. Big dogs are hard to handle

Back in my Working Trials days I didn’t do PD (Police Dog), but competed at plenty of trials where PD was being tested, so I got to know a fair few of the top handlers. The dogs are tested for their resilience, their tenacity, their instant responses, and their ability to bring down a criminal (without damaging him). 

I learnt a saying there when talking to a trainer whose Champion was quite a small collie, which applies to all animals - including people! Note that ‘fight’ here refers to the conflict or spirit - it’s nothing to do with dogs fighting.

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

People can manage horses. People can manage elephants. People can manage all kinds of large animals. Big dogs can be handled just as easily. 

And a lot of people struggle to manage quite small dogs!

It’s all a question of switching things round from the concept of control, of dominance, to the fact that it’s all very easy if the dog wants to do what you ask.

This is the essence of Choice Training, and is what I teach throughout Brilliant Family Dog and all its books and programs.

2. All small fluffy dogs are cute

This is a nonsense put about by the ghastly puppy farms and ‘greeders’ who cater for the desire to have a fashionable fluffy to show off. 

These “designer dogs” are … dogs! And if they’ve had a poor start, as suggested in my sentence above, they’re going to be more difficult than they need to be.

Dogs come in all shapes, sizes, temperaments, and characters. It’s essential to work with the dog that’s in front of you, rather than the dog you wish you had.

“Cute is as cute does” as my mother would most certainly have said (if she’d ever used the word ‘cute’!). 

And yes, small fluffies can be cute. But so can big smoothcoats. And both have the potential to be less than cute. It’s all in how we teach them.

Back to Choice Training again!

3. Rescues are better than pedigrees (or vice versa)

This one’s just plain silly. A dog is a dog is a dog. He has no idea how he came to be on the planet. He just is!

And all dogs have a right to a good home and a good life. 

Choosing a dog of known breeding can certainly help if you want that dog for a specific purpose, and need evidence that the dog will be fit for that purpose both physically and mentally. But there are no guarantees! 

And it’s true to say that there is more variation between individuals than between breeds.

In other words - there’s an element of pot luck in choosing any dog! The only thing we can be sure of is how we treat that dog when he arrives.

Choice Training, anyone?

4. Poodle crosses don’t shed

More nonsense, I’m afraid. If you cross two animals, you’re going to get genes from both. Which genes are recessive and which dominant is in the lap of the gods.

You’ve only got to look at children in the same family - blue eyes / brown eyes, blonde hair / dark hair … 

So you can get a poodle cross that has no sign of poodle coat, and one which is very poodly. And all dogs lose hairs. So if you have a health reason for not wanting dog hairs in your home, a poodle cross is no guarantee.

5. Sighthounds don’t recall

I’ll let Cricket the Whippet answer this one for you in this brief video.

You can see the moment she clocks the rabbit and takes off - and you can see the enthusiasm with which she hurtles back!

And here’s another for you, where there’s no rabbit, but she really really hoped there would be, as there often are up this path - and she was alert and attentive in the hunt! 

Choice Training rules!!

Want to learn more about Choice Training?

Check out our free Workshop here, on getting your dog to LISTEN!

Helping your young dog understand our world

I was standing in our local high street with my puppy, just watching the world go by.

We saw people, children, dogs, wheelchairs, cars, vans, and a very interesting pigeon on the pavement a few yards from us. Coco studied this for a while and I gave him plenty of time to look at it, ensuring his lead was slack. Whenever he seemed more than curious, I’d feed him for not reacting. We were taking everything in our stride …

UNTIL this pleasant episode was interrupted by shouting. A woman was walking down the wide pavement, yanking the lead of her dog. She shouted “LEAVE IT!!” and yanked again. As far as I could see the dog was quite surprised by this.

She marched on, towards us and the pigeon. The friendly-looking young dog looked towards my pup - YANK! “LEAVE IT!!”

Then he made the mistake of glancing towards the pigeon YANKYANK SHAKE “LEAVE IT!!!”

By now the poor dog was straining on his lead to get as far away from his owner as possible. She stopped, gave the lead an almighty yank and hoisted the dog off his feet, once more yelling “LEAVE IT!!”

I wonder if that dog had any idea what “Leave it” meant?

What I do know is that a naturally curious young dog was being abused and punished for … what? Showing interest in his surroundings. 

This is exactly what I had brought my young dog out to do!

•  It’s very sad that anyone should treat another creature in this way.

•  It’s more sad that the dog was doing nothing wrong.

•  Sadder still that his owner seems to think this is the way to teach.

•  And saddest of all? He is stuck with this short-tempered, unenlightened owner.

We can’t reach everyone, but by our example we can hope to change attitudes, one dog at a time

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The Joy of Autumn Walks

Kicking up dried leaves, low sun, lengthening shadows, fairy rings, cold fresh air: Autumn is my favourite season.

I live in England, a temperate maritime climate, which means that we get the warmth of the gulf stream till quite late in the year. 

It also means we get a lot of fully-laden clouds looking for somewhere to drop their rain! This combination accounts for the greenness of the British Isles - what joy when all the blowsy heavy green of summer turns to burning golds and reds in the Autumn!

And it’s the perfect time for the dogs too.

It’s not too hot, nor yet too cold. Early in the Autumn there is not much mud, and there’s no ice to cut paws, or salt to dry pads. The sun is gentle with a body-infusing warmth we seek out. The streams are flowing and the pond is still warm enough to swim in. 

The ground is soft and good to run on. There are endless branches and pine cones, brought down in the autumn gales, for the dogs to discover, toss, carry, and chew. There are blackberries for all of us to forage for. 

Fallen branches make great climbing frames, smaller ones are jumped over or scrambled under. Leaves and feathers dart past in the wind for puppies to chase and catch.

Cold, fresh air, warm sun

The beauty is all around us. The last leaves cling to the trees and flutter and flap in the growing winds. The air is cold and fresh in your lungs, your breath misty. As the dogs run they billow out clouds from their soft mouths, the heavy damp scents drawing them on. 

The dogs will show you things: the steam rising from an occupied burrow, the disturbed ground where squirrels have been burying their autumn bounty, the sound of the wind high in the treetops. Twigs crackle and snap as they bound across them, nose down, exploring the scents they release as they run across this crunchy carpet. 

My four clamber up a fallen tree to get a better view

As we move into late November and December we get heavier rain, faster streams, choppy waves on the pond, gales to buffet the last leaves from the trees. It’s time to wrap up well, to put a fleecy jacket on the whippet, an all-over rainsuit on the poodle. The collies delight in the wet and the cold, and scorn outerwear!

Mists and magic

But October is often dry, fresh, chilly early on, with swirling mists which lend a magical air to the landscape. Rain tends to be light and fine. You feel it on your eyelashes. The Irish would say, “’Tis a soft day, thank God!” 

Children are in school, people are huddled in the warmth of their homes, and there is a blissful solitude on walks.

Just me, my dogs, and nature.

Then, as the sun slides behind the hills and the sky darkens, home we go, to a rubdown and bones for the dogs, a hot drink for me, and a doze in front of the fire for all of us.
 

A cosy cuddle in front of the fire rounds off a lovely day for Cricket and Lacy

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