How much does a dog's breed predict his behaviour?

I’m always saying that “There is more difference between individual dogs than between breeds.”  

Defining a person by his ancestry is called racism. And in defining a dog by the set of his ears or tail, the length of his legs, coat-colour, or any of the other cosmetic changes developed in the last couple of hundred years since breeds became a thing - you are being, shall we say, “breedist” ;-)

This saying has long been known amongst those who study dog behaviour. Especially those who work with dogs, and whose eyes and mind are open.

(Sadly there are a lot of so-called dog experts who’ve never studied anything in their lives. Their minds are made up and they do not wish to be confused by the facts.)

And it’s good to see a paper released recently which confirms what the more discerning amongst us already knew.

The researchers studied 18,000 dogs, with DNA sequencing for 2,000 of them. They included purebred dogs, mixed-breed dogs, purpose-bred working dogs, and village dogs, to give a full picture.

And their main conclusion was this:

“Behavioral traits are subtly differentiated in modern breeds. Furthermore, breed offers only modest value for predicting the behavior of individual dogs. For more heritable and more breed-differentiated traits, like biddability, knowing breed ancestry can make behavioral predictions somewhat more accurate in purebred dogs. For less heritable, less breed-differentiated traits, like agonistic threshold, which measures how easily a dog is provoked by frightening, uncomfortable, or annoying stimuli, breed is almost uninformative.”

In other words …

Breed or type is not a predictor of behaviour in an individual.

They go on to say:

“Among behavioral traits, biddability—how well dogs respond to human direction—was the most heritable by breed but varied significantly among individual dogs. Thus, dog breed is generally a poor predictor of individual behavior and should not be used to inform decisions relating to selection of a pet dog.”

There you have it! Like people, dogs are individuals, and ancestry has little impact on how they will behave.

Your Retriever may be gun-shy. Your Whippet may be lazy. Your Border Collie may be dumb. Your guard breed dog may be so afraid of his own shadow that he couldn’t guard a thing.

The trouble is …

We think we know it all! We look at our dog when he does something we may not like, and say, “Typical terrier,” or “Just like a poodle!” or “Labradors are all the same.”

But the fact is, we are seeing what we expect to see. It’s called Confirmation Bias - that you see confirmation of your beliefs wherever you look, with no sound basis in fact!

For instance, if you think red cars have suddenly become all the rage, you’ll see them everywhere. “There!” you say, “Red cars are really popular right now.”

As the paper puts it:

“In purebred dogs, cultural breed stereotypes affect the perception of a dog’s behavior and thus may alter a dog’s environment.”

If you expect red cars to show up, you’ll see them - you may even go to places where there are likely to be more of them (Ferrari showroom, anyone?).

And if you expect your Dachshund to bark, then you will get used to his barking, assume that it’s part of his make-up, and accommodate his expected behaviour, not realising that he’s actually barking because he’s afraid, and you can help him!

Worse still, if you think that your Beagle will run off - because “Beagles do” - you won’t actually bother to train a solid recall from the start. You’ll confirm your perception of the dog’s behaviour being a result of his breed, by allowing him to run off!

Are you blaming your dog’s ancestry for what you haven’t taught him?

If you think that there’s a smidgin of truth in this, I recommend you have a look at the paper, then you can play around with their behaviour predictor and see just how accurate your perception of your dog’s behaviour is!

As Dr Elinor Karlsson of the University of Massachusetts, one of the authors, says:

“Owners should pay much less attention to all the stories about what their dog’s breed ancestry says about their behaviour and personality, and pay attention to the dog sitting in front of them.”

… which brings me to another of my favourite sayings:

Always work with the dog in front of you, rather than the dog you wish you had.

And for a totally individualised program of how to get your dog to listen - and yes, that includes Beagles! - watch our free Workshop here.

How long should my puppy walk?

This is a GREAT question! And there are lots of things for you to consider.  

Here’s some generally-accepted wisdom, but the devil is in the detail! Take these guidelines with a b-i-i-i-i-g pinch of salt.

A general guide for exercising puppies is to allow them one to two sessions of five minutes walking for each month of age, so for example, a four month old pup could enjoy walks of 20 minutes at a time, once or twice a day. Blue Cross

The UK Kennel Club actually gives suggested walk duration for adults of all the different dog breeds here: https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/search/breeds-a-to-z/, though I would certainly argue with some of their recommendations!

What kind of puppy do you have?

There are large breed puppies, toy puppies, highly active puppies, working breeds you plan to work, and working breeds you don’t want to work.

All puppies need care taken of their joints. And this is essential for the large, slow-maturing, breeds. The growth plates don’t close in the joints till maturity, and this can be as late as 2 years old for larger dogs.

And of course your tiny Chihuahua doesn’t want the legs run off him.

All puppies should be lifted in and out of the car to start with, and larger breed puppies will need a step to climb in and out of the car safely when they’re too big for you to lift.

Lead walking vs free running

There is a huge difference between tramping the streets on a lead, and free running and playing on a suitable surface.

I would limit hard-surface walks for your puppy - pavement, road, hard-baked and frozen ground - to as little as possible. Keep him on soft, grassy, surfaces, and avoid slippery surfaces like the plague.

You also have to consider your puppy’s type - coat, length of muzzle, paw-shape - and check the weather, especially when it’s hot.

Whether it’s a roadwalk or free play, all the time your puppy is learning, so all the time you need to be teaching!

Don’t expect your puppy to KNOW how to walk on lead! We have to teach him. Walking nicely beside you on lead does not come installed. It’s an add-on. 

Start as you mean to go on, with non-aversive equipment, like a harness and medium-length lead rather than a collar - and never use an extendable lead, which just teaches your dog to pull, leaving you with more work to do later when your little scrap is a hefty beast able to haul you along and pull you over!

Follow a good, kind, loose lead walking program and teach your puppy in the house before expecting him to have any understanding when he’s in the thick of it - sights, sounds, and smells bombarding him on all sides.

Exploring and socialisation for your puppy

Right now what he needs is mental stimulation, and free exercise: playing with you in the garden, running, jumping, rolling over … Any roadwalks are purely for exploration, not route-marches!

Take care if you have older dogs though. Most older dogs are kind and will adapt their play to a young puppy. But if you’re out and about and there are dogs racing around, don’t let your puppy join in! There’s a high chance of him overdoing it, or annoying the older dogs.

Playing with a similar size, age, breed or type, of puppy can be very helpful. Puppy-puppy play is another of those areas where you need some knowledge before jumping in, so be sure you’re getting tuition from a qualified professional force-free trainer on this tricky subject. There can be serious fallout from unregulated puppy play.

Who is the walk for?

And always keep in mind who this walk is for! You may have got a dog because you want to keep fit and get out and about, but you’ll have to wait for your puppy to develop before you can start tramping over moor and mountain.

For a puppy, walks are for exploring and socialising - discovering the world and all that’s in it in a way that doesn’t make him afraid. Always allow him to check things out at a distance, rather than dragging him over to meet people or other dogs.

Consistency is key

It’s better to have regular small amounts of exercise to develop the strength in those bones and muscles, rather than a huge long tramp at the weekend and very little the rest of the time.

If you are planning on employing a dog walker - be sure that they are professionally qualified and know what’s right for a puppy. Quiz them thoroughly. Damage done now can result in costly pain and vet bills later on.

Remember that swimming, paddling, and climbing stairs or logs, managing new surfaces (large gravel, pea gravel, mud, forest floor) - all coming under the general heading of Puppy Gym - and learning simple tricks, are also exercise!

Do I really have to wait?

Yes. You do. This time of limited and carefully-guided exercise will pass soon enough, as you and your puppy learn new skills together to fit you for your long life ahead.

And you’ll be rewarded with a more contented, healthier dog for the rest of his days.

Want more help for your new puppy? We’d love to show you more!

Watch our free Workshop on Getting your Dog to LISTEN, here

What are the most effective dog treats?

We receive thousands of marketing messages every day. We’re exhorted to buy foods which have “value added”, i.e. processed, ready-to-eat, convenience foods.

We KNOW (really! We all know!) that fresh foods are w-a-a-a-a-y cheaper to purchase, and are w-a-a-a-a-y healthier - without all those preservatives, additives, treatments. But they need a bit of work to turn into meals.

So it’ll be no surprise to the discerning reader that the same thing happens with dog foods. We’re bombarded with marketing messages and glossy images of glossy dogs bouncing all over the place. I talk about how to choose an appropriate diet for your dog here and here.

But the same marketing bombardment happens with dog treats.

Not only do you have to be equally discerning about what you put inside your dog in terms of nutrition, but there are other considerations.

Unless you’re just dishing out treats for no reason, you need to choose your dog treats carefully!

Training treats

And nowhere is this more important than the treats you choose to use in training your dog.

There are various factors you have to consider. And I outline most of them for you in my books. But for those of you who are yet to discover the joy of these books (seriously - people LOVE them! Just look at the hundreds of reviews on Amazon), here is an excerpt for you from Essential Skills for your Growly but Brilliant Family Dog: Books 1-3: Understanding your fearful, reactive, or aggressive dog, and strategies and techniques to make change

Chapter 2

Rewards - what, how, when?

Rewarding your dog with something he really likes is essential to this easy method of training. This may be with a game of chase, tugging with a toy, racing after a ball, being given his dinner bowl, a cuddle, or a tasty treat. It’s up to you to find out just what your dog likes (as opposed to what you think he likes) and reward him appropriately when he makes a good choice.

Treats are not a moral issue. They are a means to an end. The end is your dog responding to you and working with you. If employing a few bits of cheese means that my walks are enjoyable and my dog is calm and happy, then that seems a good deal to me. I only give my dogs a treat when they’ve done something I like: I aim to get through a lot of treats every day!

The treats need to be very tasty - your dog has got to really want them! And you don’t want her chewing and chomping on a biscuit for so long that she forgets what she earned it for. So the treat needs to slip down quickly and make your dog think, “Wow! How can I get some more of that?” Your dog needs to know what you like and what does not work with you.

So every time she does something you like, you can mark it by saying, “YES!” and giving her a treat. There is no need for your dog to sit in order to receive a treat. Some dogs think that sitting and begging is the only way to earn a treat, so they sit and beg and annoy at every opportunity. If you are crystal clear about what your dog is doing that is earning the reward (by saying YES), then he will know what actions to repeat, and what doesn’t pay. The sitting, begging dog has no idea what causes these random treats to appear.

When you mark an action, you want to mark as the dog is doing it. If you are marking a Sit, for instance, you need to say Yes as the bum is going to the floor. If you wait till your dog has already sat, she’s now gazing out of the window and thinking of something else. That’s not what you want to mark! As the sheepdog trainer John Holmes told us, you need to catch your dog with his mind down the rabbit-hole, not wait till he is down the rabbit-hole, when it’s too late. You want to catch your dog thinking about sitting.

Good treats

• Cheese

• Sausage

• Ham

• Chicken

• Frankfurter

• Salami

• Homemade sardine, tuna, or ham cookies

• Freeze-dried 100% meat treats

• Dried sprats

• Dehydrated liver, heart, lung, etc

.. real food in other words. Ideally, they slip down quickly so your dog wants more. Cut them into small, pea-size treats.

OK treats                    

• High-quality grain-free commercial treats

Fairly rubbish treats

• Your dog’s usual kibble - She gets it anyway. Why should she have to work for it?

• Cat biscuits

• Dog biscuits

• Stuff of unrecognisable composition sold as pet treats

• Anything you wouldn’t put in your own mouth

Do you work more enthusiastically for £60 an hour or for 50p an hour? Quite so. Your dog is the same. Be sure the treats you’re offering are worth working for!

So you can see it’s not just the quantity of treats you dish out (huge number when you’re working on something new or working against fear), but the quality is critical!

And before you suggest this may work out more expensive - think again! Look at the pack of commercial treats you are thinking of buying, and look at the weight vs the price. There is no contest with fresh foods!

So not only will you be making your training more effective - for which your fearful dog will profoundly thank you - but you’re making a tiny dent in your wallet!

Choose wisely.

And to get started with helping your Growly - reactive, anxious, fearful - dog, watch our free Masterclass here. Lots of lessons to get you started on a new path!

By the way, for English readers, here’s a load of money off a super food I regularly use and here’s another where you can get a big discount using this link - they provide high-quality fishy treats and foods, which are firm favourites with my crew!

Big dogs or small dogs - which is easier?

There’s a great debate raging about whether small dogs or large dogs (or medium dogs!) are better. 

And all parties are convinced their dog is the best size!

Having had dogs from very large down to miniature, and a lot in between, I can say that each of them has HUGE good points (and some not-so-good) often having nothing to do with their size.

It really comes down to Horses for Courses.

If you want to do Search and Rescue, you need a robust dog who can walk for miles through difficult terrain = medium to large dog.

If you want to do small dog agility = small dog!

If you want a quiet easy-to-manage dog = usually the medium to larger end of the size scale.

You want a lap dog … depends on the size of your lap! 😊

And so it goes on - there’s no one size fits all! It really depends what you want.

“Small dogs yap!”

It’s true that when small dogs bark it tends to be a yap, and more sustained. They need to make up in volume what they lack in stature. And this noise can grate with many people, whereas a more manly woof is often more acceptable to our human ears.

So small dogs make great house alert dogs. And many are willing and able to follow through with their teeth!

Bigger dogs look more menacing by virtue of their size. And where the big dogs can block a path nicely, the medium to small dogs often win out on speed and manoeuvrability.

Big dogs need big space

Bigger dogs need bigger beds, bigger homes, bigger crates, bigger cars, bigger gardens, bigger food bowls and more food, and they cause bigger vet bills as meds are usually charged by volume.

And while the really big dogs need a large space to stretch out in, the ability of many medium-size dogs, like Border Collies, to curl up into a tiny ball - is remarkable.

Small dogs can fit in a shoebox

And, of course, small dogs have much fewer requirements - for food, housing, bedding, vet bills, and so on. And if you want a lap-dog - or as the ancient Chinese called them, “sleeve dogs” - then a small dog is what you’ll probably prefer.

But what about their character?

This is where the findings of a Lincoln University study are important to understand.

One of the key findings is that  

There is more variation between individuals than between breeds

In other words, breed or type - while giving clues to certain behavioural traits - does not necessarily define the dog.

You can get shy Jack Russell Terriers, Collies that have no herding drive, lazy Whippets, scared German Shepherds, quiet Pomeranians, plodding Working Cocker Spaniels.

They are the exceptions that can prove the rule! But they sure exist.

And if you choose a crossbred puppy, you’re taking pot luck! 

What it all boils down to is that you work with the dog in front of you, rather than the dog you wish you had.

This can lead to a measure of disappointment - especially if you got that dog specifically for its working ability, for agility or nosework for instance. It’s the same disappointment you may experience if your competition hopeful has a bad injury.

Thing is, that dog is a person. He is himself. And that’s who we love.

So when it comes to choosing a dog for your family, take everything into account, do your sums, brush up on Probability Theory, and follow your heart!

And for a kind and effective process that works with ALL dogs, regardless of shape, size, or temperament - watch our free Workshop on getting your dog to LISTEN!

Want to teach your dog tricks? Start here!

Dog tricks! They’re such fun - for you and your dog. 

And one of the main components of many things you’d like your dog to do is to pick things up.

So Pick up, Hold, Bring it to me, are so important - along with Catch, Fetch, and a formal retrieve.

You may have some learning to undo

If your dog has always been admonished for picking things up around the house and garden and on walks, you’re going to have to start from scratch teaching her that now you want her to pick them up!

Give her time to understand that the rules have changed.

You’ll need to teach your dog to hold with a soft mouth. So begin with things she can’t damage before graduating to your tv remote - which definitely would not appreciate being crunched enthusiastically or slobbered on!

Some dogs will squash soft and squishy things. So to encourage them to H-O-L-D gently, with a still mouth, you may find a firm, uncrunchable, tube good to start with. The sort of thing you come to in the centre of a roll of bags.

It needs to have some grip - so not shiny smooth plastic - and not mind getting wet.

As you can see from this picture, EVEN a sighthound can perform a cracking retrieve! (Can’t tell you how many times I was told that as Cricket is a Whippet she’d never be able to fetch. What’s a rabbit, if not a retrieve object?!)

Here’s how to get started!

Here’s an excerpt from Fetch It! Teach your Brilliant Family Dog to catch, fetch, retrieve, find, and bring things back! to get you going, and discovering that it really isn’t that difficult to turn your bored dog into an eager retriever!

Ready, get set, play!

The essence of this method is that it’s fun! It’s a game! So get your dog playing with you first. If she’ll tug, do that. If she’ll run after toys, do that - whether she brings them back or not. And if toys are not de rigueur yet, just run about and play chase and dodge with her. You want to get her heart rate up a bit so she doesn’t fall asleep when you want to work with her.

1. Where you start this is important. Skip the busy kitchen or distracting garden. The best place to start is the study, spare bedroom, or bathroom or any other small room which is free of distraction.

2. Kneel on the floor if you are able. This stops you looming over your dog, which many find very intimidating. Or you can sit so the dog is just in front of you.

3. Animate your chosen toy - at ground level. You want to simulate a rat or rabbit moving fast, then stopping to twitch its whiskers, then darting forward again. A kind of figure of eight movement on the floor around you will work. Watch your dog - he’ll suddenly plug into this movement as his instincts wake up. Then he’ll start to chase it.

4. He may start by pouncing on it, and using his feet to stop it. Keep it moving, jerking it away as he gets close, until he realises he can use his mouth for this. Let him catch it! And mark with a YES.

5. And immediately reward him with a treat to his nostrils, removing the toy as he releases it (you were still holding on to it!)

6. Repeat, repeat, repeat, till you are actually both holding the article for a moment before you ask for a release. This is your first session and will probably take you about three minutes. STOP! Don’t be tempted to carry on till your dog gets bored and loses interest! Remember we’re teaching, not testing. Put the toy away and have another go later.

What happens next? Ooh, you’ll have to nip over to Amazon and get the book! It goes into huge detail on catching, fetching, retrieving, tugging, how to start your assistance dog work, and even how to teach scentwork searches!

With plenty of reviews, it’s proving popular with people who want to have more fun with their dog. And it’s the basis of so many tricks, both fun and very useful.

Now, who’s going to fetch the car keys, pick up the post, and unload the washing machine for you?

Do you like to learn via video lessons? Check out the Brilliant Family Dog Academy where we get you going with some great tricks!

Do you have a rescue dog? Or do you have a *dog*?

Have a think.

When did you last describe your dog as a rescue dog?

Last week?

Yesterday?

Today??

Now, if you acquired your new dog just today, I can understand why you may feel the need to say this. You don’t need to, but we’ll come to that . . .

But if you rehomed your dog more than about five minutes ago, she is NOT a rescue dog! She’s YOUR dog!

Labels

We have a dreadful habit of applying labels to everything.

He’s a naughty child. They’re bossy people. That dog is stubborn.

The first thing to realise is that we’re labelling the PERSON because of their behaviour. Just because someone once did something should not colour our perception of them for ever!

The child was not naughty - he may have done something naughty, but that doesn’t mean you can add the label “naughty” so that you always regard his actions through the “naughty” lens.

Those bossy people maybe reacted poorly in a tricky situation. They didn’t handle it well. They’re not “bossy”. They just weren’t up to that task.

And as for the “stubborn” dog . . . if you’ve read any of my writings you’ll know that dogs are not stubborn. They simply don’t understand what you want of them, or don’t see the value in doing it. That means you haven’t taught them yet!

As the renowned Veterinary Behaviourist Karen Overall says (and I love this quote!),

“What we call something matters because it shapes how we think of it.”

Ditch the labels!

All this labelling is doing us - and the “labellees” a disservice. It is changing our perception of them, and alters our response to them.

If you’re told someone is a thief, you’re going to be very careful around them, watch your belongings, not leave them alone without supervision. It will totally govern how you are with them!

And if you label your dog a rescue - think why that is?

• Are you wanting sympathy and a big “Aahh” when you say it?

• Are you implying that anything your dog does is not your fault?

• Are you abdicating responsibility for teaching this dog - something you can’t deny responsibility for with a puppy you got at 8 weeks?

Whatever it is, ditch that label!

Can you see how it’s not serving you or your dog?

So now, next time you speak to someone about your dog - how are you going describe her?

And for more help with your dog - get our free email course on common dog problems! Lots of help for you there.

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