Breed Differences and Why That is Important
Because of the popularity of rescues, there are many mixed breed dogs in our lives. There are many pros and cons to mixed breeds, however we can do a few things to help us see more clearly how to live with and nurture our mixed breed dogs. We are now capable of doing fairly reliable DNA testing, which is so easy to do with a cheek swab, to find out why our dog may be behaving a certain way.
Just as it is so important to know the history of your dog – where he came from, did he live in a barn, or was he abandoned, or even left by the side of the road – it helps us to understand him and direct our training.
I am a huge fan of DNA testing because there are so many breed characteristics that simply give us more understanding, compassion and direction about how to help our dog be the best he can be.
Herding breeds have certain characteristics that can be mistaken for aggression such as the Border Collie. They have what is known as the Border Collie stare. They are inherently going to stare at stock or at you. This stare can be mistaken for aggression very easily. If you have DNA testing on your dog and realize that there is Border Collie in your mix, it can greatly influence the direction and understanding you have for your dog.
Once you have DNA testing done, and you now know that breeds of dog that are combined genetically, you can research those breeds and start identifying behaviors you thought might in fact, be something else.
There are many influences to behavior. Environment, as I mentioned above can influence behavior and instill fearfulness or confidence in a young pup. It can influence aggression, dominance or even submissive behavior. Another influence is genetics, as I am speaking of now. Genetics can influence whether your dog is a “nose” dog scenting everything high and low and never hearing your commands. Genetics can influence whether the dog will have the ability to learn “come” which can be VERY difficult for a hound dog! Genetics can even influence whether your dog will have tendencies to fight or flee.
Some dog breeds are more “biddable” than others. Biddable means easy to train and LIKE to work for their owners. For instance, Labradors and Goldens tend to be more biddable than terriers, that is why they are so widely used for service work. Terriers have so much drive to find and kill vermin, they can be very independent. You may be able to train a terrier quickly, but when they are in their hunt mode, all bets are off. That hunting instinct can be so powerful, nothing else is important to them, and they may be more apt to want to “spar” with other dogs.
Of course, the examples I gave are examples. Every dog is individual just like people. Understanding your breed(s) is one of the keys to having a deeper understanding of whom your dog is and help you to direct his training needs so he can fit into your life AND keep him safe.
Caption: My first Search and Rescue Dog, Tazzi was half Rottweiler and half German Shepherd. She was a scenting machine and had several obedience titles. She was so easy to train! Knowing her mixes helped me to direct how I was going to train her to help her be the best she could be.
