Dogs, just like humans, display a wide range of tolerance for others. Some are immediately friendly with every new dog, mouse or bird. Others are forever unfriendly to even the opposite sex of their own breed. Considering that dogs are by nature territorial, the diversity is odd, but there it is.
Naturally, animal lovers like to have more than one dog around and sometimes several breeds and other pets. Guaranteeing that furniture stays intact and bodies unscathed can be somewhat of a challenge. And don’t forget about your neighbor’s pets or nearby critters that wander into your dog’s territory where your yard, not to mention your sanity, can be at a very real risk.
The initial step is to begin the process of socializing your dog as early as feasible. Just like young children, puppies are much more accepting of strangers. Since they haven’t yet distinguished between friend and enemy, everything is a new experience to be explored rather than alarmed by or chased.
If you just have one dog, expose the puppy early on to other dogs and people. Get them comfortable with being touched, especially between the toes, in the ears and near the eyes. Along with impact on interaction with animals, that will make visits to the vet and outings a lot easier.
Dogs, typically, sniff everything. When they’re about to interact with another, manage them until you are confident they won’t chase or fight, and only then let them explore the other dog, cat or animal.
If the dog displays a tendency to jump or bite, put up with it to the point someone is going to get injured. It’s normal for dogs to rough house, knock one another over and even lightly bite legs and necks. Stay nearby and be prepared to grab them, if necessary. Leather gloves may be useful during these first attempts.
If your dog continually barks, distract them with a treat, a toy or a sharp command. If they still refuse to stop pulling or barking after a few attempts at control, try another day. What works will differ widely depending on the individual dog and some will simply never put up with others (just like some humans we all know). You’ll figure out over time what works and what doesn’t as you observe your dog interacting with others.
It might be necessary to put the dog on its back, then hold it down with a firm hand on the chest. In more difficult cases a bark or shout into the face of the dog is helpful. Yes, you will look like a nut to others, but this technique is even employed by the Monks of New Skeet. The brothers of this upper New York State religious order are world-renown for their German Shepherd raising practices.
Rescued or animal shelter dogs usually need extra patience when socializing. These animals have often been abused by people or injured by other dogs. Those experiences naturally many times lead to aggression or fear. Remarkable transformations can take place even in these dogs, however. After continual exposure they often learn to at least tolerate other people and animals.
Start socializing early, expose for short intervals increasing to longer ones, repeat as needed. In each instance, be prepared to physically and mentally control the dog.
Jane Saeman
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/dog-training-socializing-your-dog-136896.html
In your opinion is it the breed or training?
In your opinion what do you think influences a dogs behaviour the most their breed or the way they have been trained and socialized?
The way they have been trained or socialized. Any knowledgeable owner would say so.
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trained and socialized
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Training and socialization.
Genetics and breeding affect behavior a little bit, but most of a dog’s behaviors are a result of their owners and upbringing.
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Breed means nothing. Temperament means everything. You can never train or catagorize dogs by breed simply because sometimes you can have a weak Rottweiler and sometimes you can have a hard Chihuahua. You can’t put breeds in boxes, they’ll simply make you look silly. Genetics, temperament, and training are what counts.
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I’m a professional GSD breeder/trainer.
Definitely the way they’ve been trained and socialized otherwise would would still be surrounded by 100% wild wolves!
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Absolutely their training. I do not believe that any breed as a whole is bad. I do believe that any breed owned by the wrong person can be dangerous.
If you socialize and train a dog no matter the breed they should be fine. On the other hand, any untrained dog of any size or breed could be deadly.
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Behavior? Training and socialization.
Temperament (which is not the same as behavior) is inborn, and is to some extent at least, influenced by breed AND by the temperaments of the parent dogs. Temperament can vary widely among individuals of a breed, and the pups can inherit the temperament of its parents, whether that’s good or bad.
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I would say that training and socialization influences dogs behaviour mostly. There are also breed factors i.e. what the dog was bred for, i.e. hunting etc… but on the whole I believe training and socialization are the most important things that you can do for your dog to help him become well balanced.
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The owner! (training, boundaries, etc.)
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training
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Trained and socialized, but many facets of temperament and behavior are genetic.
For example, the ability for a dog to be used as a gun dog. Yes, you train the dog to perform the task, but dogs from strong hunting lines are preferred. A average BYB bred Lab may never be able to be used for hunting. Dog breeds were developed by selecting dogs with specific traits and behaviors that were desired to perform the job needed.
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Training and socializing.
See if you shout at a dog and train it will behave well.
But if you let it do whatever it likes it will not behave.
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It is the healthy combination of both-not simply one or the other.
With training you may be able to manage a poor temperament from bad breeding within any breed specific animal.
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You can not train temperament!!!!!!!
What I mean by that is that you have to start with a genetically sound tempered dog.
A dog with a weak temperament may improve with training but it will NEVER be as good as the dog that has a sound temperament.
We are seeing SO many weak temperaments in my breed-Rough Collies that it is starting to be an issue. Dogs who shrink back when the judges come to examine. Dogs who have been out and about, trained and socialized. It is really a pity to see this happening.
So its genetics first then training and socialization.
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35 years professional horse trainer and breeder.
Dog trainer, exhibitor Obedience.
The training and socializing of course. And other little things owner do without realizing they’re bad for the dog’s behavior.. Of course the breed is partly important too, for example, you can NOT take the running out of a husky no matter what you do! Trust me, I know.
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I spend 2 hours running with my husky, 1 hour me biking & him running after me, 1 hour playing with the ball & practicing what he learned at obedience & agility class EACH DAY & his agility & obedience classes twice a week on top of this… we add extra "play in the snow all day" time at winter coz he just adores snow & swimming at spring, when we move to our country house (it means swimming pool time – YAY!) but the weather is still cool enough 2 exercise during the day… we do the same at summer but it gets super hot during day so we run at night, which means i don’t get any sleep… oh well. i gues breed DOES matter a little. =))
Most breeds can be "Generalized" as far as their temperaments go. It’s pretty easy to figure a Chow or Shar Pei will be fearful aggressive…..it’s pretty certain a Border Collie will have high drives and be quite intelligent….it’s almost a certainty that ALL lap dogs will be a nervous wreck….Coon Hounds are gonna have little, if any desire to do obedience…etc.
The way a dog is raised and trained will greatly affect the finished "adult" package. However, for some dogs, no amount of proper raising or training will improve their outcome. Some dogs are doomed by genetics to be complete failures.
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GENETICS, first, foremost and always, period, the end!!!!
How do you train temperament into a dog? That is something genetic, the dog is BORN with it.
All the horse crap that you hear in here is to make excuses of weak tempered dogs with bad nerves. You cannot train weak nerves out of a dog. You cannot train drives into a dog, they are there or they are not.
Hope I helped!
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Realist
I think it is a combination of both.
No matter what anyone says, there are some breeds that are more prone to aggressiveness. Not all members of the breed will be aggressive, not saying that at all, but there are some things you just can’t train out of (or into) a dog.
I’ll give an OPPOSITE example with my own beloved breed, Gordon Setters. They are wonderfully sweet tempered dogs, and NORMALLY get along with everyone. As hunting dogs, they are expected to get along with strange dogs that they might meet out in the field. Dog aggression is STRONGLY frowned upon.
Some years ago, I was at a Gordon Setter specialty, a dog show that was all Gordons. In the brace class- a class where a dog & b*tch are shown together as a team by the same handler, one of the males suddenly ROARED at another male and lunged at him. There was a horrible fight, and the poor females that were attached to the much larger males were tossed all around. The owner of the attacking dog grabbed him and hauled him backward, away from the other dog, and he turned on her, biting her severely. In my breed, where temperament is valued so highly, this was totally unacceptable, and the dog was euthanized shortly after.
It works both ways. Training can help, but I would never feel 100% comfortable around a dog that had already shown aggression.
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