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#Post#: 92653--------------------------------------------------
Judging dogs by breed
By: Lurknomore Date: April 28, 2022, 10:29 pm
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Interesting Wapo article today, link to gift article…
HTML https://wapo.st/3Fd1oJ3
#Post#: 92711--------------------------------------------------
Re: Judging dogs by breed
By: Queenie Date: April 29, 2022, 9:35 am
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I just disagree so hard with the findings of this article. I
also find the results suspect because they are based on owner
surveys.
I love dogs. I love them all, they are all just so great. But
to say that, say, trainability doesn't vary enormously by breed
is simply incorrect. Sure, you can train a mastiff to hunt
birds or a gundog to guard, a pug to do search and rescue or a
bloodhound to herd sheep but it's an uphill battle and you're
much wiser to choose a breed that has the behaviours you want to
shape already baked in.
That said, you'd be an idiot to assume that just because you
bought a lab it is going to love retrieving out of water. You
still have to shape the behaviours you want, and of course there
is going to be a range of abilities/traits across the breed.
Quarter horses like to run fast over short distances,
thoroughbreds love to race, collies herd, mastiffs guard,
pitties tug, retrievers retrieve. Is this universally true for
every individual? Of course not. Is there a trend? There is.
#Post#: 92716--------------------------------------------------
Re: Judging dogs by breed
By: LabPartner Date: April 29, 2022, 9:53 am
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[quote]The researchers examined data only on dogs that live
primarily as companion animals and did not study how genes
influence working dogs bred to perform specific tasks.[/quote]
The article really isn't talking about what you're talking
about. Mostly, it seems they're talking about whether dogs can
be around strangers.
#Post#: 92722--------------------------------------------------
Re: Judging dogs by breed
By: Queenie Date: April 29, 2022, 10:31 am
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[quote author=LabPartner link=topic=1025.msg92716#msg92716
date=1651243997]
[quote]The researchers examined data only on dogs that live
primarily as companion animals and did not study how genes
influence working dogs bred to perform specific tasks.[/quote]
The article really isn't talking about what you're talking
about. Mostly, it seems they're talking about whether dogs can
be around strangers.
[/quote]
But tons of dogs (basically all purebreds) which are companion
animals were also bred to do specific tasks. I read a different
article on this same research yesterday and that article said
that most dog behaviours aren't breed specific. And while this
may be strictly true, the ones that are are arguably a huge
influence on the stuff you can get them to do.
#Post#: 92726--------------------------------------------------
Re: Judging dogs by breed
By: LabPartner Date: April 29, 2022, 10:47 am
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I agree. It's a very limited article, mostly surveying whether
people's pets like other people.
We almost never saw hounds at the dog beach. It wasn't enclosed,
and they'd take off after scents, mostly squirrels that lived in
the adjoining park. The herding dogs would herd dogs and people.
The retrievers were like, "Hey, doofus, throw the damn ball
again already." You really can't untrain them from from any
breed-specific behavior.
#Post#: 92727--------------------------------------------------
Re: Judging dogs by breed
By: Queenie Date: April 29, 2022, 10:50 am
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[quote author=LabPartner link=topic=1025.msg92726#msg92726
date=1651247235]
I agree. It's a very limited article, mostly surveying whether
people's pets like other people.
We almost never saw hounds at the dog beach. It wasn't enclosed,
and they'd take off after scents, mostly squirrels that lived in
the adjoining park. The herding dogs would herd dogs and people.
The retrievers were like, "Hey, doofus, throw the damn ball
again already." You really can't untrain them from from any
breed-specific behavior.
[/quote]
Trying to get a slobberdog to find, work, flush, and retrieve
birds is, well, let's just say it's an uphill battle. LCP,
OTOH, seemed to know exactly what to do without being told at
all. She's so proud!
FWIW my last Slobberdog was also terrible at guarding, which is
what she was bred for. She was a champ at knocking things over
though, which is perhaps the second most prominent Slobberdog
trait after, you know, slobber.
#Post#: 92826--------------------------------------------------
Re: Judging dogs by breed
By: LabPartner Date: April 29, 2022, 1:35 pm
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The one slobberdog I've known. Leah used to watch television,
and she'd always rush the screen to greet any animal -- real or
cartoon, and not just dogs -- that appeared on screen. It was
funniest and scariest when she wasn't even in the room when she
heard an animal on TV, and she'd come pelting in from a sprint
down the hall. Amazingly, she never knocked over a set.
HTML https://www.flickr.com/photos/155499305@N07/34894090932/in/dateposted/
#Post#: 92953--------------------------------------------------
Re: Judging dogs by breed
By: Buckleup Buttercup Date: April 30, 2022, 12:23 pm
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[quote author=Queenie link=topic=1025.msg92711#msg92711
date=1651242930]
I just disagree so hard with the findings of this article. I
also find the results suspect because they are based on owner
surveys.
I love dogs. I love them all, they are all just so great. But
to say that, say, trainability doesn't vary enormously by breed
is simply incorrect. Sure, you can train a mastiff to hunt
birds or a gundog to guard, a pug to do search and rescue or a
bloodhound to herd sheep but it's an uphill battle and you're
much wiser to choose a breed that has the behaviours you want to
shape already baked in.
That said, you'd be an idiot to assume that just because you
bought a lab it is going to love retrieving out of water. You
still have to shape the behaviours you want, and of course there
is going to be a range of abilities/traits across the breed.
Quarter horses like to run fast over short distances,
thoroughbreds love to race, collies herd, mastiffs guard,
pitties tug, retrievers retrieve. Is this universally true for
every individual? Of course not. Is there a trend? There is.
[/quote]
I am with you. I’ve rescued a spaniel mix (mother was a german
shepherd and Bubba looked liked a spaniel, a golden retriever
mix, a rott/golden retriever mix, a coonhound mix, a newfie mix,
a treeing walker coonhound mix and now Betty who’s is a purebred
TWC). They all lived with me and they all had different traits -
traits that were the cornerstones of their breed.
All dogs were bred to do specific things and to say that
hundreds of years of breeding a dog to do something specific
doesn’t affect the dog’s personality is ridiculous. it does.
One more thing, I’ll be testing the hounds and the water thing
when Betty and I go to the beach next month. There are hound
breeds that love the water - I’ve seen the videos. I am just
hoping that she will at least tolerate the beach. My guess is
she will not like the spray and wind because her ears are so
long. If she doesn’t? Oh, well. Stella hated the beach for 12.5
years, and I certainly was not gonna force her to be somewhere
she did not like. She loved lying on a balcony/deck watching
everyone else and the other dogs on the beach.
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