No Excuses

From the desk of Tarma Shena

I have the pleasure, and sometimes pain, of talking to a lot of people about a lot of dogs. A small percentage of those people don’t have one yet, they are looking for input on how to get the right pup for their situation.

These are my favorite conversations by far. The majority of them are not getting a pup from me and I’m not much of a “sales pitch” kind of gal anyway, just ask some of them. What they want is help determining how to find the right fit. They want to talk about coat length, size and weight, and above all else, breed behaviors.

Now breed behaviors ARE a thing, it’s the whole point of having a purebred dog and why I have LGDs, an English Shepherd, a Shih Tzu, and a Cairn Terrier, I count on the behaviors that are specific to those breeds to do a job here on the farm.

Lately though, we are seeing some confusion over what it really means to have breed specific behaviors and how that affects your decision when deciding to purchase a new pup for your home.

A note about mixes, whether it is a purpose bred sport mix or a shelter mix, keep in mind that genetics are not math. Your Shepherd Lab mix is not going to herd sheep in the morning and retrieve ducks after lunch. In fact if you look up German Shepherds it still lists them as a herding breed and the standard for work and temperament with AKC was written in 1908, we all know there isn’t a whole lot of that going on any more.

My English Shepherd (same class of herder) would suck at bite work, which tells you how much their temperament has changed from the original “living fence”. And that Labrador I saw at the Vet’s office, the one that had to be put in a choke hold and back dragged out of the lobby, that dog isn’t sitting quietly in a blind all day waiting to retrieve a duck. I’m not sure I’ve seen one that can sit still at all unless I go to the farm where I buy my hay. He actually has working dogs but they are not the norm, mostly I see over-bred, badly structured, neurotic “house pets” scrabbling through the store like it’s some demented version of a barn hunt. An addict looking for that next toy, the next treat.

I digress. Breed specific behaviors are real and they are the basis for choosing a breed that may be a good fit for your particular lifestyle. But what I am seeing more and more of are “breed excuses”.

I am not discounting the extent to which breed behaviors can increase everyday challenges like basic obedience. What I’m seeing is a dog excused from good behavior requirements because of its breed.

I thought it was a big deal that my Shih Tzu is well behaved. Wait, let me rephrase that, “I” didn’t think it was a big deal. But the majority of the people we run across in public are amazed that she knows all her basic / intermediate obedience commands and walks on a leash in public.

Of course she does.

“But it’s a toy breed… a companion… ?.... ”

No. It’s a dog, it has fur and four legs, it will behave and shit outside.

Those are my requirements for owning a dog.

Now Pan, 7 month old, Cairn Terrier, successfully completed her first “off leash” recall down in the big pasture the other day.

A lady on YouTube messaged me and asked what “I had done to her”.

That’s right. “What had I DONE to her?”

As if I am some mad scientist, down in my basement, experimenting with brain transplants between Border Collies and Terriers, likely without anesthesia, because that is the ONLY way a breed “like that” could be taught to recall.

Unfortunately I don’t have any such hobbies, but I do work a lot on training and I make sure my methods are suited to the breed I am working with. If you DO know any successful mad scientists, I have a foster who is on the donor list.