This entry is going to piss people off.? I know this.? Please, if you are easily offended, place emotion over science, are a firm supporter of John B. Watson?s extreme behaviouralism (ie tabula rasa) are too stubborn to listen to reason, are too ignorant to consume scientific data, a?die hard animal lover, or just an idiot? please do not read this, because all it will lead to is a flame war on my comment posts about?how your dog is the ?specialist.? Quite frankly, I don?t have time to argue on my blog.? It?s my blog, and I am as direct, expressive, and genuine as always.? I am respectful enough to give you warning of what is to come in the coming paragraphs.? If you don?t like it, please skip this entry.
The age old debate is coming to a synergistic end.? We once asked ?is behaviour determined by nature or nurture?.? Most modern day scientists believe both.? Nurture brings out nature.? In other words, the environment determines how genes are expressed.? It?s called epigenetics.? This is why you can have identical twins sharing the same dna, and one develops a highly familial mental illness like schizophrenia or bi-polar, and the other does not.?? The ill twin had some sort of environmental trigger that the well twin did not recieve.? This is known as the diathesis stress model.
Where am I going with this?? Well, humans don?t have controlled breeding, though we do have a type of asortative mating.? However, most of the domesticated animals in our lives did not come to be in that way.? Not including wild canines, dogs are selectively bred.? Poodles, German sheppards, beagles and besengies exist because we bred them for specific purposes, almost always to serve us.
For example-?let?s say you are an aristocratic fox hunter.? You need an animal fast enough to catch foxes, something?low to the ground to navigate under brush, but maybe with a white tipped tail so you don?t??lose it in the woods.? It would need an extrememly keen sense of smell, to the point where finding a scent is its one true goal and pleasure in life.? The dog would also need a loud, distinctive bark, so that when the prey is cornered or treed, you can locate the dog, and shoot the prey.? It would have to be determined, ignoring all other distractions but the prey.? As an aristocrat, you probably only hunt periodically as a social event, so the dog would need to live in your home, and therefore have an excellent disposition, especially with your children.? You would also need this dog to accept your aristocratic friends who come over for brandy and cigars, therefore, this dog needs to be non-territorial.? Enter into our? lives- the beagle.? Friendly, damned cute, dumb as a stump, but let the thing off leash and you have 30 lbs of squirrel chasing fury.? Beagles, though in need of heavy training, make excellent hunting and family dogs.? They make very poor seeing eye dogs.
Picture this- you are a foul hunter, living in a damp, cool, coastal region.? When you shoot a goose or a duck, you need a dog who is an excellent swimmer to go in the water and get it.? This dog must have thick waterproof fur to survive the elements.? Other than swimming, it has two great loves in life. 1)? Bringing stuff back.? Whether a goose from the lake, your slippers, or a cold beer from the fridge, this dog loves to bring you stuff.? 2)? pleasing its master.? It is happiest when it does what its master says, and with training, can be very obedient.? This dog is usually highly intelligent, and must know the difference of what to bring back and what to leave.? Enter the golden retriever.? Because these dogs are easy to please, and love to fetch, they?can be?excellent seeing eye dogs with adequate training.? They would do very poorly in a survival situation as without guidance, they may starve.
And let?s say you like just watching dogs for sport, specifically dog racing.? You would need a dog that is extremely fast, with a lean frame, almost no body fat.? This dog would be focussed on a target, and be passive enough to get along well with other dogs as to not have a dog fight in the middle of the track.?It would need very thin skin to not overheat in races during warm months.? Enter the greyhound.? Greyhounds are the perfect racing dog with adequate training, but would make very poor fighting dogs due to their non competitive nature, lanky frame and thin skin.
But what if your sport was dog fighting?? What if your form of entertainment was watching small animals rip each other to shreds.? You would need to breed a dog that was low to the ground, with a short, stocky build.? It would need thick skin to prevent puncture.? This dog would also need a jaw that pointed upwards to have better access to its apponent?s jugular.? It would be highly territorial, and have an abnormal tolerance for pain compared to other dogs.? With training, this dog can be a prize fighter.? It can probably be trained to be a wonderful family dog, but with the genetic background, the threshold for trigger is lower.
Now if you are easily offended, or a die hard behaviouralist, or? a bleeding heart animal lover, and you continuted to read this despite my warning, you are probably saying ?how DARE you!? My family had a mastiff/ bull terrier/ pit bull? and it was the gentlest thing ever!? It?s the owner that is the problem?.? My answer to you ?the plural of anecdote is not data?.? Yes, most of these animals can make very good family pets with proper training, but? that doesn?t change their genetic code.? It will take more training and more work to have a gentle pit bull than a gentle beagle.? It will take less of a trigger to have a killer mastiff than it will to have?a killer cocker spaniel.?What kinds of triggers?? Maybe it?s an abusive owner.? That makes sense.? But what if it?s not the owner who is abusive.? What if you have a rambunctious 2 year old.? The toddler will pull the dogs tail, dig into its skin with tonka trucks, poke its eyes with pencils, and all other manner of animal torture.
Now, I am aware that more dog bites come from poodles and jack russels, but a jack russel isn?t capable of bringing down a half tonne cow.?? Most of these dogs do not bring down half tonne cows.? Most of these dogs never attack.? But, there is far more potential for their aggressive genes to be expressed than in a dog bred to serve and please.? Any dog with teeth can attack, but you need to ask yourself- which dog is more likely bred to do so?? And, would you want this dog around your?2 year old.
In conclusion- breed does not determine behaviour.? but, it sure as hell does influence it.
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Source: http://drumrider.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/selective-breeding/
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