A Dog's Personality

I was reading an article recently in the "SafeHands Journal" from the International Association of Canine Professionals. The article discussed genetic influences on a dog's personality. This topic was of great interest to me, as I am always developing and adjusting my "working model" of what makes dogs the way they are. For me, I feel there are 3 key ingredients or factors; genetics, early imprinting, and ongoing life lessons.

The article discussed the first of these 3 components (genetics), and reasons why diversity is important for species survival. In a nutshell, if every wolf (our dog's ancestors) were a strong and confident hunter, the pack could not survive. In fact, the less confident members of the pack are the ones who run down, harass, and tire prey - so the more confident members can come in and make the kill. This way only a few are at risk for injury (those attacking the prey), and not every wolf has to expend as much energy chasing and tiring prey. In the end everyone eats, and most survive and reproduce.

Natural selection does find clear advantages for diversity. As this diversity is passed along (including down to today's dogs) nature will maintain both confident and timid individual personalities. So while most folks may not see shy or timid dogs as "normal", perhaps they're more genetically normal than we often think.

The 2nd ingredient I consider important in a dog's personality is early imprinting. There is a great deal of evidence that suggest during the fist 3-4 months of a dog's life they are uniquely open to learning about their new world and environment. While I do believe that favorable exposure to many environmental situations and stimuli is beneficial at this age, there are some dogs that are anxious once they mature - not from any problematic or deficient socialization or environmental experience(s). Maybe genetics is taking a leading role in these cases.

A final ingredient in a dog's personality is what they learn and experience day to day with their owner(s). Dogs can certainly improve, change, or digress in terms of behavior during their life. And as discussed in numerous articles on this site, training can be a tremendous tool in molding behavior, confidence, trust, and communication between any dog and owner.

So thinking about the above ingredients, which is most important? Well, like most things in life, nobody can say with absolute certainty. There are many dogs with bad "ingredients" that still manage to rise above any problem(s) and become a good companion. Likewise, there are dogs with great ingredients that have serious issues. As humans charged with stewardship of dogs, we can only do our best with those items on this list that we are able to influence.

In the end, I think it's important for owners to remember that because genetics and experiences will vary in every dog, every dog will be unique. Take time to get to know any dog you're thinking of bringing into your life. Does he/she have a personality that will be a good match for the life you lead and wish to share?