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Temperament and aggression are inherited? Unless you're actively involved in canine genetics, what you're about to read may be an entirely new way of thinking about dog behaviour and temperament.
Temperament From the same two parents, puppies of all different temperament types occur. This puts the direct inheritability of temperament into question. And while breeders and dog "experts" still use terms like "good" or "bad" temperaments, this label in no way determines a dog's future actions. Experienced trainers have been known to successfully re-train the most abused and vicious adult dogs. And even a dog of so-called "good temperament" will become dangerous if abused or neglected. When you think about it, the label of "good" or "bad" temperament is meaningless. If a "bad" dog can be properly trained, and a good dog can be turned "bad", what do those labels really mean? What isn't meaningless are the ACTUAL temperament types. There is really no such thing as a good or a bad temperament. There are only types such as dominant, submissive, and all the shades of gray in between. Different temperament types do sometimes require different training techniques. How successful an owner will be in training a dog is partially due to recognizing which temperament type the dog is. A more dominant dog must be kept more in check, whereas we must build a more submissive dog's confidence. Recognize the temperament type of the individual dog, then choose an appropriate training style to compliment it. Inherited behaviours or traits Unrelated to temperament, there are some behaviours and traits that show some inheritability. Herding is an excellent example. Dogs that showed talent in herding livestock were selected for breeding programs. This selection may or may not have increased this trait in the offspring. (Are modern dogs better herders than past dogs?) What it does is increase the likelihood that offspring will show some talent in herding. However, not every puppy born of herding champions will be a talented herder. And we all agree, no dog is born a herding champion. It takes about two years to train a dog to effectively herd livestock. Finally, there are great herders in other breeds not traditionally used for herding. We can conclude that while a seemingly inheritable trait like herding ability is more common in herding breeds, it is not found in every individual within those breeds, nor is it exclusive to those breeds. In fact, there is no behavioural trait we selectively breed dogs for that isn't present in all breeds, to one degree or another. Don't understand what that means? Well, how did we get herding dogs in the first place? Did we introduce that ability? Of course we didn't. We recognized that some dogs showed a desire to "herd". We bred those dogs in the hopes of passing along that trait. Did we invent the notion of retrieving? Of course we didn't. We found that some dogs were terrific at fetching things for us, and we bred those dogs in the hopes of passing along that trait. In short, all dogs share the same traits, to one degree or another. There are Poodles and 'pit bulls' that can herd, and some Great Danes and Bulldogs are fantastic retreivers. These are traits of DOGS, not of breeds. Selective breeding for these traits merely enhances the likelihood of these traits being more prominent and/or present in future offspring. Aggressive behaviours It is more common than not for people to refer to aggressive behaviours in dogs as being inherited. Yet there is absolutely no evidence to support this belief. When we discuss inherited qualities, we must first discuss genetics. To put it simply, there is no such thing as an aggression gene. There is also no evidence to show that dogs involved in the most serious attacks are genetically related in any meaningful way. In fact, dozens of breeds have been attributed with at least one human death, including Dachshund, Pomeranian, Yorkshire Terrier, and Lhasa Apso. One thing we know about purebred dogs is they are not crossed with other breeds, by definition. The likelihood that an aberrant purebred dog involved in a serious biting incident shares some kind of unique "aggression gene" with an individual of another breed is unlikely. Even when dogs are of the same breed, there is little evidence to show that those individuals are closely related in any relevant way. The results of a multi-decade review of dog bite related fatalities in the U.S. concluded that the dogs examined showed no signs of any known physiological or mental abnormalities. We can comfortably conclude that serious aggression incidents are not the result of a unique inherited genetic "flaw" of some sort. That leaves us with the possibility that (a) every dog has the potential to be involved in an unprovoked attack at any time, or that (b) the owner encouraged aggressive behaviours to develop in the individual dog. It is true that all of us, humans and dogs, are capable of various forms of aggression. However, what is considered aggressive and what isn't, is a learning process. Children are not born knowing that a clenched fist precedes a punch, or that a punch, or the threat of a punch, can get you something you want. They must learn that. Some people are taught to use their fists with frequency. Some people are taught non-violent coping mechanisms, and live their whole lives without ever feeling the need to be physically aggressive. While every dog is certainly capable of biting, the statistics show that dogs are rarely lethal. The statistics are something in the order of about 0.00001% (or less) of dogs in Canada and the U.S. ever kill. That is a significantly lower percentage than the number of humans who kill. It is the height of exaggeration to fear the average dog more than the average person. We do know that dogs who aren't encouraged to develop aggressive behaviours are much less likely to be involved in biting incidents. The majority of dog bites involve dogs who've been encouraged to become territorial or possessive. Approximately one fifth of dogs involved in dog bites were kept tightly leashed, chained, or fenced most of the time. One thing we do know about dogs is their social nature is so innate, attempts to severely restrict them results in aberrant behaviour, including aggression. The current trend is to analyze dog bite statistics based on breed. That is the most simplistic and unscientific way to look at these statistics. It is somewhat akin to looking at the vehicle's colour or model when examining drunk driving accidents. Those few studies that have gone beyond breed when looking at biting incidents have found only about 10% of those dogs had received any kind of obedience training. Nearly all biting incidents involve inadequately supervised dogs. The overwhelming majority of biting incidents take place on or directly adjacent to the dog owner's property. Moreover, at least one third of bite victims admitted they were physically abusing/punishing the dog at the time of the bite. And since we know that socialization is even more important than obedience training, we must start looking at how responsibly those dogs were owned prior to an unprovoked attack. You simply don't find well-trained, well-socialized dogs randomly attacking people. It is difficult for society to hold nice, well-meaning dog owners accountable for their negligence. It is easier to blame their voiceless dogs. Plus, it is nearly impossible to hold ANY dog owner accountable for his/her negligence, when so many myths about dog behaviour are bandied about as fact. If we continue to believe that some as-yet-to-be-discovered gene causes only certain breeds of dogs to attack, we will never hold the real culprits responsible. Those who fail to properly care for their dogs are to blame. Dog owners, not the dogs themselves, must be held accountable. Simply put, the term "temperament" is similar to the word "personality", and dogs involved in serious aggression incidents do not appear to share unique genetic information or possess any physical abnormalities. The only reasonable conclusion is that aggressive behaviours are made, not born. "There is no scientific proof that genetics cause a breed of dog to be aggressive, vicious or dangerous." - testimony from Standing Committee on amendments to the Dog Owners Liability Act. 2005 "Variability in behaviour has a wider range within a breed than between breeds. Within the discipline of psychobiology and animal behaviour there is no data from empirically supported studies, published in refereed scientific literature, to support the idea that one breed of dog is `vicious.' The adult behaviour of a domestic dog is determined overwhelmingly by its experiential history, environmental management and training." - Dr. Mary Lee Nitschke, Ph.D.
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We've discussed aggression in
dogs in great detail in the article titled "