Quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allinson:
Ha! The very idea that different types of dog, or even different individual dogs, have their own essential or inherent nature is patently absurd.
dogs are all born entirely blank slates. It is environment and environment alone that determines a dog’s nature. Everyone knows that.
And Googling about, I found many who support this view. And quite likely these are university educated people:
“Just like people, dogs are all blank slates at birth. How you socialize, train and treat your dog determines that dog's personality.”
“Aggressive dogs are MADE and not born. All puppies come into this world completely innocent. They are like blank slates that have yet to be written upon, and they become products of their environment and training, or lack thereof.”
|
Mark, I'm sure you found many to support that view. I know we agree on one thing--dogs are wonderful! I'm a huge dog lover. But think about it. After more than ten thousand years of domestication and selective breeding for specific pyhsical and mental traits the arguement that dogs are born blank slates in regard to their natures just doesn't hold up.
Whether it's their inward nature i.e. aggression, and submission, herding, hunting, swimming, guarding, quietness or vocalness, chasing, low and high energy levels, intelligence--which translates to trainability etc. or their physical size, coat and coloring the different breeds were created to fill the needs of people. Submissive, low energy dogs don't do well at guarding the house or nipping the heels of cattle. People knew this and bred the dogs accordingly. They allowed the dogs that showed the inate traits of brains, aggression and high energy (not to metion the physical characteristics) to breed with one another. The dogs that failed to show these traits were eliminated. Over the generations the traits became part of the breed, what seperated the breed from other breeds. That's how we got basset hounds and pomeranians, border collies and labs, chinese crested and pitbulls. They fill our needs for lap dogs and hunting dogs, herders and trackers. Now I do agree that
proper, ongoing, comprehensive training can sometimes-most of the time--disguise and override these traits. But training cannot eliminate the essentialness of the breed. That's why so many dogs wind up in shelters, often mentally unstable because they have been deprived of stimulation, exercise, proper training and the opportunity to behave the a dog. People don't stop to think about a breeds inherent nature when they get a purebred. Someone would have a really hard time training a bassett hound to be a guard dog or cattle dog in the same way it's difficult to train a greyhound to sleep quietly in the backyard without chasing the bunnies and squirrels. It's like demanding that the shy, skinny kid be the quarterback on the football team or the high energy athlete to sit for hours on end stringing beads. Everyone is hurt by the situation--the dog who wants to do what he does best and the human who expects otherwise. It's possible,yes, but no one is really happy in the end. And there are too many people that don't have the time, inclination, nor ability to train their dog. The dog is in the little kennel all day til the owner gets home. Dog gets out, runs crazy through the house, bowls the kids over, chews up shoes, shits on the kitchen floor or-- if the dog is lucky-- drags the owner on a leash behind him.
In my opinion your stance only contributes to the problem. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, just trying to persuade you to think more about it. Hey, we both love dogs, right!
Best,
Donna
[This message has been edited by fivefootone (edited September 08, 2008).]