You Asked For It!

I'm tickled pink that so many of you reached out to tell me that you enjoyed last week's blog post on the behavioral differences between male and female dogs.  Several of you said it really got you thinking about how you've chosen your own dogs, and that's awesome!  That's what the original book was designed for, and what those of us collecting the data hoped pet owners would achieve by reading the book. Now the downside.  You also told me that finding a copy of the book for yourself is darn near impossible.  Apparently, it's still available in a few libraries around the country (and those on the UC Davis campus, of course!), but the few remaining copies for purchase are available from random booksellers here and there.  None of the larger retail booksellers have copies at all, or if they do, they are ridiculously expensive!  I, too, find it frustrating when I can't find a book I'm looking for because it's out of print.  

So, because you were interested in more from that study and book, I figured this week we could take a closer look at those thirteen behavioral markers we quantified across 56 dog breeds. From the comments I received, it sounds like you are most interested in the specific behavioral scores for those dog breeds, particularly as it relates to the dogs you yourselves own. As I mentioned last week, you aren't going to find Cavaliers, for example, in our study as very few people had them back then, but we did look at a couple of other spaniels which I hope my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel friends will find informative nonetheless, if they pick up the book. What follows are summaries from the data collected and presented in "The Perfect Puppy: How to Choose Your Dog by Its Behavior," by Benjamin & Lynette Hart. 

Let's start with some ground rules.  Of the thirteen behavioral traits we looked at, two traits, excitability and general activity level, were highly predictive, meaning they were reliably helpful in distinguishing between dog breeds. Eight behavioral traits were moderately predictive, meaning they were helpful in distinguishing between breeds, but with fewer marked differences between breeds. These traits were: snapping at children, excessive barking, playfulness, obedience training, watchdog barking, aggression toward other dogs, dominance over owner, and territorial defense.  And the two behavioral traits that were least predictive were destructiveness and ease of housetraining. What that means is that training and the environment play a bigger role in whether a dog is destructive or easier to housetrain.

If you were going to pick your next breed of dog, strictly based on the behavioral characteristic(s) most important to you, you'd want to choose based on at least one of those two highly predictive measures, or a handful of those moderately predictive measures. Conversely, you could start with a breed you think interests you and then look at their scores for those behavioral characteristics you find most important.  

Let's create a hypothetical situation:  You are a parent of young children, and the most important characteristic for you is a dog with a low ranking for snapping at children. You'd like a dog that's playful too, but you're also concerned about the dog being two big for your modest home.  You're worried that if you get a big dog, their exercise requirements might be too high for you to reliably handle.  Exercise requirements fall under general activity level, which also happens to be one of those very predictive behavioral traits. So now, let's see if we can find a dog who ranks low for snapping at kids, is playful, but isn't going to have a high activity level.  Six breeds ranked the lowest for general activity and they were: Basset Hounds, Bloodhounds, Bulldogs, Newfoundlands, Collies, and Saint Bernards.  Of those six breeds, Newfoundlands, Bloodhounds, Basset Hounds, and Collies also ranked lowest for snapping at kids. For playfulness, Bloodhounds, Bulldogs, Basset Hounds, and Saint Bernards all ranked very low.  Newfies were low on playfulness too, but not as low as those just mentioned. But my beloved Collies? They were smack dab in the middle, ranking 5/10 for playfulness.  Now, I know you're thinking I skewed the results to my favorite breed, but really, I didn't!  This is science, after all.  So, for a family with kids,  looking for a dog with a reasonable exercise requirement, and who still wants to play, a Collie could be a good option.  And for those who don't want all the grooming of a rough collie, then a smooth collie might be a better choice. Now, that was indeed, my pitch for collies!

Now, having said all of that, let's say you just don't like Collies; you don't like those long noses all up in your business (something I've heard people actually say!). To that, I'd respond, okay, let's go back to the drawing board and just look at the dog breeds ranked lowest for snapping at kids, putting less emphasis on those other traits.  By just looking at snapping at kids, we find Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers right there with Newfies, Bloodhounds, Basset Hounds, and Collies. No surprise, right?  Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retriever are the quintessential family dogs. Those two breeds also rank high for playfulness and both are pretty close to the same on activity level, with Labradors rating slightly lower than Goldens on how active they are. While I have certainly met dog owners who chose their dogs based on size alone, thinking that smaller size would mean a lower exercise requirement/activity level, clearly from these results, that couldn't be further from the truth!  It would appear that bigger dogs are more manageable from an exercise/activity level perspective alone.  And the bottom line is that those little dog breeds often rank the highest for snapping at kids!  In our study, the snappiest dogs were:  Scotties, Miniature Schnauzers, Westies, Yorkies, Pomeranians, Toy Poodles, Maltese, and Chihuahuas. The largest dog breed with a very high ranking on snapping at kids? The Chow. Enough said.

Ultimately, there is a plethora of combinations of traits you could rank for yourself and then investigate which breed most closely fits your ideal dog.  The bottom line?  Your ideal dog is that one you have right there next to you.  You chose them (hopefully) based on their individual personality, something that they inherited from their parents and that you honed through care, training, and love.

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me. 

Here I am with my first dog, Tosh, a Westie.  Remember what I said above?  Westies rank high for snapping at kids, general activity level and excitability.  They also rank high for watchdog barking and aggression toward other dogs.  They rank relatively high for dominance over their owners as well.  Doesn't sound like a good fit for a family dog, right?  Well, my parents chose Tosh based solely on his size and the obvious "cute factor."  He was a terrific dog and I loved him dearly, but he was a lot for a first dog.  What dog had I asked them for?  A Saint Bernard.  Based on what I outlined above, that would have been a better fit for a family dog, but my mom would have disowned us if we'd come home with a dog that size that drools!