CANINE INHERENT BEHAVIOR TENDENCIES
E.
Katie Gammill
©
TheDogPlace July 2009
Do wolves really “mother” children from third
world villages? Perhaps these babies are “lunch” for
the predator’s offspring? When threatened with
starvation, instincts surface. Often humans in the
immediate area are recipients of such reactions. The
inbred canine “flight or fight” response compares to
an adrenaline rush in humans that allows them to
perform impossible feats during a crisis.
Constant TV exposure desensitizes humans.
Fortunately, animals aren’t influenced by
television. They do not act, they re-act! Human
ignorance often “sets a dog up” and unconsciously
triggers bad dog behavior. Having no couch therapy
available, the dog pays the ultimate price.
“Euthanasia!”
A
kenneled Akita in a nearby town is surrounded by a
fenced yard. The next door neighbor places a
trampoline next to the fence. Children jumping and
screaming on the trampoline cause the Akita to come
“unglued”. The archaic “prey instinct” hidden deep
in its brain surfaces and the dog escapes, jumps the
yard fence, and attacks the children. The dust
settles and the dog pays the ultimate price! Had the
owner and neighbor researched Akita behavior, they
would realize the Akita was initially bred to be a
“BEAR HUNTER." People selecting a cute puppy without
knowledge of maturity or original intent of a breed
may find themselves unable to cope with their
selection.
WE are legally responsible for our pet’s actions.
Leaving a large dog in a room with a small baby can
be disastrous. A baby’s cry of distress and
accompanying “bad smell” can trigger protective,
aggressive, or mothering instinct any one of which
can result in a bad mishap.
A dog’s territorial instinct protects food bowls,
bones, toys, and yards. Owners often unintentionally
cause situations where children are maimed, bitten,
or killed. I do NOT condone tying a dog. Kenneling
or fencing a dog protects your property because a
stranger entering an animal’s space may increase a
dog’s suspicious nature. Consider this scenario.
Would you react adversely to someone walking in your
front door unannounced? How do you respond to folded
arms and direct eye contact?
YES, “Poopsy” just might hurt a flea given the right
circumstances. Carrying my Champion dog up the
stairs, I stumble and squeeze. He panics! Had my old
partner not been shy most of his teeth, I would have
suffered severe lacerations.
Another example of “nature at work” came about when
my friend returned a pampered eight week old Whippet
puppy to the rest of the litter. The mother grabbed
it by the neck and neatly disposed of it. Talk about
survival of the fittest and propagation of the
species!
On a personal level, we don’t’ keep puppies from a
bitch that has trouble conceiving or whelping, and
we don’t keep studs that lack libido. Good studs
don’t’ “spin their wheels” during an entire heat
cycle, but they insistently seek me out on that
“special day.” That too is inherent behavior. We
must, as breeders, reject breeding animals lacking
soundness of body, mind, temperament, health,
attitude, and the ability to function.
I am a dog owner. I have the right to the breed of
my choice. I am my dog’s owner. I am not his
guardian. I’m tired of being measured with an
activist’s yard stick. WE, the people, have a
Constitutional right to own pets as property. For
better or worse, dogs are domesticated and they are
what they are. Until we accept that, we are just
fueling the fire of Animal Rights. Retiring them to
the wild is NOT an option. We must learn about,
accept or
modify
the behavior inherent in the dog depending on its
breed and purpose. We can’t legislate it away.
After all, dogs comfort us in this world of chaos.
Clean or dirty, they greet us with enthusiasm each
time we return, be it five minutes or 12 hours. They
ask to be the center of our universe and they earn
it! Pushing the envelope, they beg at our table,
assist in our bathroom duties, hog the blankets, and
are always on the opposite side of the door. We
tolerate their quirks as life would be sterile
without their presence. Above all, dogs do what dogs
do. Dogs lick anything, anywhere, in front of
anyone. They scratch when it itches, and scoot when
it feels good. The have no inhibitions. They are the
lucky ones.
So whether inherent or learned, dogs attempt to give
us what they think we want. OUR challenge is to
become the kind of person our dog thinks we are and
to understand them as they actually are. Dogs have
inherent behavioral characteristics and it is up to
humans to be smart enough to figure them out and act
accordingly.
http://www.thedogplace.org/ShowDog/Dog-Behavior_Gammill-09071.asp
