The study of dog breeds is a very interesting topic to me. We know that genetically all dogs come from the line of wolves, however, some breeds seem stronger than others or seem to have different tendencies than others. The fascinating part about this is that every dog was bred to do a job and if they are not doing that job in a way that fulfills their breed's needs, we notice these tendencies play out in negative ways.

This could be true of a herding dog that resorts to corralling the kids around the backyard if they are not allowed to herd animals, or a mountain dog becoming bored and chews excessively because they don't have something to haul. If you look at dogs behavior objectively, none of their behaviors are inherently constructive or destructive, but rather are simply responses to what their environment is providing for them. If they feel like they have a job to do, they will fulfill on that job. If they don't feel like they have a job, then they're going to find a job one way or another.

Dogs want to please their masters. That is in their genetic coding. If they are not notified that they are displaying a behavior that is pleasing or displeasing, they have no reference point on how well of a job they are doing. If they are getting mixed signals from their master, they're going to choose the pleasing behaviors over the not pleasing behaviors. If the dog had a traumatic experience or was injured, abused or neglected, is likely that that dog will resort to a self defense mechanism such as fear-based aggression. This is often the root of what we as people see as destructive behaviors in a dog. I also notice that the "destructive behaviors" we see dogs display are rooted in our rewarding behaviors unknowingly and thereby reinforcing behaviors that we ultimately don't want.

I have seen this time and time again with dogs who jump on people or greet them in other spatially disrespectful ways. Their owner does not know what they're doing to reinforce this behavior, and therefore the owner sees it as a bad behavior but doesn't know where it came from or how to stop it.

How breed come into this picture is the dog's natural tendencies. We know that dogs are going to act first of all like animals because they are animals. Secondly, they're going to act like a dog because they are a dog. Thirdly, they have specific tendencies depending on their genetic coding and the job that they're breed was bred to do. If we are fulfilling their breeds needs based on their job in their current environment, theoretically speaking there should be no behavior issues given that they know their role in life.

Where the issue comes in is  when we remove the dog from a natural breed setting and job and leave it jobless and without a leader. So, I would encourage you to ask yourself: what breed is my dog, and what job where they bred to do? Am I filling my dog's job needs? Is the environment that I live in a bad fit for my dog's job needs? Does my dog seem to display distracted behaviors because I am not leading them, or because I am reinforcing behaviors I do not want?

You may be wondering, how could I be enforcing behaviors I do not want without knowing it? Glad you asked! Anytime a dog gets rewarding things such as food, water, petting, human attention, etc., your dog's current state of mind is what is reinforced. They learn what states of mind are most pleasing to you based on which ones you reward the most. So maybe now is a good time to ask yourself: how and when do I reward my dog? Am I aware of the states of mind I am reinforcing when I reward my dog?