We’ve all heard the myth, “it’s all in how you raise them”. This statement arises when there’s been a horrible dog attack, or particularly when discussing bully breeds. Ignoring the role that genetics play in how a dog acts, handles stimuluses into arousal, leads to many dangerous outcomes for both humans and dogs. Despite what this myth would have you believe you can’t “love” aggression out of a dog whose genetics are creating the issue. You can’t love a dog into changing how their genetics drive them.
What do we mean when we say, “you can’t love aggression out of a dog”? In this context we are meaning love as in the human emotional response to our dogs. Giving dogs lots of treats, toys, and cuddles as an expression of love towards your will not stop genetics from playing their roles. More often than not, when people are faced with aggression issues one of the first sentences we hear as trainers is “I didn’t raise them to be this way”, or a close contender “I spoil my dog, I don’t know why they want to behave this way! They’ve never had a bad experience.” Despite providing nice things, you don’t always get the outcome you want from your dog because of the genetics dictating your dog’s perception of the world.
To clarify the differences between nature and nurture we need to understand what these terms are in the context of this post. Nurture is what you provide for your dogs, nature is the genetics at play in any given dog. While love and nurture can go hand in hand, love is not a synonym for nurture. A Belgium Malinois, for example, is a dog bred to bite! That is their nature, you’ll be hard pressed to stop this genetic component if your goal is to have a dog who doesn’t behave in this manner. If your goal is to own a Malinois you’ll need to understand that you need to provide an outlet for this genetic behavior. Some do it through play, others through protection sports. Either way this genetic need to bite is met, and depending on the dog themselves it may be appropriate to specifically them.
Zeus, a deaf border collie, provides a good example of the role genetics play, in how he perceives the world. Zeus’ history of anxiety, and aggression towards new people started long before his current owner brought him home at 9 months old. Due to his white coating, this leading to deafness and behavioral issues, his struggles with interacting with the world started at birth. While his genetics played a major role into creating his bite history, improper socialization or lack thereof played a major role in feeding his need to create space from strangers. This need to create space from strangers was inadequately dealt with for 9 months until his owners received him into their home. It wasn’t long before he landed bites on their friends. Leading his owners to either try to train him as a fix or put him down.
When having a dog in your home, behavioral issues or not, the way your dog views the world is a Ven diagram of nature vs. nurture. Luckily for Zeus his owners understood this. In our consultation with them they understood that Zeus may never like people, but we could teach him to be neutral. Neutrality for dogs with anxiety issues helps with creating a dog who can safely navigate the world. Another key component to Zeus being successful with becoming a safe dog was his owners’ commitment to advocating for their dog. This poor dog did not like being petted by strangers, his owners showed him time and time again that he didn’t have to manage his interactions with strangers any longer. They would do it for him. Nurture stepped in to handle the nature side. It has been two years and a half years since Zeus has been living with his new owners, and two years since he’s had an incident of aggression. Thanks to his owners who didn’t stop providing what Zeus needed even when we had concluded our training program.
Not every dog is lucky as Zeus was. Perhaps it is the belief that nurture can overcome nature that leads these owners to failing to recognize who their dog is. Ultimately giving up. Nurture does not overcome nature. Instead, in many ways, it is a contract as we saw with Zeus, a give and take. Nature told Zeus to bite people to create space, nurture told Zeus that there was expectation of behavior with strangers, and that all interactions were to be mitigated by the human. He didn’t have to like people, he just couldn’t bite them. Two years later Zeus tolerates rude strangers, instead of reacting with his mouth, he moves away, or waits for his owners to handle the rude stranger.
I have a dog who is genetically prone to aggression and or anxiety now what? Acknowledging who your dog is, is the first step. Next having your dog evaluated by a trainer experienced in behavior modification. A trainer will understand what your dog is saying to you, the owner. Training plans will be adapted to what your dog is saying, give you valuable information on how your communication needs to go with your specific dog in order to build trust. Sometimes we do get dogs in for training who have had bad experience with life. Whether it was a dog attack, a dog pestering yours, children behaving inappropriately towards the dog, and etc. Rebuilding the trust your dog needs in you to handle the situation should be a key step in reteaching your dog that this life isn’t bad. That’s where nurture comes in. Consistent communication of expectations, clear well-defined boundaries for your dog to live by.
Nature vs nurture isn’t only seen in dogs with behavioral problems. All dogs have nature, all dogs need nurture to drive their nature into more appropriate outlets. Often, we get owners in who have acquired dogs well outside their comfort zone. Some when looking for a couch potato will have fallen prey to back yard breeders who are looking for homes from their illy bred litter whose energy would make the dog eat the couch rather than sleep on it. Training, meeting your dog’s genetic needs, and drive capping, when necessary, can create an off switch. The difference between a trained off switch and a strong genetic one is that you will have to constantly be maintaining your side of the contract. Whereas a genetic off switch allows for some leniency. Want your high drive, high energy dog to chill long enough to watch an episode of The Office? You’ll need to meet them in the middle, consistently allowing time for drive expression, and energy (mental and physical) outlets in order to get there. This is a large reason we push for potential owners to seek out ethical breeders, and rescues. Your side of the contract is easier to fulfill if you have the right dog selected for your lifestyle. Back yard breeders won’t be providing this. Their only goal is to sell the puppies, not place well bred puppies into homes they’ll be successful in.
Loving your dog isn’t going to change your dog from a high energy German Shepherd to a lazy show line lab in personality. Responsibly providing nurture in ways that work with your dog’s nature will only further create happy relationships. Thousands of dogs every year get rehomed by frustrated, heartbroken owners, who realized too late that “it’s how you raise them”, is a myth. Don’t let this be you when selecting the next family member. Select the right dog for you, and reach out for help when you need it!
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