When we adopted Lucas, it was clear he had no life experience. He was terrified of everything: plastic bags, riding in the car, bicycles, the TV, the city bus, everything. Over time, he overcame most of his fears. He became a social guy who now goes to doggy daycare and loves meeting new people. We encounter the occasional reminder of his past fears – like, he still can’t greet other dogs on leash – but for the most part he’s friendly, outgoing, and usually confident. He’s come a long way since those early days.
Cooper, on the other hand, has been exposed to everything, yet he’s still afraid. We take him on errands, car rides, to doggy daycare, to the pet store, and so on. But he dislikes strangers. New places scare him. He would rather be home, snuggled on the couch, than out and about.
Lucas didn’t have the benefit of early socialization like Cooper did, yet Lucas encounters new things better than Cooper does.
All this leads me to the question: How much of behavior is personality and how much is training?
And, of course, the corollary: Can both/either be addressed through even more training?
I don’t have an answer, but I am experimenting. Cooper started agility on Sunday in the hopes of building his confidence. More on that later. Lucas started doggy daycare in the hopes of getting him to love being around lots of other dogs. So far, so good. I’ll keep you posted…
What do you think? How much of your dog’s behavior is personality and how much is training? Can you train around personality?
Very nice post! Our sweet Zoe wasn’t socialized very well when she was a pup and is still scared to death of everything. She can quickly turn into a terror if not managed/trained properly. Slowly she warms up to new people (if they aren’t too short or kids). I don’t think that she will ever be able to be around kids. The vet said that she was lucky to have us, as we are willing to work with her skewed traits. To us she is the most lovely, cuddling and sweetest dog. We wouldn’t have her any other way.
So through training we have overcome some of those bad habits but not all of them. We do our very bet to help her understand and learn from new experiences.
I believe that Zoe’s behavior issues come from two factors, firstly her bred – Terrier and Schnauzer mix. Secondly, from her lack of socialization early in her life. So for me, your question reminds me of the final thoughts from Forrest Gump, its a little of both.
“I don’t know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze. But I think maybe it’s both. Maybe both are happening at the same time.”
Oh my gosh. I love that quote. What a great way to think about it. It sounds like you’ve done so much for sweet Zoe! Dealing with fear is SUCH a challenge, especially if you have the combo of personality and lack of socialization working against you. I’m glad to hear you’ve made so much progress. As for the things that haven’t improved… I am trying very (VERY) hard to accept that some things might just be limitations we have to live with, instead of pushing them so hard to change, if that makes sense.
Yes, I am also convinced that personality has a lot to do with it, and each dog needs it’s own approach. Even “worse”, their personality’s tend to change over time…
Excellent point!! Just like we humans, our dogs’ personalities change over time. Definitely something to keep in mind!
I think personality is a huge factor. Our little beagle is afraid of men….in particular my brother-in-law, who has two beagles of his own and loves dogs. We got her right from the breeder, who we spent a lot of time with, so we know it was nothing that happened to her in her life to make her this way. I think you can train around personality, but only to an extent. BTW, 3 of our 4 dogs are just like Cooper…happiest at home!
It’s interesting how those fears develop. I guess it’s like in people with anxiety (like me!) where the worry is much greater than the reality. Something to think about…
Ugh, the story of my life….worry, worry, worry! Sometimes I am afraid my dogs got all their anxieties from me! Though I’m not afraid of fireworks, or the vacuum cleaner. 🙂
Agreed, Jan! It’s hard to control worry, but I do think our dogs pick up on how we’re feeling and react accordingly.
You know, I used to think that it was about even. That dogs (and humans) are equally influenced by nature AND nurture. But lately I’ve started to think there might be more on the personality side of things rather than the environmental. Shiva started out life with us as an extremely anxious, fearful dog but it didn’t take long for her to gain confidence. Agility was a huge part of that, as was trick training, but her transition from terrified to confident was pretty quick once we knew what we were doing. I have to think this is largely because of who she is. Inside, Shiva is a crazy, confident dog. She just needed to learn how to let it out.
Cooper, on the other hand, may be naturally a shy introvert. He can get better dealing with his fears but he may never be able to overcome them entirely. And that’s okay because he makes a great cuddle buddy. It’s up to us as the humans to recognize our dogs’ strengths and weaknesses and play them up accordingly.
I’m glad you put it that way. I had a professor who said that nature is like a painter’s palette… it’s a formed template that can be filled with the different colors of paint, which is the nurture aspect. I don’t think I explained that as clearly as he did, but that’s the general idea. It sounds like Shiva is a lot like Lucas in that the personality “overcame” the fear.
As far as Cooper goes, your journey with Shiva is what inspired me to sign him up for agility! It’s okay if he never becomes super outgoing, but I’m hoping to inspire a little confidence in him through agility!
Great post! I used to think it was more training and exposure but the more I work with Sophie and learn from her, I think personality plays a big part in it. While this isn’t the same as what you are discussing for me it highlights the role Sophie’s personality plays in her life. We compete in flyball and dogs can get quite noisy and vocal. With a majority of the dogs (the border collies, mixes and mcnabs) Sophie will bark right along with them. We joke its almost like they are talking to one another. She does her job and the barking doesn’t affect her. But with one particular dog on our team, whenever that dog joins in the barking or is barking as Sophie races into the run back…it freaks her out. She won’t run by that dog. They have never been loose together or had a tussle nor is the barking different (At least to us humans) than the other dogs. But for whatever reason, Sophie won’t run with that dog on her team. I chalked it up to like I don’t always like everyone I meet, Sophie doesn’t like every dog she meets and wants to keep her space. Regardless of how well trained she is and how well she knows her job in the ring, she won’t do it if that dog is racing with us. PS we resolved the issue by keeping them on separate teams 🙂
“I chalked it up to like I don’t always like everyone I meet, Sophie doesn’t like every dog she meets and wants to keep her space.”
That is a huge point! It’s easy to fall into the trap of expecting our dogs to get along with – or at least ignore – other dogs, but not everyone is going to like everyone else!
Nature versus nurture, huh? That Gump quote is probably the closest thing to true. Here’s hoping the agility opens up a whole new world!
I agree – I love that quote! Such a unique way to think about it.
I think it’s a bit of both and when either the nature or the nurturing part is extreme, then that’s when one has more influence over behavior than the other. I used to think Sadie was genetically fearful but, like Lucas, she has really shined with the right training & family. I also think age and maturity have an effect too. Part of Sadie’s path to the happy girl she has become was better nurturing but some of it also was her relaxing as she got older. Perhaps Cooper will relax a little too as he gets older!
Ah! Whichever is more extreme… excellent point! And I guess with age comes experience, so that improvement over time seems to be a combo of nature (getting older) and nurture (gaining more experience). Great points!
They say you shouldn’t give dogs human characteristics but I don’t see how it can’t be largely based on personality. In the exact same situation my dogs almost all act completely differently. Except when it is time for food…they all act exactly the same then 🙂
Ha! Food is the great equalizer!
Great post! I was thinking about this very subject last night. Our senior dog, Annie, is the only dog that I have ever had from puppy hood & yet she is the most stubborn & hard to work with dog ever! You would think since I have worked with her from the beginning that she should be an example to the fosters, but that is not the case. I love her with all of my heart anyways 🙂