I have multiple dog training certs although I don’t actively use them for my career. I didn’t enjoy “dog training” the years I did it bc it was more like people training than dog training. People lie, dogs do not.
I have to disagree with some of the comments of others on this thread. The idea that it’s all about how you raise them is just not true.
Dogs are wolves that have been genetically manipulated by humans over thousands of years. They are gmo. A chihuahua (Mexican adt) and a Great Dane (compensation for small penis) are the exact same species, and only bc we made them so.
This genetic manipulation is done for behavioral traits as well as physical. Asserting that “it only matters how you raise them” is demonstrably false, as any canine expert would acknowledge.
Sight hounds chase at high speed. You don’t have to train it. It is in their blood. Border collies herd. You don’t have to train it. It is in their blood. Pit bulls are dog aggressive. Bully breeds have attitudes that allow them to take risk to assert physical dominance in a way other breeds do not typically.
It’s very true certain breeds get a bad rap bc the people who tend to get them are egregiously irresponsible pet owners who do everything wrong. Also the consequences of actions with some animals vary extremely from other breeds.
Example, I would regularly greet and pet a pit bull in a public setting without asking the owner if it was ok. I can tell from the dog if it’s cool or not. Pits are rarely people aggressive. However I would never consider petting a chihuahua without asking first. Bc they bite a lot. The difference is significant in the consequence of a bite.
I have personally owned only two dogs as an adult. They are both gone now. My last was my rottie who passed at 12yrs old last spring. He’s buried in my backyard now and I’ll love him til the day I die.
It does matter “how you raise them” but less than you’d think. Really most canine pets in America are under stimulated, and given poor nutrition. People who live in apartments, working 50hrs a week, used to come to me with their huskies and complain their dogs would pull them on leash when they were trying to walk them for the 30 minutes they’d get out a day.
I used to dream of doing the Iditarod as a child after reading Jack London too many times. Anyway, I respectfully disagree that when it comes to dogs it’s nurture, not nature. It’s quite the opposite do to anthropomorphic manipulation. People are more of a mystery. Dogs I know well.