It’s A Dogs Life—

Behavior And Temperament

By Mary Jane Anderson

“It may seem surprising, but behavior and temperament problems develop because dogs have a strong tendency to grow up to behave like dogs,” reports California’s Center of Applied Animal Behavior (CAAB). A dog’s behavior is considered normal reaction to specific circumstances. Natural traits in a dog’s character include excessive barking, chewing, house-soiling, digging, running away, and biting.

Dog bites, for instance, occur inside and outside the home. Few are reported. An overzealous dog may bite to protect its property from a threat (real or imagined). Some dogs are excused from show rings because of their aggressive behavior.

Dogs, like humans, have their good sides and bad sides. For example, German shepherds, as well as other working dogs, are intelligent animals. For intelligence, I mean that they are easily trained for many specific tasks, such as tracking, guiding the blind, guarding, and protecting. On a German shepherd’s good side is his loyal, faithful companionship at work or at play. His companion needs to keep his dog’s guarding and protecting abilities in the background while encouraging such companionable qualities as exercise, ball-playing, walking, hiking, and swimming (to name a few).

If this is not done, a dog’s basic nature (what it is bred for) can take over. The dog does what he knows best — guarding and protecting his own. This can be good as a watch dog, but it can also cause problems in a family. He can also “guard” his own possessions and growl and bite at anyone who picks up his bowl, toy, or bones. The dog can become protective with the children, to the point that he does not accept other children or family friends into the house or yard.

Why do some owners endure the bad behavior of their dogs? Some owners back away from a biting situation. Others correct their dog by hitting the dog. But punishment, in most cases, does not solve the problem. The dogs become very wise and make the best of a situation until it is over and will repeat the behavior when it finds itself in a similar situation. Some overly aggressive dogs can become even more aggressive when they are hit. That becomes a serious problem.

Training a dog to behave in any situation — teaching him to always come when called or sit or lie down when ordered — comes with daily, consistent, practical application for obedience exercises.

CAAB advises, “Bad dogs are made, not born: [Dogs] follow a predetermined course of development only if the owner fails to instruct the dog otherwise.”