What is DNA telling your dog to do?  

Your dog’s genetic heritage plays a very large role in how they perceive the world.  Over the last 10,000 years humans have bred and developed over three hundred breeds of dogs to perform specific functions.  Those breeds cover everything from herding and hunting to warming our laps. 

 

Jobs that were relevant many decades ago.   Now many of those same breeds find themselves unemployed so to speak.   Today, we ask them to sit on couches, ride in designer bags, sit and watch a kids soccer game calmly, and leave our beautifully landscaped yards intact.  

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But the genetics are still there.  A herding dog will find a way to herd.   A terrier will always respond to small squeaky prey moving in their presence.  A retriever will long to carry objects in their mouth to deliver proudly to your hands.  Hounds follow their nose and bark and bay.  It's in their genetic coding. 

 

So what do we do with this?  Use it to your advantage!  Knowing how your dog is likely to view the environment around them by using this genetic code, or pre-programing if you will,  can help you problem solve and create training plans that feed those instincts.