The Ethics of Raising Purebred Dogs - New York Times

[Sierra Newfs]

The Ethics of Raising Purebred Dogs
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/02/12/the-ethics-of-raising-purebred-dogs

The positions and the debaters participating are:

Make Health, Not Show, the Standard
Alexandra Horowitz is a professor of psychology at Barnard College and a researcher of dog behavior and cognition and. She is the author of "Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know.''

Good Reasons for Some Purebred Traits
Brent Ruppel is director of community operations for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Stricter and Better Criteria Are Needed
Mark Derr is the author of “How the Dog Became the Dog: From Wolves to Our Best Friends.”

It’s Not Just About Competitions
Lilian Barber breeds, judges and writes about Italian greyhounds and is the author of four books on the breed. She is president of the Kennel Club of Palm Springs, Calif.

Cross-Breed to Avoid Inbreeding
James Serpell is the Marie Moore professor of animal welfare at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and the director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society there.

 

[ardeagold]

This is interesting but not quite accurate. The breed standards include temperament...not personality. There's a difference. However, I do see her point and the problem. Too many feel that Newfs come packaged as low keyed, gentle giants and when they get an active, strong willed puppy, they're upset and disappointed:

"Finally, breed standards include personality descriptions. Unfortunately, personality is not genetically determined: just as a person's personality derives from more than her genome, a dog is not merchandise whose behavior (outside of a few hard-wired ones, like pointing) can be predicted ahead of time.

While many owners may see breed-typical personalities in their dogs (we humans do tend to spot just the evidence which supports our theories), there is simply no guarantee that a dog will behave just so. Witness the cases of cloned -- genetically identical -- pets who have, to their owners' great surprise, quite different personalities.


Since the vast majority of dog owners are not showing their dogs, but adding them to their families, the alleged predictability of personality is problematic. When a dog does not behave in accordance with her "billing," owners call this a "behavior problem" -- the single greatest reason for relinquishment of a dog to a shelter. Thus, inadvertently, breed standards lead potential adopters to treat them more like products with reliable features.


Dogs are individuals, and should be treated thusly."

 

[BLCOLE]

I have a quick question for the writer of this piece. If temperament in dogs isn't determined by genetics, then WHY is temperament put at the beginning of the Newf Breed Standard?

 

[lacey9875]

I have a quick question for the writer of this piece. If temperament in dogs isn't determined by genetics, then WHY is temperament put at the beginning of the Newf Breed Standard?

I would think because it's more of a breed specific thing? Like Labs having soft mouths, or Pointers pointing?

 

[Sierra Newfs]

I'll preface this with I am offering my thoughts for clarity (hopefully), but if in doubt ask Dr. Horowitz directly (contact info is included in a link from her contribution piece). Academically temperament is generally used as "Individual differences in behavior resulting from genetics. Seen at birth." and personality is generally used as "The resulting outcome of both genetics and life experience." Patricia McConnell likens temperament to the canvas and personality as the painting.

While most breed standards do use the word temperament, I'd argue perhaps personality is a more accurate word to use. Certainly by the age a dog is eligible to be shown, and even more so by social maturity, the waters can be pretty muddied as to what what degree nature and nurture contributed to most behavioral traits .

Sara Ruesche wrote a fantastic post called "It's all in how they're raised!" complete with super helpful graphics
http://paws4udogs.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/its-all-in-how-theyre-raised/

I shared the proceedings from the Eukanuba Breeder Symposium previously, but "Creating Behaviorally Stable Dogs: The Breeder’s Role by Margaret M. Duxbury, DVM, DACVB has good information on the heritability of behavior. The post is at: http://www.newf.net/Forums/showthread.php?t=103404 but I'd be happy to email a .pdf if anyone has trouble downloading it directly.

I've included an excerpt below written by Lore Haug, DVM, MS, DACVB titled "Treat or euthanize? Helping owners make critical decisions regarding pets with behavior problems" the full article is available at: http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/vetmed/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=748339&pageID=1&sk=&date=

Genetics

Genetic and environmental influences are intricately intertwined. Research in a variety of species and a variety of fields shows genetic expression can be altered with environmental experience8-10 ; however, the animal's genetic template is set and will influence the types of behaviors expressed as well as the approach to resolving them. Pets that have various types of developmental or genetic disorders (e.g. deafness, impulse control disorders) often have a poorer prognosis because the rehabilitation process can be longer and more arduous. In my experience, working with animals with such disabilities often requires a higher skill level on the part of the owner and assistance from a more educated behavior professional.

Developmental period

The pet's developmental period, especially the socialization experience, is a key influence on future behavior.11-13 Certain training during this time can greatly reduce the likelihood of behavior problems; other training practices will induce or worsen certain behavior issues. Training and puppy raising methods that emphasize "dominance theories" and confrontational techniques damage the owner-pet relationship and can increase biting and aggressive responses toward owners.14,15 I have seen a number of dogs develop noise phobia and fear of people in direct response to the training philosophy of one currently popular training franchise. This method involves yelling at the dog and throwing chains in the dog's direction to startle or scare the dog into stopping the undesirable behavior.

As with people, developmental changes during an animal's juvenile and adolescent period have a notable impact on the animal's interaction with its environment and, thus, its behavior. This period is the most trying time when raising a pet and a time when most owners reach the limits of their knowledge and fall short of their obligations as responsible pet owners. Poorly socialized pets may pose a greater challenge for rehabilitation.

8. Francis D, Diorio J, Liu D, et al. Nongenomic transmission across generations of maternal behavior and stress responses in the rat. Science 1999;286(5442):1155-1158.

9. Swanson KS. Nutrient-gene interactions and their role in complex diseases in dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2006;228(10):1513-1520.

10. Seso-Simic D, Sedmak G, Hof P, et al. Recent advances in the neurobiology of attachment behavior. Transl Neurosci 2010;1(2):148-159.

11. Appleby D, Bradshaw JW, Casey RA. Relationship between aggressive and avoidance behaviour by dogs and their experience in the first six months of life. Vet Rec 2002;150:434-438.

12. Pierantoni L, Verga M. Behavioral consequences of premature maternal separation and lack of stimulation during the socialization period in dogs. J Vet Behav 2007;2(3):84-85.

13. Seksel K, Mazurski EJ, Taylor A. Puppy socialization programs: short and long term behavioral effects. Appl Anim Behav Sci 1999;62(4):335-349.

 

[ardeagold]

Brad...that was my point. The article doesn't say a thing about temperament. It says "personality descriptions". I don't think temperament and personality are necessarily interchangeable terms, but that's how the author is taking what the breed standards say.

Becky, the problem is that when using the term "personality" when referring to the breed standard, it implies that all dogs of any one breed are going to be pretty much the same. And we know that's not true. Each one is different, an individual, and have widely varying personalities, which you can see pretty much from birth.

The underlying temperament of "sweetness" in Newfs is the genetic component all good breeders strive for, but the individual personalities may range from the very outgoing, happy, highly interactive to the very stoic, calm types. There are different types of "sweetness". I think the author used the wrong terminology for the article.

 

[TerriW]

Anyone who doesn't realize 'gentle temperament' refers to the full-grown dog, as opposed to a rambunctious puppy,should not own a Newfie. Newfie puppies are 100 lbs.

Get real, people, when you purchase a large dog.

 

[Whybu1]

I am always amazed that people expect large breed pups to "mellow out" when they hit 40ish pounds and not when they mature like other breeds. A puppy is gonna be a puppy for at least a year no matter what the size.

Also the temperment is a "general" description. I have one nice, calm Great Dane and one that some days I swear is part Jack Russel. He forgot to read the breed temperment standard. LOL

 

[R Taft]

I think in very simple terms that genetics has some part of the temperament, but I think environment of upbringing has a lot more to do with the total outcome.

I have been following a lot of litters (which I had socialized from 4 weeks) and from different breeds, but quite a few newfoundland dogs. It is amazing how different these dogs are, even though they had good socializing from 4-12 weeks. They landed in different environments with different levels of knowledge owners. I only have to look at the Katy litter, where some of her litter-mates were the "newfoundland nightmare" until given more guidance in training. I do think there are some genetics, but in my own personal experience of doing puppy socializing for Breeders, I still think that environment has a large input........

 

[Puppypeoplenj]

Actually, I was just looking over my breeder's contract again and she doesn't guarantee temperament. She says that it is too much influenced by environment and socialization, and there is only so much a par genetics can play.

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

I don't think temperament and personality are necessarily interchangeable terms, but that's how the author is taking what the breed standards say.

Each one is different, an individual, and have widely varying personalities, which you can see pretty much from birth.

I agree. I don't think personality and temperament are the same. Each of my dogs have their own personality but all have a sweet temperament. I think of temperament as more genetic.

 

[janices]

Maybe this will help. Paper from University of Texas.
Temperament and Personality in Dogs: A review and evaluation of past research
http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/faculty/gosling/reprints/aabs05dogpersonalityreview.pdf

I consider temperament the genetic component which most literature considers temperament highly heritable which influences what behavior will be and this should be sweetness of temperament. As keep expanding into environment, life experiences, plus temperament and character traits, defines personality.

The two have been used interchangably in literature.

 

[ElvisTheNewf]

Look at examples here. Read the posts about Willow and Turner - siblings from the same litter living in the same house. I've never met them, but they seem sweet yet have different personalities.

 

[AngusMcDubhsMom]

I've been reading Stanley Coren's book, Do Dogs Dream? and there is a chapter titled "Does Genetics Determine a Dog's Personality." He also deals with the topic of "designer dogs." The research he referenced was a study at UC Berkely in which a Newfoundland and Border Collie were mated, being breeds with distinctly opposing personalities and traits....this was strictly a scientific experiment. The generations ran the gamut of combinations of temperment, etc. He also demonstrates that in a designer dog, ie. a "cockapoo or labradoodle" the first generation blend of qualities was reliable, but further generations can be quite unpredictable for both temperment and physical characteristics.

 

[newflizzie]

I agree. I don't think personality and temperament are the same. Each of my dogs have their own personality but all have a sweet temperament. I think of temperament as more genetic.

I agree, my newfs have the sweetness of temperament, but vastly different personalities.