does your dog's tempermant fit the standard?

• Bradley Brashears Posted : 8/2/2007 4:02:50 PM ...I think my dog is broken. -She is suppose to have a lot of energy, but she rather roll on her back and stare at the sky, or watch butterflies. -Suppose to have a strong prey drive... Yet she is easily beaten by a cat, and has actually run away from a rabbit. -Not all, but a lot of huskies have an aversion to water, yet she will swim and swim and swim, and then later she will try and figure out how she got so far from land. -Graceful runners? Sure, she is graceful, until she tries to make a turn... Then its usually followed by a loud crash and yipe sound. Though, she does have a great personality, and is an incredibly fast learner... But sometimes I do have to question her common sense and canine 'instincts'. =D But I still love her, even if she is defective. 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• rwbeagles Posted : 8/2/2007 4:07:39 PM No temperament section in the AKC Beagle standard. It all relates to appearance...when you get down to the Pack description you will find this...   "Manners The hounds must all work gaily and cheerfully, with flags up--obeying all commands cheerfully. They should be broken to heel up, kennel up, follow promptly and stand. Cringing, sulking, lying down to be avoided. Also, a pack must not work as though in terror of master and whips. In Beagle packs it is recommended that the whip be used as little as possible."   The Beagles nickname is the "Merry Little Hound" and mine fit that very well indeed. 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• mary lang Posted : 8/2/2007 9:09:56 PM What if your dog's temperment DOESN'T match it's standard?    Our pup is a bichon/shih tzu mix...she's supposed to be gentle, and calm.  She's anything but that!  LOL  She's only 18 weeks old...but she's pretty high strung, and "nippy" to others.  She's young still...is it possible that her true temperment hasn't really shown itself yet?   Does the temperment change somewhat from puppy to adult? 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• rwbeagles Posted : 8/2/2007 9:13:46 PM Your dog being a mix of two breeds,...you'd have to depend more on the temperament of the PARENTS than the "breed temperament", IMO.   Temperaments/tendencies that are "breed specific" tend to lose thier predictability when crossbred (even a purebred is going to have a "range" within the expected temperament...ie some Pointers will point better than others and show more interest in birds etc).   What were your pups parents like? That'd be what you'd want to examine....and of course the experiences, training, that YOU provide will also have a huge impact. [] 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• houndlove Posted : 8/2/2007 9:45:49 PM Our first dog was an Akita x GSD (looked just like [linkhttp://www.dogster.com/dogs/450402]this gal on dogster[/link]), which you'd think would be the hardest dog ever known to man, but it was like all those difficult traits from both breeds cancelled each other out or something and he was actually a very sweet, biddable, even-tempered, non-drivey dog. It's so hard to say with mixes. The opposite could also happen--you get all the most difficult to deal with traits from both breeds. And everything in between. We kind of got the opposite with Conrad with the difficult traits. Sensitivity and resource-gaurdiness from the bloodhound and clinginess and neediness from the lab (our theory is he's a bloodhound/lab).  0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• beth82 Posted : 8/2/2007 9:52:26 PM Beauty is a Lab/Border Collie mix, and although she looks like a smallish Labrador, her temperament is all BC.  Needless to say this was an unwelcome surprise for my family when she was young. As first time dog owners, we thought we were getting a "Lab mix" that would be the "perfect family dog" Labs are supposed to be.  We had no clue how to deal with a BC pup. [8|] Sophie is a Beagle/JRT mix, and she seems to have a temperament that's more Beagle than anything.  She's the happiest, waggiest little dog I have ever met, and she has a hound's bay and keeps her nose to the ground. Yet, parts of the Parson Russell Terrier standard also seem to describe her pretty well. These: "Bold and friendly. Athletic and clever." and  "At home he is playful, exuberant and overwhelmingly affectionate." fit her perfectly.  0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• fuzzy_dogs_mom Posted : 8/2/2007 10:56:43 PM I don't know.  I think Max is lab and GSD.  He isn't intense and focused at all, although he's smart and learns fast.  He loves everyone.  All someone has to do is look at him and within seconds Max is sitting on their feet, leaning on their legs, looking soulfully up at them hoping for an ear scratch.  He's not a barker.  He doesn't bark when strangers come in the yard or up to the door.  If I don't hear the bell, the only way I have of knowing someone is at the door is seeing Max standing with his nose up against it, tail wagging frantically, waiting for it to open so he can lick whoever is standing there. He'd be considered a total failure as a watch dog or guard dog. I don't think that sounds like a GSD ... maybe more like a lab?   Joyce 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• Pwca Posted : 8/2/2007 11:50:18 PM The Cardigan breed standard says: "Temperament Even-tempered, loyal, affectionate, and adaptable. Never shy nor vicious." This definately fits Indy. The Collie breed standard does not, oddly enough, have a separate section for temperament, but in the introduction, says: "Timidity, frailness, sullenness, viciousness, lack of animation, cumbersome appearance and lack of over-all balance impair the general character." Mal has none of these faults, so one could say he fits the breed standard. Very strange, though, for a breed which is SO famous for an ideal generic dog temperament to lack that in the standard- perhaps it's just understood that ALL collies should be gentle with children and baby animals, intelligent, useful, energetic-with-an-off-switch, problem-solving dogs. 0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login
• mary lang Posted : 8/3/2007 6:27:57 AM Thanks, rwbeagle.  Interesting to think about for sure!!  0 LIKE Like Share You have posted to a forum that requires a moderator to approve posts before they are publicly available. Hey, it's way more fun when you sign up or log in Connect With Connect With Sign Up Login