[PyrNet-L] Temperament and Heredity

[Carol Brescher Boyle <carol@NaturalDogFood.com>]

Hi everyone,

First of all thanks to everyone who told the lady to take
her pup out of the crate for me. You all said it with much
more tact than I would have. I only get the digest so by
the time I read something, it has usually be already answered.

But on to this temperament and heredity issue. When I was looking
for my first pup over 30 years ago, there was a breeder who
kept his dogs in an isolated area. They were fenced in with 
no kennel per se, and no runs. They roamed free. (Often wondered 
how he kept tract of who sired who, but thats another point.) 

I was cautioned if I purchased a puppy from this individual, 
take the puppy at five or six weeks. Why? because there
was NO human contact for these dogs. No socialization, no
bonding, and of course no temperament testing.

I, fortunately, purchased a dog from a different breeder, but
being in the northeast, I had an opportunity to see this breeder's 
dogs. Almost every dog I saw from this kennel had a bad
temperament. It was either excessively shy or aggressive. Not
infrequently the offspring of these dogs also had temperament 
problems.

So I will have to hedge on the temperament is hereditary issue.
Too often the dog breeder and those dogs he breeds supply
both the environment as well as the genes. 

Can you breed it out? Don't know. But should you even try?
One aggressive or overly shy Pyr would have to be pretty grand
in other areas for me to consider it part of any breeding program.
 
Just tossing in my two cents worth.

> 
> Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 12:11:00 EDT
> From: JGentzel@aol.com
> Subject: Re: [PyrNet-L] Question???
> 
> In a message dated 98-06-03 09:45:02 EDT, you write:
> 
> << In my opinion, temperament is hereditary - shy dogs produce puppies that
>  are shy and bad tempered dogs produce bad tempered puppies. Training can
>  help, but not much.  That's why it is important to meet adult relatives
>  of puppies before buying.
> 
>  My 2 cents worth.
>  Charlotte
>  VA >>
> 
> Add my 2 cents worth to yours Charlotte.  Well said.  You almost cannot breed
> poor temperment out of a line.
> 
> Joe


-- 
  Carol
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