# Temperment Poll - interesting stuff! Please read and vote!



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

not sure where/how to vote?


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

There should be a poll at the top of the page. It's a multiple choice poll.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Penny has the typical friendly, loving golden temperment. Maggie is shy is new situations, but also very loving.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

I was able to only vote once but I voted sound for all 3 of my guys. They are friendly, outgoing, have no fear/shyness issues and IMO, are very well balanced.


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## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

My oldest, Jax has a sound temperament. Lucy, my middle furchild has a submissive temperament, and my newest addition, Boone has a dominant temperament. Funny how I ended up with 3 different type dogs.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Can you share what website this is from/who wrote it?


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

My new boy Remy has a Sound temperament, he's very sweet, gentle, loving. I can't say enough about how wonderful he is. 

His big sister Roxy is a former abused puppy mill mom, she is both submissive and shy. She was not socialized when I got her, she is very shy around people she doesn't know and hesitant with situations she is not familiar with. Roxy had apparently been abused by a male, she is afraid of most men, any sudden moves or changes to her normal routine. 

She continues to make progress and has come a very very long way since the first day she arrived in our home, but there wil always be an edge that exists with her. She's wonderful with us, very sweet, gentle, and loving, but it takes time for her to warm up to others and trust them. We continue to expose her to new people, dogs, and situations.


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## amy22 (May 11, 2008)

Very interesting thanks!!


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

RedDogs said:


> Can you share what website this is from/who wrote it?


 
Here is the website link - I know it's on a German shepard site but the article seems to me to be about all dogs and temperment. Like I said, I'm not sure how universal this list is but it did break things down into a way I could understand the different kinds of temperments and attitudes a dog can have.

UNDERSTANDING DOGS


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

Selka was, to be honest, the perfect golden. He wasn't shy or pushy but obeyed and the perfect companion/therapy dog. When with others(without me), he obeyed them and maintained his happy personality. He was happy till the day he went to Heaven.

Gunner on the other hand has fear aggression toward strange dogs and is very obedient except if he thinks we are mad at him (if we are training Sasha in a normal voice) he will crawl away to his bed. Most of the time he is wonderful and loves people. This dog has been well socialized and never abused. But his litter mates have the same issue .. we believe it is something that happened in utero.

Sasha seems so much like Selka. He is going through a fear stage now so hoping he comes out fine on the other side!


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

This pet owner doesn't completely agree with their information.

"Temperament is 100% genetic; it is inherited, and fixed at the moment of the dog’s fertilization/conception/birth"

I do believe that genetics plays a major role but I think the first four months in the dogs enviroment can make a difference.
I read something in Dr. Patricia McConnell's book "For The Love Of A Dog" that makes me think that some things can be changed during a pups early development.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

Dominance
"The dominant dog strives to achieve pack leadership. The more dominant he is, the less likely he is to accept human leadership and training. He is confrontational. Such a dog requires a skilled handler who can maintain pack leadership at all times."

I get worried when I see the word Dominance.

Dogs are situational. Most dogs that are usually Alpha are not confrontational.
 ClickerSolutions Training Articles -- The History and Misconceptions of Dominance Theory

ClickerSolutions Training Articles -- The Macho Myth
http://www.4pawsu.com/DebunkingDomMyth.pdf

http://www.4pawsu.com/dominancemyth.pdf


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

I know there are some dominant dogs that really aren't that much of an issue. My one dog Willow definitely fall under this category - and to think I picked her out because I thought he was the sweet one out of the litter! If she doesn't like what I'm telling her to do and then I go to help her move in the direction I want her to go, she has no problem growling at me and I wouldn't put it past her to bite me if I kept annoying her about it. That said, she loves me dearly - I'm her person - but she's her own dog and always has been. 

Has she bit me? No. But that's because I'm smart enough not to play with fire! She bit Leif once but I think that was more because he did something that hurt her and she reacted (she is an old lady with arthritis) but Leif also has always known he cannot lay all over her and do whatever he wants to her like he does to Max and not take the chance of a reaction so Willow has taught Leif a deep respect for dogs, even dogs that you know and love you - which I think will end up being a good thing. 




solinvictus said:


> Dominance
> "The dominant dog strives to achieve pack leadership. The more dominant he is, the less likely he is to accept human leadership and training. He is confrontational. Such a dog requires a skilled handler who can maintain pack leadership at all times."
> 
> I get worried when I see the word Dominance.
> ...


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

solinvictus said:


> This pet owner doesn't completely agree with their information.
> 
> "Temperament is 100% genetic; it is inherited, and fixed at the moment of the dog’s fertilization/conception/birth"
> 
> ...


And not just the first 4 months.... 

My guy was fearless and bold and blase about noises until he was 2. And now he is sound phobic because of a bad summer. Proof that you can't ever let your guard down. 

That said, I voted "sound temperament", because as far as socialization and training and life, he is an ideal golden. He is outgoing, friendly, part-monkey, and neither exhibits inordinant dominant or submissive behavior. 

Normal sound dogs may be dominant or submissive in how they sort out where they stand in life and communicate with their humans and other dogs. They can still be those dogs who rush into a crowd to say "hi" to everyone and can be trusted to never snap. 

Normal sound dogs can become broken and become excessive in dominance (challenging other dogs or people) or submissive behavior (groveling, exposing, and peeing) based on training and experience. If you have a lot of stress or chaos in a home, that might be enough to cause a dog to pick up fearful behavior. 

For that matter, it is most definitely possible for a sound or unsound dog to exhibit various traits based on his individual temperament. 

^ That's why I'm not sure what to think of that study or agree with it. Even the definitions concerned me - like a sound dog being assertive? Doesn't "assertive" sound like a dominant trait to you?


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

I just want to say although I voted submissive that doesn't mean he is submissive in that crazy bad way - as I think the dogs who have that posting here also aren't peeing out of submission. Max is happy to let everyone else be in charge, including the cat. It's pretty funny to see a huge dog doing whatever the cat tells him to or watching him wait for the cat to go down the stairs first and whatnot before him. He's the absolute bottom of our social ladder and so good natured and happy about it! He is not afraid of noises, people, places, other animals (including cows, I found out) so I think in this case, his submissive nature just makes him super easy to get along with and a very go with the flow kind of dog.


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## magiclover (Apr 22, 2008)

Jazz is definitely Sound and submissive. Magic was the same way.


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## Svan (Mar 2, 2011)

Cody is definitively sound. He is confident but not dominant, however I can see how his confidence could've been a problem for someone. For me he's just a joy.


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## Svan (Mar 2, 2011)

Megora said:


> ....That's why I'm not sure what to think of that study or agree with it. Even the definitions concerned me - like a sound dog being assertive? Doesn't "assertive" sound like a dominant trait to you?


No Megora assertive is not the same as dominant. A person can be assertive about their rights without wishing to impose them on others. The same is true of dogs. Cody is very confident & won't be bullied by other dogs or cats, yet he doesn't dominate them either. Dominating dogs require others (pets or human) to submit to them, they want to be top dog & can be aggressive to show their dominance. An assertive dog doesn't need to be the leader of the pack but he is confident in his position in the pack & in his alphas acceptance & valuation of him as a packmember. 

I see Cody being assertive in his sometimes cheeky behaviour. He tries his luck
a bit, confident in his relationship with me (the alpha). He doesn't want to challenge the alpha because having the alpha there gives him a sense of security, but he does try to take liberties occasionally, just cause he knows I love him so  A dominant dog would constantly be challenging my authority as alpha, thinking he could be a better alpha than me & angling for that position.


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## Svan (Mar 2, 2011)

Lol I was once in a discussion with a girl at work about her very domineering husky's behaviour. We were talking about who the alpha was in their home & I said "I'm the alpha bitch at home." 

One of my male colleagues drolly said:"Can we put that on your desk?" (we have these name thingies at our desks). I just laughed at him & said sure. He had some issues around having to be trained by me, but eventually became "sound" temperamentally


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> No Megora assertive is not the same as dominant. A person can be assertive about their rights without wishing to impose them on others. The same is true of dogs. Cody is very confident & won't be bullied by other dogs or cats, yet he doesn't dominate them either. Dominating dogs require others (pets or human) to submit to them, they want to be top dog & can be aggressive to show their dominance. An assertive dog doesn't need to be the leader of the pack but he is confident in his position in the pack & in his alphas acceptance & valuation of him as a packmember.


I'm not sure.... 

Have you met our collie? He's assertive to the point of being obnoxious about it, and it most definitely is part of his dominant and domineering little herding dog nature.  

This means he is more likely to challenge his owner's authority to get his own way and he does not stomach any challenges from the other dogs. Even imagined challenges (he flunked out of obedience class because he kept trying to challenge an akita who apparently looked at him the wrong way). 

That of course is in spite of being a 100 times more docile than the average golden. We joke about him having no will of his own. This despite him trying to make Jacks obey him and sit quietly all the time. He can be walked by his mistress (my niece, who was only 7 when Arth came into our lives) but we are always on watch for him confronting and scolding any dogs we meet.

! 

That's why I assumed that assertive goes together with a dominant personality.


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## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

Riley must be an oddball.
His temperament varies so much, depending on the situation. Overall and in general, he's "sound" and "submissive." But there are times when he's "shy" or "sharp-shy." It just depends on the situation.


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## ilovemydogs (Jan 22, 2009)

I would say that both of my dogs are of sound temperament now, but I think that Bailey would have fallen into the sharp-shy category when I got her. I'm glad that there isn't a trace shyness left in her now.


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