Genetics

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The most famous debate within the social sciences—whether discussing human or canine psychology—is the "nature vs. nurture" debate. This debate comes up whenever people discuss breed-specific legislation, but it is also essential to understanding canine psychology as a whole.

Nature vs. Nurture

Many people—including laypeople, training professionals, and even researchers—believe that most of our behavior is essentially predetermined by our genetic code (nature), whereas other people believe in a Tabula Rasa (blank slate) meaning that behavior and temperament are shaped entirely by our experience (nurture). When it comes to breed bans (particularly pit bull type dogs), "nature" people blame the breed for its bite statistics whereas "nurture" people blame the owners. Most people understand that there is surely some balance between these two viewpoints, and the purpose of this page is to explore that balance.

Breed and Temperament

Many rescue advocates will tell you that a puppy's temperament is not determined by breed—it is determined by the immediate parents of the puppy—whereas purebred advocates will tell you that if you want a puppy who will grow up to have a predictable and standardized temperament you should get a purebred. So which position on the matter is correct? Both are!

The genetic basis for a dog's behavior and temperament is entirely determined by the dog's immediate parents. Every litter of puppies will have some variation in many behavioral characteristics—energy level, food drive, play drive, working drive, prey drive, social behavior vs. aloofness, biddability (willingness to work for your approval/affection), etc.—but every puppy will be at least somewhat close to at least one of their parents in all of these traits. Ethical breeding means breeding to a standard, and every breed standard includes guidelines for temperament and behavior, so ethical breeders always select breeding dogs who are true to their standard and will therefore yield predictable puppies. Once they are born with the basic building blocks of their breed's behavior, responsible puppy socialization will solidify those ideal traits into adolescence and adulthood.

Critical Period

Within the first 16 weeks after a puppy is born, they are in what is called the "critical socialization period". Throughout this period, it is crucial that you introduce your puppy to as many novel experiences as you can in order to prepare the puppy for the world. If you succeed at ensuring that all experiences are positive within this period, your puppy will learn to be resilient and remain calm in a variety of contexts and situations. However, if you fail to teach your pup that novel experiences are a good thing, it could result in negative reactivity to new experiences throughout their life. That is why this period is critical to a puppy's development, and you should have a specific plan for introducing your puppy to a variety of experiences during this time.