Breed Quirks

So I was thinking last night (while observing dogs in my classes) about all the different "quirks" or traits that we assign to a dog- based purely on breed or group. Now of course these are all generalized as there are always exceptions. But for the most part I think that my observations are fairly accurate

Retrievers- labs, goldens, flatcoats

They are ALL goofy- some more than others (particularily if you're a flatcoat) They generally are easy to train- but it is important that they learn to think even with an obvious reward...





Toy breeds- papillons, chi's, etc..
Can you say boing????? These dogs generally are either bouncing off the walls, or melted to the spot, terrified to move. Thankfully the ones that come to my classes tend to be the bouncers- which makes for great fun! They are little balls of energy and you can't help but go "Awwwww"
These dogs tend to be introverts in class and have lots of handler focus.

Herding breeds- corgis ;o), border collies, aussies, shelties etc...
Smart, but tend to overthink things. Generally these dogs have obsessive problems, tend to be a little over the top, and well....are very, very, very smart.

Working Breeds- Berners, Mastiffs, Rotti's etc.

Great work ethic but can have a slower learning rate. These dogs never forget stuff- but are generally considered harder to train than dogs from other group. These dogs also tend to be easily distracted and very...very food motivated.

and then there are the Non-Sporting dogs...We don't have many around here...well, except poodles. We have oodles of poodles (mostly standard)
These dogs are smart, beautiful, and well, smart. They tend to be either thinkers, or bouncers. And if you are lucky you have one in between!!!

Terriers- scotties, jacks, to name a few
Intense, driven and always looking for an opportunity to be bad! Generally they are little geniuses though- with tons of potential, if only they listened!






**Photo credit- JRT, Flatcoat, and BC - sarah novak Mastiff- me**