When Pigs Fly_ Training Success With Impossible Dogs - Jane Killion [4]
A well-trained dog makes a wonderful companion.
I spend a lot of time mentoring new Bull Terrier owners. Time and time again, I hear stories about the frustration and discouragement they experience when they go to training classes with their dog. Seems like a lot of instructors don’t want to be bothered with dogs that are not “easy” to train. Some instructors flat out recommend getting another breed. To me, this is just terrible. My dogs had three very different types of problems, but we worked through them, and the joy that I get every time we train or compete is beyond measure. The real reward for me was achieving things and having fun with the dogs that I already loved. I want to make that reward available to anyone who desires it. Far from wanting an “easy” dog, I love my busy terriers whose brains are turning so fast that you can hear the whirling and clicking. I make no apologies for owning a fabulous little dog that is always on the go and obsessed with living life to the hilt, and you should not be making any apologies, either. There is a gold mine of possibilities waiting inside of your Pigs Fly kinda dog and I am going to show you how to find it.
Relative “Intelligence” of Breeds
The Learning Curve is not Straightforward
One of the most fascinating books you can ever read is the American Kennel Club’s The Complete Dog Book (New York: Ballantine Books, 2006). It contains brief descriptions and histories for the breeds of dog recognized by the AKC and one has to be amazed at how we have bred so many breeds of dogs for so many specialized tasks. There are dogs that herd livestock by driving them from behind, and there are dogs that tend livestock by heading them off. There are dogs who will go and fetch a bird without putting a single mark on it, and there are dogs that will destroy any small animal they can find. There are dogs who will diligently and quietly point out where birds are hiding, and there are dogs who will do a crazy dance to draw curious birds within gun range. There are dogs who will guard and let no one near their family (be that family human, dog, or sheep) and dogs who willingly accept handling from anyone.
Sit down, because this is going to come as a shock to you. No breed of dog is inherently better at learning than any other breed or mix of breeds. That’s right—despite all the flashy behavior that certain breeds offer, despite the fact that some breeds of dogs are literally waiting around for you to tell them what to do, they are no quicker to learn than any other dog. That is not just my opinion—Scott and Fuller in their seminal work Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965) did extensive experiments with Basenjis, Shetland Sheepdogs, Beagles, Cocker Spaniels, Wire-Haired Fox Terriers, and all manner of crosses of those breeds. The tests consisted of various complicated combinations of obstacles and mazes that the dogs had to negotiate in order to get to a food reward. Scott and Fuller found that, when it came to problem solving and learning, no breed or cross of breed is quicker to learn than any other is. In their words:
… (A)ll breeds show about the same average level of performance in problem solving, provided they can be adequately motivated, provided physical differences and handicaps do not affect the tests, and provided interfering emotional reactions such as fear can be eliminated. In short, all the breeds appear quite similar in pure intelligence.