German Shepherd Dogs: can you fix “bad” temperament?
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
German Shepherd Dogs should have a great temperament: they should be steady, confident, and reliable, and never show signs of fear. One way to select a pup with great temperament is to make a sudden loud noise: a pup with sound temperament will look to see what the noise was, but won’t run away.
However, some people believe that fear in a German Shepherd Dog comes from an unfortunate environment, and the dog can be trained to have a steadier temperament. This is unlikely.
It’s undoubtedly true that certain features of a dog’s personality, as with humans, derives from genetics. But, as with humans, where to draw the line between nature and nurture is a difficult task.
When you see a behavior repeated across generations, it’s a sign that something genetic is at work. That behavior is frequently (at least partly) the result of an inborn temperament. But characteristics like intelligence are notoriously difficult to measure objectively. Attributes like ‘loyal’ are difficult to define at all.
If you’re unsure of a fearful pup’s temperament, you can check out the parents. However, adult dogs in their home environment rarely show signs of fear, so this is no indicator.
Certainly an individual dog and by extension the German Shepherd breed has to have a certain basic potential in order to do the sometimes amazing things it does. The ability to navigate complex environments to sniff out a bomb containing a certain compound is such a task. Opening a door and guiding a blind person through it, or delivering a tray of food to a wheelchair-bound person have to be learned. Without some raw intelligence, those things couldn’t be taught.
But in each of those examples, the dog has been trained. The result is a combination of nature and nurture.
With simpler behaviors it’s more difficult to judge how much is due to temperament and how much to training. If a Shepherd spontaneously grasps your hand in its mouth, then tugs you forward, that’s probably temperament, to a large extent. When you see an untrained German Shepherd pacing back and forth behind a chain link fence, ‘patrolling’ its border, there’s likely a certain amount of basic nature at work - of course, this could also be a sign of stress in the animal, from boredom or for a physical reason.
Some things are very clearly not taught. German Shepherds will bark at the approach of strangers, even when there has been no other dog in their lives to ’show them how’. That behavior is an instance of separating those inside the home from those outside. The home dwellers are ‘part of the pack’. Those outside are a potential threat. That display of ‘loyalty’ can most logically be interpreted as protectiveness and is probably innate.
So, what should you do if someone tells you that you can fix bad temperament? That’s your decision. However, you may find that your life is easier if you choose a German Shepherd puppy which shows no signs of fear.
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