Perfectly Normal?

[Weasels]

Normal shmormal.

My two are both batsh*t crazy-pants in their own way, but it also means they're full of personality and up for anything. And it's such a great feeling to help them overcome their issues and fears, and watch their confidence grow by the week

And besides, if I had sedate, predictable dogs I wouldn't learn half as much about training and behaviour :p

[Weasels]

I think we should also add to this discussion the changing societal expectations of dogs. What does "perfectly normal" even mean?

I've been thinking about this a bit lately, and all the weird, stimulating and confusing things (from a dog perspective) that they are confronted with daily in the 'burbs.

I think my conclusion is that I shouldn't be surprised that my boy is reactive, but I should be surprised that my girl isn't!

[dee lee]

I always felt that my DA dog was not "normal" in temperament, but there were always so many other reasons given to me. Not knowing the early history, being an older pup, me being inexperienced with bullbreeds, me not being a tough enough pack leader... etc etc...

Articles like this ease my guilt a little. Maybe she was never quite right.

Of course she wasn't quite right. The people that sold her to you let you down in a big way by refusing to acknowledge that. There is a fair chance the reason she ended up being put up for rehoming in the first place was because she wasn't quite right. You did all you possibly could, I don't think you should feel any guilt. It was just very sad, that is all.

Thanks Greytmate.

[Red Fox]

I found the article interesting. My older dog is reactive, soft and nervy. He becomes anxious when left alone, even in the backyard, thrives on routine, is very sensitive and is extremely attatched to me (as I am to him).

My young Malinois pup has been different from day one. She is the most confident, outgoing, adventurous, persistant, energetic little pup I have ever met! She is incredibly independent and will spend hours 'exploring' everything and anything. If she falls down she gets right back up and tries again.

Both are polar opposites, raised in the same house from the same age. The pup has only been with me for a little over two weeks so I can't say how she'll turn out - but the differences between her and my older dog as a pup are so clearly evident already.

I'm not sure either is "normal" though. o_O In the wrong homes it's likely that they'd both be considered a nighmare for different reasons.

[Muttaburra]

Great post.

The notion that "all dogs are the same" is very over-simplistic on a number of levels.

Dogs were bred to display or accentuate different canine attributes and behaviours, so the setter sets, the retriever retrieves, the sight dog runs and sees into the distance, the flock guardian guards and so on. Even though dogs can often be trained to do tasks that they were not specifically bred for, mostly you will find that, for example, the cattle dog is best for herding cattle and often show the herding instinct from an early age.

Any individual from any breed or mixed breed can have congenital physical or neurological issues.

Having said that, the attitude that "all dogs are normal" is probably a good starting assumption when applying training techniques to modify a dogs behaviour, then only after trying out the training, a decision can be made as to whether the dog is not "normal".