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Dog Personalities

In this article you’ll find some useful information about dog personalities. Your dog was born with a set of instinctive behaviors that he inherited from his parents.

These behaviors are grouped into three broad categories

1. prey,
   
2. pack, and
   
3. defense

they are called drives.
In each drive you can recognize his temperament, his personality, and how he perceives the world.

Behaviors in Each Drive

A dog’s prey drive includes hunting, killing, prey, and eating. This drive is activated by motion, sound, and smell. Behaviors associated with the prey drive are seeing, hearing, scenting, tracking, stalking, chasing, anything that moves, pouncing, high-pitched barking, jumping up, pulling down, shaking, tearing and ripping apart, carrying, eating, digging, and burying.
These behaviors are when your dog is chasing a cat – when he gets excited and barks in a high-pitched tone of voice as the cat climbs up a tree. He can also shake and rip apart soft toys and bury dog biscuits in the couch. The pack drive includes behaviors as playing, licking, mounting, washing ears, and all courting gestures.

If your dog exhibits many of these behaviors, he’s one who follows you around the house and happiest when he’s with you, loves to be petted and groomed, and likes to work with you.
That kind of dog may be unhappy when left alone for long periods.

The defense drive consists of the instincts for survival and self-preservation, and includes fight and flight behaviors. The defense drive is more complex than prey and pack drives, because the same situation that can make some dogs aggressive (fight) can also elicit avoidance (flight) behaviors in others, especially in young dogs.

Fight behaviors will not fully develop until his second years of age. Examples of fight behaviors are when your dog “stands tall” and stares at other dogs, or likes to
strut his stuff, stands his ground with his ears and whiskers pointed forward and his tail is held up.
He goes toward unfamiliar objects or situations, and his hackles go up from his shoulders to his neck. He may guard his food, toys, or territory from other dogs or people, and he may dislike being petted or groomed. Funny thing is that dog refuses to move when lying in front of doorways or cupboards, making his owner walks around him. Like he want to be owner of “human dog”.

Flight behaviors demonstrate that the dog is unsure about something.

Examples are hackles that go up the full length of the body, not just at the neck, hiding or running away from new situations; a dislike of being touched by strangers or a general lack of confidence.

Young dogs tend to exhibit more flight behaviors than older dogs.

Freezing (not going forward or backward) is generally considered inhibited flight behavior.

Bringing Out Drives in Your Dog

Here are the basic rules:

• Prey drive is brought out in your dog by the use of motion: hand movements, using a high-pitched tone of voice or an object of attraction – such as a stick, toy or food; chasing or being chased and leaning backward with your body.
• Pack drive is brought out by physical affection – verbal praise and smiling at your dog. Grooming and playing will also help to develop this behavior.
• Defense drive is brought out by leaning over the dog, from the front or the side, checking (a sharp tug on the leash) and using a harsh tone of voice.

Hope this article helped you to find out some new aspects in dog personalities. .. And his understanding of your willingness to become a best friends.

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