[Dailydrool] Interesting article

[dpmcquade at verizon.net]

Interesting article in PSYCHOLOGY TODAY. Thought I'd share it. 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201307/life-history-and-owners-nature-shape-dogs-personality

I can't say that my males have been bolder than the females. Maybe this is a basset-specific thing, or maybe it's because I'm a female who owns the males in the pack. The females have always been pack leaders here and bossy (except for Alexis, who was the extremely low key, but I always thought that was because she had previous owners who had very little to do with her).

 
On the other hand, some of the other findings seem to agree with what I've experienced with some of our not-so-gently-used hounds. Horton is finally becoming trainable with the help of medication, since he had so many bad experiences before we got him. I don't think anyone trained him before I tried, or if they did, they were too harsh with him. Now he has "sit" down pat in just a short time and is looking forward to treats.
 
In my experience some form of obedience training is so important, even if you just do it yourself (though this study seems to favor a more intense approach). Our Jane was as sharp as a whip, even though I did all her training, though I would not describe her as particularly obedient. I wonder how she would fall on their scale--or any basset, for that matter, since obedience is not a highly desirable trait as far as they seem to think.
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets