Calm Sweetie or Crazy Sheepie?
I wonder about this a lot because I have a crazy excitable puppy (she'll be 2 this month), Callie. She jumps and runs and we could never take her out without a leash b/c she would be gone in a second. (That sounds bad, but she's actually quite well-behaved and we love her to death, she just has a lot of energy.) My mom has Callie's sister (from the same litter) and she is very calm and laid back and will just stand in the front yard with my mom with no leash or anything and never wander off. Also, my parents had a sheepie when I was a baby and she was a calm one also. So, here's the question: Did we just pick out sheepies with different personalities, or are they the way they are because of how we raised them? When Callie was a puppy, my husband used to race her around and set up obstacle courses and we take her to the dog park a lot... I thought this would be an interesting topic for discussion. I have some theories, but I wonder what everyone else thinks. Any thoughts? |
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| I think every sheepie has a different personality...just like people. You could have five children and they all end a bit different...same with sheepies.
My sheepie, Izzie, has multiple personalities. Sometimes she's a crazy energizer bunny...other times she is calm and quiet. |
Amanda P wrote: I think every sheepie has a different personality...just like people. You could have five children and they all end a bit different...same with sheepies.
My sheepie, Izzie, has multiple personalities. Sometimes she's a crazy energizer bunny...other times she is calm and quiet. I was just thinking about this yesterday! I completely agree with Amanda. Each has their own personality and the environment can encourage certain personality traits to become stronger. Annie is very much like Izzie! |
| I'm a little unsure on the nature v nurture thing here - as far as the nurture aspect, I've been able to teach Walter some boundaries (physical and otherwise), and he's about 90% respectful of them. For example, he can be outside off-leash all day (with me, of course) and will never wander off. He'll explore, but will always stay in the boundaries I've taught.
However, we could be in the middle of frisbee or fetch, having a grand old time, and he will just bolt - he'll do 3-4 laps around the house, run straight at me and weave at the last second. He'll challenge the boundaries by going just past the "line" and then coming right back. I think this is the nature aspect. The part of him that wants to explore, and be in charge of his own environment. I was actually thinking about this yesterday too - I played with him off and on for a good three hours yesterday, so i have a hard time believing his spastic fit was from a lack of exercise or pent up energy... I can see him saying in a Forest Gump voice..."I just felt like running!!" |
| With dogs I do think it is more nurture rather than nature.
Panda is my fourth oes, and is the most calm, laid back, easy to train, well behaved oes I've ever known. The only thing she does is occasionally chew up a shoe or herself (which we hope she won't do again with more exercise and keeping her busier) I think there are so many things that lead up to what kind of dog you end up with. First of all, genetics plays a part, and the temperment of the mother is important too in more ways than just genetics. If she is calm, quiet etc, and doesn't over react to people, noises, new things etc, then those are some of the first things she teaches her pups. I think how long the pups are with their mom and littermates is very important, if they have no mom to show them how to react to new people, new situations, noises etc, then they may go ahead and form their own opinion that might be way off base, or if you get lucky, just fine. Who knows. They need to learn to be dogs from mom and littermates, to learn bite inhibition, proper dog body language, or they may have dog aggression or fear. And then that's where the new owner comes in.... exposing the pup calmly to new people, sounds, environments is important, but so is making sure not to over stimulate the pup. It can be hard to find a good balance. Your reaction to your dogs reaction may set the dogs opinion of any given place, person etc too. When Dancer was a pup, I made the mistake of coddling her, reassuring her, when she barked at new people at the door. BIG mistake, she still is a little neurotic when people come to the door. All I did by reassuring her was tell her "yes, that's right, be anxious when people come to the door" I should have been nonchalant about it all.... oh well, live and learn. |
| That's funny - Callie does the same running thing. Sometimes when I let her out back without a leash, she'll go potty and then pause and look at me with this face that is almost daring me to chase her. She'll run one lap around the pool and then come right in. It's like she just needs a good run occasionally and also she is pushing those boundaries.[/quote] |
It's not just puppies, Rosco will be 8 in September and he's still a nut  |
| My Ben, who will be two in November, is about the most laid back guy you'd ever want to meet. He never jumps on people, just walks up and quietly hopes for a scratch, wiggling all the while.
We adopted Fozzy from NEOESR. He had been surrendered from his home because he was too wild. He is two months older than Ben, and he still tears around the house acting goofy. He does have a wonderful disposition, loves everyone, but he is so energetic. He still likes to nibble visitors, and since his head is crotch high, you can understand the problem. Same food, same schedule, both sleep in the bedroom with us, same amount of exercise. Entirely different personalities. |
OLIVE IS A LITTLE OF EVERYTHIN BUT I STILL LOVE IT WHEN SHE DOES HER PUPPY ROLL. SHE FLIPS OVER HEAD FIRST AND HER TOUNG GOES FLOP AND ITS HER WAY OF SAYING PLAY WITH ME  |
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