Most of us have breed preferences; whether it's how they look and/or the collection of traits we assume the breed to have.
Today we explore if these breed stereotypes are really valid because the existing research on breed and behavior is largely mixed; while breed can influence some behavior, there's a wide range of variability, even within breeds. The science is a bit of a mess.
So we thought it would be fun to explore our breed stereotypes with some breeds today based on our experience of working with thousands of dogs;
German Shepherds (03m8s)
Doodles (10m40s)
Shiba Inus (16m50s)
Pitties (27m05s)
Huskies (38m26s)
Chihuahuas (46m55s)
For each breed, we discuss what behavior challenges we typically see with them, why we love working with the breed, and what are some things to keep top of mind if you are living with or working with one of these breeds.
At the end of the episode (1h01m,15s), we discuss when stereotyping breeds can be helpful, and when it can be harmful.
If you like this episode and want us to cover other breeds in a parat 2, please send us a message on our Instagram account @instinctdogtraining
Guests:
- Suze Cullinan (she/her/hers) CDBC is a Certified Behavior Consultant and President at INSTINCT Northern New Jersey, INSTINCT Jersey Shore, and INSTINCT Philadelphia.
- Dresden Graff (he/him/his) CPDT-KA, Certified Trainer and Owner of INSTINCT Forth Worth
Hosts Brian Burton (he/him/his) and Sarah Fraser (she/her/hers) are Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of INSTINCT Dog Behavior & Training. Both are Certified Dog Behavior Consultants and have Master's degrees in Animal Behavior from Hunter College/CUNY.
INSTINCT has 11 locations across the US and services the global community via virtual consults. Over 20,000 students have also taken courses at INSTINCT's online school (with many free courses available): Learn more at https://www.instinctdogtraining.com/
INSTINCT Resources:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/instinctdogtraining/

Online School https://onlineschool.instinctdogtraining.com
Free Monthly Seminars (Puppy Parenting Roadmap, Rescue Dog Roadmap, Behavior Roadmap): https://www.instinctdogtraining.com/seminars/
Youtube Version of the Episode (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PONC04Kh98