I've never read a book so fast! kzfaq.infoUgkx1_veP7CApJK_GWy_TczaMciuG64PqJeU Learning about his dogs and experiences was just the icing on the cake - bed this book through and through. We're working with our new pup and Brandon's advise was just what I needed. Wish he'd just come and train for me haha but it's good for us and happy to have this new set of tools to use on our pup.

So glad I found this site. I adopted the mother of Veronica. In the rescue she was named Slinky, then Twinkie, and we have re-named her Zoey. We adopted her from the rescue last April, after all 6 of her puppies were adopted. I guess Zak got the DNA results for Zoey done as well and we were surprised to see her breeds. Mostly Poodle, then Chihuahua, and you pretty much know the rest. We thought she was Doxie till the results came in. I don't know where the rest of Zoey's puppies landed, but I'm so glad the Veronica found such a wonderful home. I can see she will have the best life. ❤

The look on Zak' s face when she explained why they are named cocker spaniels and then the jump cut leads me to suspect there was some smirking cut out hahahah

“We’re going to get it medically corrected” “No we’re not, it doesn’t seem to interfere with her frisbee” Zak always a frisbee boy through and through lol

We had a dog trainer-who had a flourishing and well-known business-tell us that our dog would never have good recall (I believe that’s the word she used) because of her breed. She said we must never have her off lead and that she must have a locked, fenced-in yard. We decided to train her ourselves after the trainer was unsuccessful. She was the best, most well-trained dog. She was beloved by everyone who knew her. She looked intimidating (which I wanted) but was sweet and gentle. She only barked when there was reason to. She was a terrific guard dog and wonderful member of our family. She passed away a year ago and we miss her terribly. She was either a Kai Ken or Dutch shepherd, brindle coat and dark face-stunning girl. She had been at a kill shelter before we found her. I cannot imagine never having her in our lives. I’m so glad we didn’t listen to that trainer!

I think something that could help a lot with remedying the confusion caused by that study and the ensued articles, is educating the people about the difference between personality, temperament and behavior trends. The study showed only about personality that it was not predetermined by genetics. And imho, personality is the one thing that influences the actual behavior the least. Temperament, the breed's potential (stemming from their historical selection for function) and most importantly the environmental factors will completely define how a dog will behave. When people made much noise, they're not going to change the study, and they won't even change the articles with false titles, but they could make people go look for further information rather than just sticking with the one article they read. So those who made noise for good reasons (mainly what was said in this video: to prevent unfortunate choices based on an erroneous thought that behavior will be a random throw of the dice anyway) now have a task to distribute correct clarification about the differences between personality, temperament and behavior, so that those people can make smarter choices =) I think this video does a good job starting that thought process, although it is somewhat undermined by the belief in the dna test kits that have been proven over and over to be just a gimmick and totally unreliable. Also, the percentage distribution usually is not a breakdown of all different backgrounds of the dna sample, but rather a chance estimate of being right about linking the found sequences to a certain breed. In other words, this company's best guess is that the dog stems from a poodle, but out of 3 times they make that guess, they know they will be wrong twice. That's a sad efficiency level, but it's true. Those tests are entertaining at best, misinforming and misleading at worst... Don't propagate them. There is not nearly enough technology available to do reliable line testing. Any reliable test today will be unaffordable... (for starters because such a test would require composing larger and more reliable baseline dataset, instead of using dataset with only a handful of breeds with a handful of samples for each breed)

She's a cockapoo-chi 😂 what a cutie. Definitely wouldn't have guessed poodle or pug!

I’m so excited for the extension of The Dog Training Experience because proofing my dog’s behavior in all places and situations is the stage I’m in right now so I think this “bridging the gap” content will be super helpful (just like all your other content!) Thanks for explaining and discussing that study as well. I did a lot of research prior to getting my dog and was honestly a little shocked at how much he defied the breed stereotypes I had read about. He’s the first dog I’ve ever had and I didn’t know about your work until right after I got him so I was less informed. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me despite (and even because of) his deviation from breed stereotypes. Even though I knew dogs weren’t robots or cookie cutter versions of each other, I still assumed that there were some traits that I could expect. Now I know that it’s just not that simple. Thanks for all you do! 💜

I have a Coton de Tuléar. I chose the breed mainly because it’s a hypoallergenic breed, and fit my lifestyle. At six weeks, the breeder asked what I was looking for in terms of personality. Intelligent, loving, but not needy, independent yet friendly, I said, and she chose which dog from the litter would be mine with incredible accuracy.

I love that you're bring science to the public! Taking the time to explain the value of surveys was a really important step for people to take this information seriously.

Veronica is 100% adorable and smart! That’s all we need to know! 🐶💕💕

I have two Border Collies and know about 50 other Border Collies very well. What unites them is a general scary intelligence and a high will to please, but that's possibly true for most canis familiaris - the family dog. Other than that, they are all different, some active, some passive(ish), some skittish, some bold, they are all unique in their own way. Still, there is a general difference between pastoral/herding/hunting/companion dogs.

When I decided I wanted an American Staffordshire Terrier I was ready for 2 hours of physical activity a day and was ready for endless energy. Turned out that my puppy likes a 30-40 minute walk and some tug of war and 15 minutes training. He doesn't like sprinting aimlessly or have lots of prey drive. I saw some people say that amstaffs like him are not amstaffs because they don't bring what they we're "bred for". Well my pup was bred to be a great family pet that you can do sports or work with, but okay.😅 He's perfect every way possible.

I used to do pet sitting out of my home and I once had the pleasure of watching the quietest husky I had ever met. Never mouthed off, no random screeching or howling. In fact I can't even remember her making a sound, even while playing! She was one of the best behaved dogs I've watched and was a regular repeat client.

I love it when you both sit & talk like this, it’s like I’m there chatting with you. This is a great topic! Thanks 🙏🐕🐾

We have had labs and lab mixes, they all have had different personalities but they all have loved everyone in our family, loved to learn, and are/were very food motivated. The one that didn't retrieve came from hunting lines, go figure. Appreciate all the information you have provided about research.

We had an Australian Shepherd who was scary smart. We had a dairy so she had a job. She was a wonderful pet and a great help on the farm. Years later I yearned for another dog like her and while I knew she was irreplaceable, I thought I knew what I could expect. Wrong, wrong, wrong. This new Aussie was a scatter brained airhead with absolute no focus. Now, I still loved her but she was not only totally different, she was clueless. 😂

We have had 5 Shetland Sheepdogs (Shelties) over the years and, while they have breed "attributes", their personalities could not have been more different. Our last boy was the most laid-back dog you could ever meet - he was that dog that makes people think raising dogs is easy! Our current little girl runs on waaaay too much caffeine and takes her management of our neighborhood seriously and LOUDLY. She has not gotten the training memo, yet, at 3 yrs old. OK - WE haven't finished the training program :D

Wow, never thought I'd hear PCA from you guys 😅 (I'm a Data Scientist so its common terminology for me). And YES! LOVE this video! I have two standard poodles, and so many times I get "Oh of course they're behaving well its a standard poodle!" or when they're reactive, the person might say "Oh I heard poodles are jerks, so of course". And I don't think it's fair. Not only for my dogs, but for other dogs, right? People put their expectations on breeds and train towards that breeds expectations. It was very eye-opening when I started watching your videos and you said "Any dog of any age can learn given the chance", and that's true, it's not the breed, not the genetics, but the time we invest in them, and how we communicate with them. Just because you have a golden retriever doesn't mean it'll be a "perfect family dog" as you find online, and just because you have an "aggressive breed" doesn't mean it'll be aggressive, and just because you have a tiny dog doesn't mean it's stubborn and wont learn. When my dogs behave well it's because I put in THAT much effort to help them get to that point, when they behave bad its because 1) I'm still working on that or 2) its the area I've neglected more. And just like you said, within the same breed you can have ice and fire differences in personality, my girl is hyper, athletic and very cautious, while my boy is lazy, super loving and loves to eat, I mean they're really polar opposites lol

You guys are great. Always enjoy watching. Much love

I have experienced so much frustration with dog trainers who dismiss my dog’s reactivity “because he’s a Pomeranian and they bark”. I really wish more people would accept these logical nuances!

Thank you so much for explaining this. Even after years of my own work with dogs, many times it has been difficult to relate to an owner that their dog is a unique individual regardless of breed. Once an owner can look past breed specifics and treat their fur friend as they are, training is golden.

I love this discussion! New dog parent here, I'm here to learn. Love ALL of your videos, so informative! Also love the style you train. Many, many thanks! Veronica is so adorable. My girl has brought immeasurable joy in my life! She's always teaching me.

The cited study as a couple of limitations, as expected from a survey study. Although the questions are validated through a scientific process they still rely on owner experience. Questions such as "how much does your dog like to play" are definitly influenced by having experience with several dogs and dog breeds. For example, I had a lab as my first dog and I thought that he was always ready to play. That definition of a playfull dog changed when I got my aussie shepard. They still report some statisticall diferences between specific breeds, but I think the most importank takeways are: - no dog breed is inherently violent; - if you are really looking for specific traits those are mainly passed down from the parents, so do proper research.

I love when you guys discuss scientific studies on dogs! Thanks for sharing the info with us.

This video was great! I am an education researcher and your explanation about survey construction and validation was a nice overview for non-experts. I could use it as an intro for my students. I appreciate how you rely on science and promote science informed practices on your channel. The general public really needs the example you are setting.

the high poodle percent make sense, being that they are crossed with just about every other breed she has in her: cockapoo peekapoo chi-a-poo so maybe instead of a single poodle ancestor, there might be poodles crossed in with every other little dog breed.

I've been waiting to find out what she is for so long. And wow! Very fascinating to see all the mixes.

I recently found your channel and was obsessed with this series!! I am due to pick up my new pup in 2 weeks and will be rewatching again from the beginning!! Fantastic idea to film all this training. Such valuable stuff for those who want the very best for their 4 legged friends ❤️

I've always said my black lab, Maizy, didn't get the lab memo:). She hated water and didn't like fetch, but she loved her squirrels both live and stuffed. She loved her veggies too. Now I have a chowder lab (border collie mostly) and she loves fetch. I'm hoping one day she'll be a Frisbee dog, but right now she will only bring it to me. I love seeing your two dogs together!! Thanks for having Inertia in the series. Veronica is a doll and wow what a breed mix.

I think you have a marvellous channel. It will change as all things do over time and that's a good thing. Keep going and thanks

The overbite is one of the most adorable things about Veronica. She is so pretty and wise!

So happy to hear that you're going to show us how to refine those skills!! That's what we're struggling with now.

No matter what she is, she is perfect.....

I’m so surprised they got the dog to fill out the survey joking

As a professional research/evaluation consultant, thank you for that amazing description of the difference between face and content validity, and reliability in survey research. it was very well done and you make a good argument for why survey research is pretty important and can provide really vital information when done well. And as the owner of a super weird husky/shepherd mix who is afraid of the entire world and a beautiful golden lab who is not only NOT friendly, but bites (she has a terrible history, its not her fault) -- thank you for reminding us that when we work with our dogs, they have some genetic traits, but their environments do much more to shape them.

I have been watching your shows for years, love it. But this episode was so fun for my family. My wife runs the survey research department of her company (healthcare company). Her group builds the surveys and has to go through the process you referenced and she was so happy to hear it responsibly explained!!!!!

Finally!! Love the reveal, some surprises in there (weirdly though, I suspected there'd be some pit)! As a supermutt owner, love the discussion about breed assumptions 😁

Love your content! ❤ Thank you for also sharing some science insights and facts. So important! Cheers from Germany

I worked for a scientific survey company and there are so many things that go into it!

Enjoyed this episode, I think explaining science is really important to help people understand why research makes the claims it does (especially when it contradicts widespread assumptions). I'm excited for the new content!

I LOVE Veronica’s underbite! Dont fix it! Lol I’m so surprised by the Poodle!! Wow! I was sooo excited when I got the notification about this video last night- I watched it right away and again today! Can’t wait for more videos, thanks for all your hard work, guys!

So true about the cocker eyes - wish I could share a pic of my cocker's beautiful eyes

Your statement: "it takes 2-3 yrs to train your dog" was the most liberating statement for me. I adopted an 11month old AmStaff mix who is now 14 months. I've worked with a trainer for 90 minutes and will continue once a month. The one breakthrough that I've noticed is she is starting to listen and wait when I pull her to the side when someone, I sense from her body language may trigger a jump or lunge. Thanks again for all your offer us in the canine world.

Lab siblings here, one is more likely to get hit in the face than try to catch something, but has crazy prey drive. Her brother has low prey drive but loves/is great at fetch

Great video. And 90% of my attention was on Veronica and her underbite! Sooo cute. She’s amazing. 💕

PooChiCock! LOL! Love it!

I was blessed to find a wonderful breeder and then I gave them my list of wants in a dog and they were able to suggest a breed (mix) of dog for me… so far she’s been perfect for me!! Aussie, Bernese, and poodle mix. Ivy is “weakly furnished” which perfectly fits my lifestyle as well. Part of their reasoning was due to the personality of the parents and even grandparents of the puppy. Great video!!

Awesome! Thanks for sharing Veronica's breed mix. I did think she had Rat Terrier in her. I'm not surprised by traces of German Shepherd. I'm quite surprised by Pug and Pekingese. Cocker Spaniel was a little bit of surprise, but I can definitely see it now. Wow! Really surprised by Poodle. Oh, with all the close-ups in this video, I'm seeing the Pug overbite.

I am so glad to know Veronica breeds! I am going to watch this again, my 🐶 wants to be fed! You both & dogs have a great Thanksgiving!!!!!!!♥️🐶🎃🦃

I love rat terriers, having two hairless mutants as my first dogs. I think Veronica's rattie genes are a lucky bonus! I found this study very exciting actually, and posted about it, and I hadn't read the pop media interpretations so I was a bit shocked at the backlash until someone sent them to me. The only arena in which I can see it being even remotely problematic in training work is that there's some really interesting and useful concepts about where different breeds are inhibited along the predation pathway. So hounds or herders may be very early in finding, pointing, stalking, chasing, while rat terriers are supposed to kill but not eat, and huskies were originally bred to hunt down and eat their own food on sledding treks. This would affect bite inhibition (a stereotypical rat terrier might be more likely to bite or bite harder than a golden retriever, especially during puppyhood) as well as how prey drive is express. By knowing if a dog has natural inhibition at a certain point of that instinctive predation pathway, you can more easily find enrichment activities that your dog finds particularly fulfilling, instead of starting with teaching your poodle to dig and your rat terrier to swim, or know that bite inhibition in a rattie could take more work than the golden you grew up with. But as you said, I don't think the article suggests that breed stereotypes are worthless, just that amongst the general pet population (active working lines were not included) breed isn't very good at predicting what any one animal will do.

I love CogDog radio!!!! One of my favorite podcasts!

In grad school, I spent a lot of time learning how to create and evaluate scientific surveys. It is an in depth and fascinating process.

Haha, thanks for the academic research recap course ;) We are still in contact with the rest of our dog's litter mates and even with the same genetical make-up and same start of the first 8 weeks of their life, the difference in personality are very apparent. All are high maintenance in their exercise requirement, but some are much better to settle down and just chill than others. Only one is very food motivated and the rest is toy motivated!

Look how good she's being while you guys talk. So awesome.

Science world needs more people like you, guys. Thanks for the great work you do!!!

the future sounds great, i love your content

My Aussie and I love your videos!! In fact, her basics, I taught using your guidance; thanks!! Keep going!

I finally got my 4 year old tested, and he's a Ratzuhuahua! I found your videos because I just adopted a 7 month old shelter dog and we've got a lot of work to do. I love your style and am inhaling your books and videos, thank you. I can't wait to get the new one tested!!

This is interesting. I'm a clinical psychologist and so many psychology studies are based on questionnaires / surveys... which can be empirically validated and reliable research tools, as you summarised so well! I am also mother to a very large, laid-back border collie who I would certainly not describe as "agile". 😅

As a trainer I see trends in breeds (i.e. Corgi = vocal), but there are huge differences in personality in the same breeds.

I love Veronica's looks and The way Inertia looks at Zak. Look forward seeing how you continue proofing Veronica's training. I'd like to see all tricks that Inertia do. Also, I would love to see series on how you train another untrained dog. Would you able to get update videos on how Moira, Chop and others are doing now ?

I absolutely love your training! It's so natural for me! My little cocker, Calliope Niamh, is so well trained for the amount of time I put in. For us, what worked best was wearing the treat bag all day, to be able to jump into training mode at an instant as circumstances arise. At just over a year old, we are now working on nuisance barking, which only cropped up as she got older. She is now trained to "speak " in command and also "hush" . It is still difficult to get her attention when she goes off at something outside, but when I do, she will stop after a "speak", "hush", command combo! I'm also training her to come get me when she sees something outside to bark at! I like that she alerts me to people and deliveries, just not 10 minutes of shrill barking. I know she'll eventually get it, with the constant reinforcement! Is it a bad idea if I were to put her in a kennel time out for when she barks and won't be distracted from it? I know i need to go get her and not kennel her if she comes when I call her, but you are all about positive reinforcement. I don't want to start any bad training practices! I believe I've heard you say that negative reinforcement can give quick results, but not lasting obedience, and can develop a negative relationship. My adult kids are so impressed by my Calliope's training, they are having me come over to train their 2 bigger dogs! They will already do so much for me, so it's mostly training my kids on always having treats nearby to reward good behavior and being consistent with their expectations. My son in law is a little sceptical about the treat training, thinking they will only perform for a treat, but I've told him about the science of random reward training and how it is the most motivating and long lasting. I'm so proud of my training accomplishments and so glad I found your books and videos.... And am so grateful the videos are Free!!!! I also wanted to let you know we love the pupford treats for training. They are by far the favorite, high value treat. Again, thank you for what you do!

Knowing your dogs breed may not predict your dog’s exact personality or capabilities but it can be very helpful in understanding your dog’s temperamental tendencies, understanding their potential play and exercise needs and managing your own expectations for their behavior. Over the years we’ve owed two well bred Golden Retrievers and a Coton De Tular. Without realizing it this really colored our expectations about the energy levels and training needs of dogs. A few years ago we decided to adopt a sweet, sensitive, seemingly very docile, 6 month old, mixed breed puppy from a shelter. We fell immediately in love with this fuzzy little guy! His sweet and docile personality remained for a few weeks and then we started to meet the smart, zany, bossy, playful and sweetly stubborn little guy that we actually adopted. It kinda felt like he pulled a “bait and switch” on us but he was ours and he had us hooked. It quickly became apparent that no amount of training was ever going to turn our little guy into a fuzzy, little, laid back Golden Retriever. Lol We checked his DNA (through Embark) and found out he’s a (yeah genetically healthy!) 50/50 mix of Boston Terrier and Havanese. Learning our “Hava-Boston’s” breed mix has actually really helped us to better understand his temperment, energy levels and training needs. It’s also helped us to appreciate how he sees, relates to and understands the world around him. In addition to Zac’s videos and a local puppy training class we read “Meet Your Dog” by Kim Brophey. Her book gave us specific info on positive training techniques to try for our guy’s breed types. Equipped with all of this information were able to put together a training program that really helped our little guy to understand us and certainly for us to better understand him. He’s grown into a wonderful, well behaved and polite little dog that, we pretty much take everywhere. 😊

Regardless of breed she's an absolute queen, so beautiful xx

You have an impact on your dog's personality especially if you get them as a puppy

I felt SO VALIDATED by that study. As a Bully-breed advocate, I've been screaming this for YEARS. Every dog is an individual, just like people are. That's why I assist breeders to do puppy personality evaluations, so the adoptive parents can be matched with the best type of puppy for them.

Veronica definitely has the underbite of the Pekingese. She is so cute with her furry ears and tail. I don't know why people cared so much what breed she was, does it really matter. NO .. I would like to know what the smell was in the air because Veronica kept sniffing something.

our Icelandic shepdog is very headstrong and fearless but his sister is afraid of everything , so yes there is very different personalities in the same breed.

I get my puppy December 4 a mini Aussiedoodle so excited watched all your videos. Even buying Pupford dog treats for training 🙂

I have been following your videos and many others religiously before and after I got my english cocker spaniel five months ago and I am very thankful for everything I learned (for free). But I did many things "wrong", but my nine and half month old dog still has great recall, listens when she's told and is eager to please, she's a cocker after all... I tried to crate her, she went nuts. But she knows her place and it's obviously not in a crate. I took her for walks from day two, as I live in an apartment. I let her sleep with me and she doesn't have separation anxiety, because I think I have her trust. The one thing that dog trainers don't emphasize enough is, as I came to see it, is empathy. Know how dogs function, know how your dog functions. Invest your time and effort into your dog, lots of your time and effort. If you are a genuine person with a kind, but firm disposition, any dog training 101 will do. There are no shortcuts, work, work, work and lots of love will get you there.

Yep. I have two Shelties - One is velcro/clingy and loves being groomed. The other is more independent and doesn't like being brushed - he has to be bribed, lol. But both are barky, active and engaging - all Sheltie. I really hope people don't ignore breed!

Loved this and agree 💯 % Dogs can take on their owners traits and looks. My new puppy reminds me of little inertia. I've learned alot from u Zak. I also have an older dog I've had for 5 yrs. I thought she could help teach but I think now wishful thinking. 😂🤣 Now I find myself having to train 2 dogs. I found my 1st dog was getting confused. Commands I gave the puppy she thought I was telling her to do. Like I'd tell her to go in the house and then I'd be calling the puppy to come and she'd be back outside. I decided I definitely need alot of patience with both. Thank God I'm retired it's definitely a 24/7 job and then some.😂🤣 Peace to you all, I look forward to more adventures.

This is a great video. As a scientist, I love your perspective on scientific studies and I think you share them and discuss them in such a valuable way!!

Shout out to the malinois! I have a malinois that's almost a year old. She is amazing! I'm a truck driver and I knew what I was getting into. Everything I heard was pretty much right about the energy level but the whole they are independent and aggressive is way wrong. She loves laying on my lap when I'm driving and is very friendly towards everyone and every animal. I wanted a guard dog and got a love bug. I wouldn't change her one bit!

My pup, who is also rescued, found as a stray, was thought to be a Catahoula/Pit mix. I used Embark, and found she is 100% American Pit bull Terrier .

As far as the study anyone that knows twins know how little genetics impact personality. My mini schnauzer (from papered champion lines so not an unknown background) would've stereotypically been vocal, headstrong and strong preydrive and she was quiet, meek, sensitive and 0 preydrive. She saw gophers run across the road in front of her off leash and she just watched it go from right to left and kept walking. I could whisper the first letter of a command and she knew it, she required such a soft and patient handling and training. I let her decide when training ended and what we would train that day and it meant we didn't need to butt heads on opinions but if I said "this is happening now" such as grooming she agreed so even if I decided she wasn't particularly headstrong. Same with the pekingese I had. What a lovebug, he charmed the entire vet clinic. ^^

Hi Zak, thank you for talking about that research article. I'm quite happy that it's causing a lot of discussion (and disagreement) among dog professionals, because that's what good research is supposed to do! There's a few significant points that you didn't touch on, but are really important to the discussion. Please note that the scientists were focusing on mapping genetic markers to canine behavior. The team attempted to find genetic markers for behavior that could be traced directly to a dog's breed, but could not find much evidence. However, they did find that heritable traits like being eager to please or being willing to work could be traced back to genetic markers. So, what they're saying is - the golden retriever you folks have at home is very biddable... because it's parents were...and their parents before them. You selected for that trait and it was inherited, thus the breed displays that characteristic. But several canine behavior traits such as human sociability and arousal threshold are not tied to specific genetic markers. In these cases, breed is not a very accurate predictor for behavior. For instance, a Labrador is not genetically prone to be more "stranger-friendly" than a "pitbull" despite first-hand observations. Other factors such as personality or early environmental stimuli may account for perceived behavioral differences between breeds, but further studies are necessary to be conclusive.

I think I’m guilty of pigeonholing dogs. When you said poodle I thought ohhhh she’s smart!

I have a cocker spaniel and I can totally see the cocker spaniel in Veronica!

I’m so amazed. The pit and poodle surprised me.

My guess was Pekingese and some sort of terrier, so I guess I was close…lol! But she’s so stinkin’ cute no matter what she is! How cool to be able to find out though! Thank you for sharing with us! This was a fun video!☺️ God bless and hugs to you and Bree and the fur babies! Hope you all have a wonderful week!☺️❤️

I really love your videos ❤ thank you for all your hard work. - from me and my mini Australian shepherd

Yes! My first job out of college was at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and survey processing is a very involved system.

I had an English Springer Spaniel who came from a well documented line of hunters from both parents to his grandfather and many full and half siblings. He was the biggest Diva one could imagine. He hated getting dirty, being outside longer than an hour (that was with a lot of coaxing), and was terrified of loud noises. It just wasn't his way. His full sister sibling from another litter that we adopted was the opposite she definitely loved being outdoors and would have made an exceptional hunting dog. They are their own individuals. Btw, we now have a Labrador who doesn't like getting wet so she avoids going out in rain as much as possible and walks around water puddles. lol :)

Bonus points for mentioning principal components analysis.

Labrador Retrievers stereotypes: **exists** My lab: hates water, is bored of fetch after 2 throws and is such a picky eater. But he at least checks the "lazy lab" box ✅ 😂

I have a standard poodle, and he is very stereotypically poodle-y: smart, well behaved, loving, high energy, etc. I also had a Giant Schnauzer, though, and she did not adhere to many of that breed's stereotypes. She was PERFECT. She never did an aggressive thing to anyone, ever, and was so willing to learn and easily trained, empathetic and just the best dog ever. I miss her every day.

My boy was rescued from the Texas Mexican border and we did Embark too! He is 48.9% Chihuahua, 25.8% Small Poodle (Miniature/Toy) 14.3% Miniature Pinscher 11% Pug but he’s 22lbs and his hair is so short and tight to his body, he’s basically bald on his underside! That poodle is really hiding, except he got their floppy ears. And due to training and raising, he’s not skittish as he could be for this breed mix. He loves to be the center of attention in a crowd, he’s more nervous about meeting a single individual 🤣 Somehow, even though he’s mixed with 4 toy breeds, he didn’t inherit the bit that keeps small breeds very small. He’s tall and lanky, with long thin twig legs, at 22lbs. Like a baby deer 🤣♥️🐾

Veronica's breed is 100% cute. And there are anomalies with each breed. You take the dog as they are. Mine is 87% Husky (breeder said 100% so I got him DNA tested) but is not as energetic, is stubborn, and has a smooth short coat all year round. I get asked all the time when we go out in public if I shave him because he isn't fluffy. He doesn't howl and rarely barks. But he is a happy go lucky, loves everyone and wants to be friends with every dog, dog. He is goofy and makes me laugh on a daily basis and that's all that matters to me. Look forward to the new training series.

I am so glad to hear that it takes 2-3 years to train a dog. I adopted a beautiful Portuguese Podengo mix in Italy and brought her to the states. She was a wild card. She is a year old and we were able to train her as a service dog so she could travel with us on the plane. She is trained to help me in various ways. She did so well. I have to thank you guys because whenever I was desperate I would come check out what you would do and it was so helpful. It seems to me that training is constant and perhaps forever to maintain but it is nice to know that we are right on track.

Oh Bree, poochie cock has me laughing uncontrollably 😅 Also Zak’s reaction is hilarious

Great explanation to us all

I love Veronica's smile!

I am currently on my second Cocker Spaniel and I could see the Cocker in her before you said it. I can also see the Pug oddly enough. But the Poodle surprised me. Of course she is 100% adorable either way! I also don’t get the outrage about the survey concerning breed and behavior. In addition to the fact that any dog, even the best bred dog, can have a personality that defies their breed we do need to remember we unfortunately continue to have a world filled with puppy mills and backyard breeders that breed for financial gain and not for conformity to the breed. So you have a dog that is purebred but may be so far removed from the breed standard that it influences their behavior less and less. Again even with dogs that are bred by responsible breeders there will be some dogs that simply march to the beat of their own drum. Personally both of the Cocker Spaniels I have had are so much alike it’s almost eerie. However I have known both a lazy Border Collie and a high energy Pug, the complete opposite of typical for those breeds. Once you factor in differences in environment also it’s really not surprising that you can’t predict a dog’s personality simply based upon breed alone.

I coach swimming lessons for dogs. I’ve had 2 golden retrievers and a yellow lab who won’t swim! Definitely not breed specific behaviour. They just had different personalities.

Thank you such a fascinating discussion . I think I would be biased when answering my survey question.

My dog is a mix between malinois and rhodesian ridgeback - very mellow energy dog. Can sleep the whole day and sometimes wouldn't even run/play when I take her to the back yard or dog park.

It was so much fun to do my dogs DNA. He's such a pretty boy and I never would have guessed my boy had so much poodle in him. Along with 13 other things

YESSSS, Sarah Stremming is amazing!! Everyone needs to go listen to her podcast 😍