describing dog temperament

Most people that I talk to about dogs describe dogs in a couple of words.For example hers-his dog is:neurotic, dominant aggressive,fear aggressive,on-leash aggressive,dog aggressive,human aggressive,well socialized with dogs,people,submissive,territorial aggressive...you get the picture.They usally pick one or two traits and chose them to describe a personality of dog.While I think that some of this traits can describe part of dog behavior it doesnt sound that simple if you really now the dog.Dog change behavior when circumstances change.They are survivors and adapting is in they nature.Not to mention use of training to change-modify dog behavior.

For example my younger girl could be describe as well socialized dog who is neither submissive or dominant.But than that would be making things simple.Because in certain situations she will show submission,domination or aggression.So this can be used as general description that changes with circumstances.Than again this terms are often used without people actually understanding the meaning.And labeling dog wrong.So my question is to you how well can we describe a dog in short and if someone has time and will to write about things like why dogs can show behaviors from submition-domination,aggression-friendliness to people- dogs-other animals with change of circumstances.

Hope this post makes sense to you.

I don't think you can describe a dog in short. When people ask me about my dog, I say, "She's Luna, and I love her." I try to stay away from labels in general, because things are so dependent on the circumstances. Luna had a bowl of food once, and my friend unexpectedly walked into the room, and Luna growled. My friend said, "She's food aggressive." Well, I took offence at that, because you can't just give a label like that after only having seen the dog for, literally, 2 seconds.
One important fact to know about dogs is that they don't generalize well. You see this a lot in training - they "know" sit at home in your kitchen, but take them outside or to a friend's house, and it's like they've never heard the word. Just because they know it in one place doesn't mean they know it everywhere. That's part of why they have different reactions in different circumstances.

Another reason is that not all dogs are the same. My Luna gets along fine with small dogs that are very calm, good with big dogs that are very calm and don't come lean over her, grouchy with small dogs that have a lot of energy, and scared to death of big dogs that like to pounce on her. So when people ask me if she's good with other dogs, I say that it depends. Same thing with other circumstances - sometimes she's fine, sometimes not, but I know her very well and can usually predict what her reaction is going to be.

Uh I really hate when other people give themself right to judge my dogs.And I even less like when they give me advice how to train my dogs which has no logic at all.For example Tea the elder one is aggressive in a lot of situations to other dogs so she does false attacks that can turn in real ones in certain situations-if other dog is aggressive or afraid.For this reason I dont allow this.And yet I had numerous people trying to convince me that I should let her do it.When I try to explain that even when I am certain the other dog wont react she will think she can do this to all dogs.Not to mention that Rea join in and she makes things worse or that allowing a dog this to me is plain and simple show of bed manners from both dog and owner.Not to mention risking a real fight which would be only my mistake.

Why would you hate it or get upset?? Most people have the best of intentions, looking to help even if the advice was unasked for. And who knows?? there maybe a little tidbit that you can use...........

In the end, you have to do what you're comfortable doing, so if someone suggests something you're not comfortable with, your dog probably won't be, either. It's a good idea to get a consultation from a trainer, though, so that you know that what you're doing is actually going to help. My dog can be reactive to other dogs, and for years I did one thing that I thought was helping, until a trainer explained to me that it was just making it worse. Since then, she's gotten a lot better!

I dont like advice from people who dont know anything about training dog with aggression issue.I am from Croatia and hear listening to advice from most dog owners in park is uselles and can make more damage than good.Tea is fear aggressive-advice from other owners to stop it-alpha rolls,hiting her in any given form,lifting her by neck and shaking,leah corrections,throwing something on her...you get the picture positive reinforcment is considered a bedtime story for naive people.If I had listen their advice my dog would have been put to sleep long time ago.I dont know anybody who gives private lessons taht dont include above mentioned methods.I work with my dogs in dog club.And from those people I did got useful advice how to work with Tea.

You don't have to follow their advice, but it is also pointless to get upset about it either. It's pretty easy to stop someone from telling you to do any number of things that you wouldn't do. Or just politely ignore them.
I have a dog reactive dog as well and instead of 'managing him and his space', I finally got smart and trained him better. He is now awesome. And he is fear aggressive and reactive, but he has learned to manage it, instead of me managing his surroundings all the time. Just because someone is managing their alcoholism, doesn't that still make them a alcoholic? Some people had labeled him aggressive, I just shook my head. I knew he wasn't DA and that is all that matters.

You know, sometimes we love our dogs so much that it's hard to take a step back and look at them with an analytical state of mind. I love it when people (not everybody, but people who own and train dogs themselves) will give me opinions on my dogs' behavior because often it helps me learn more about them.

One of the things you learn is who NOT to talk to about dogs

Quote Renee;
One of the things you learn is who NOT to talk to about dogs [quote;

Agreed!!!!!!!!!!!

And admittedly there are some people ...........but as well all know, you have to learn to take all that with a grain of salt or just DUCK & RUN!!!!!:lol-sign:

Unfortunately, that's not just in Croatia (although I'm sure it's worse there). I'm on another forum, and wrote that I don't use aversives in training (not that they're evil, or only evil people use them, JUST that I don't), and they started accusing me of all sorts of things, and even said that they don't believe I'm a professional. They literally can't believe that I've EVER trained a single dog.

And, I have a BEST friend who I talk to about EVERYTHING - except training.

I also have dog friends that I can talk to about dogs I just dont share they opininon on training dogs in every aspect.They think I am wrong I think they are wrong.But at least they know what they are talking about.Even if I dont like they training methods.I learned to accept this.What bothers me is people who really dont know anything and give harmful advice to inexperienced dog owners.And when theire quick fix doesnt work they blame the dog.