Something someone said on another thread prompted me to start this one. Some people believe you can "train out" or "socialize out" breed behavioral traits. I don't believe this can be done. For example, if you have a prey driven dog who likes to kill squirrels, it is entirely possible to train this dog to walk next to you off leash and not take off after squirrels. However, you are not eliminating the drive, you are simply teaching the dog that obeying you is more rewarding than a tasty squirrel treat.
For another example, lets take the APBT. This is a dog who has been bred for a long time to fight other dogs. Some breeders are trying to breed away from DA, others still include DA dogs in their breeding program. (This is a hot topic in the APBT world as some believe that if you breed out the DA in the APBT, you are breeding out the fire and what makes the APBT the APBT). If you have a DA APBT, you can train the dog to behave fine around other dogs on leash, even to ignore dogs who get snarky. But you are not training out the drive to fight. You are teaching the dog its more rewarding to behave nicely on leash than to act like a buttmunch.
If you have an APBT puppy, you can socialize it all you want with other dogs, but it may still become DA when it matures. This is true of most terrier breeds in general. For example, we found Benji (the schnauzer mix) when he was 7 or 8 months old. At that time, he was friendly to other dogs, and tried to play with the cats. We took him and Daisy to doggie daycare often. Now, he is four years old. He is DA to male dogs, and very prey driven, so can no longer be around cats. These drives fully developed when he matured at about two.
On the APBT forums, there are a set of rules that responsible APBT owners are held to. Do not leave APBT unattended with other dogs (those with multiple dogs crate them when they go out). Do not take APBT to the dog park. Never trust the APBT not to fight other dogs. They know what their breed is capable of, and those rules are their way of making sure they are not setting their dogs up to fail. It is not "painting the whole breed with the same brush." It is knowing the breed's tendencies, and controlling those tendencies. Some APBT are "cold" dogs (not DA) and will never be DA, but an APBT owner knows that there is always the possibility for this drive to surface and so wouldn't allow an APBT off leash with a bunch of strange dogs any more than you would allow a JRT who had never shown an ounce of prey drive in a room with a bunch of loose rabbits. The risk that those drives may become active is too great.
For another example, lets take the APBT. This is a dog who has been bred for a long time to fight other dogs. Some breeders are trying to breed away from DA, others still include DA dogs in their breeding program. (This is a hot topic in the APBT world as some believe that if you breed out the DA in the APBT, you are breeding out the fire and what makes the APBT the APBT). If you have a DA APBT, you can train the dog to behave fine around other dogs on leash, even to ignore dogs who get snarky. But you are not training out the drive to fight. You are teaching the dog its more rewarding to behave nicely on leash than to act like a buttmunch.
If you have an APBT puppy, you can socialize it all you want with other dogs, but it may still become DA when it matures. This is true of most terrier breeds in general. For example, we found Benji (the schnauzer mix) when he was 7 or 8 months old. At that time, he was friendly to other dogs, and tried to play with the cats. We took him and Daisy to doggie daycare often. Now, he is four years old. He is DA to male dogs, and very prey driven, so can no longer be around cats. These drives fully developed when he matured at about two.
On the APBT forums, there are a set of rules that responsible APBT owners are held to. Do not leave APBT unattended with other dogs (those with multiple dogs crate them when they go out). Do not take APBT to the dog park. Never trust the APBT not to fight other dogs. They know what their breed is capable of, and those rules are their way of making sure they are not setting their dogs up to fail. It is not "painting the whole breed with the same brush." It is knowing the breed's tendencies, and controlling those tendencies. Some APBT are "cold" dogs (not DA) and will never be DA, but an APBT owner knows that there is always the possibility for this drive to surface and so wouldn't allow an APBT off leash with a bunch of strange dogs any more than you would allow a JRT who had never shown an ounce of prey drive in a room with a bunch of loose rabbits. The risk that those drives may become active is too great.