Of Dogs and Folk

Just thinking ... about dogs and people and temperament.

The retriever down the street, loves to walk around with things in her mouth; some breeds like to shepherd you. Some are yappy; some are friendly; others are aggressive.

I have often wondered how breeders manage to breed for temperament as well as looks (size, colour etc). I think I can understand looks, but I've often wondered about temperament. Lately, however, I've been thinking that maybe breeding for temperament isn't really all that strange.

In humans too.

When I look at the five generations of the family tree with which am familiar, I think I see that it's possible that at least one behavioral characteristic may be being passed on. My paternal grandmother, for example, seemed to become agitated and frustrated easily, and that trait seemed to pass onto my dad. To some degree I and Thesha have seem to have inherited it as well. For example: when Thesha was younger, I remember Cuppa remarking how it was so funny and ironical that and I would sometimes be heard to yell at her to be patient over this or that. Don't get me wrong; it's not that we are a clan of berserkers running frantically amok all of the time; it's just that certain stimuli, often apparently minor, may tend to get us going more than the average person.

Now I wonder if Nikki Dee is a bit like that too. She does tend to become easily frustrated. Of course, she's probably just being eighteen months old, so one doesn't want to jump to conclusions. However, she still causes me wonder when she becomes easily agitated about not getting something to work to her satisfaction immediately if not sooner. (And you should see both me and her fuss and fume when I'm vainly struggling to put on those damnable mitts and hats on her.)

If I'm right, that's five generations that exhibit a similar pattern. Mind you me, there's a whole of of other genes thrown into the mix as well as environmental factors, so perhaps I'm all wrong. It doesn't matter because I'm just observing and musing.

Let me state for the record, however, that I no longer think it so strange that certain canine breeds tend to consistently exhibit certain particular temperaments and behavioral traits.