Is anyone doing this for any other breed?

Dublin

I received a great question from an American Dirus dog owner.

I thought some of you may have had a similar question, so why not address my answer to the entire group.

“I was thinking about Pete and Ripley's temperaments and how they just naturally seem to be good. Pete hasn't been given free rein or anything, but when we let him wander around in a room with us in it, he shows absolutely no interest in getting into any mischief (we still keep a watchful eye). He just lays down contentedly and watches us. And while Pete and Ripley have very different personalities, they seem innately calm and observant. 

We have had several different breeds of larger dogs (it's always been our preference): Great Dane, Anatolian Shepherd, and several mutts, and I have known a great number of smaller and mid-size dogs. I don't understand why people would not want this temperament in all sizes of companion dogs. When people talk about small dogs being companions, I have never run across one with whatever it is Pete and Ripley have -- although my experience is limited, we tend to avoid what we characterize as yappy dogs. 

Anyway, I was just curious if I had missed some smaller breeds that have whatever it is these two possess in abundance. My guess is that because you breed for health and temperament first we get these wonderful results to share our lives, but is no one doing this for any other breeds!! How sad that seems.”

First of all, it is great to hear that Pete (her new second generation puppy from the Luck of the Irish litter) is being a good boy!

His brother, Dublin, that stayed with us at Dire Wolf Project headquarters is an amazing pup, too. So calm and attentive. Very devoted and alert to my movements. We already have a great bond.

I am SUPER pleased with this second generation litter so far.

They have completely exceeded my expectations as far as temperament is concerned.

I thought we would have more energy, prey drive, barking, etc. from the German Shepherd Dog great-grandma, but it appears that has not been brought forward.

The only thing I see is the spotted tongue and the propensity to lick everything that comes near their mouth. HA!

So far, so good.

To answer the great question about why small breeds of dog don’t have this same calm, gentle, attentive, easy, well-mannered nature even though they, too, are considered “companion” dogs, I will first say this…

They may have originally had that kind of temperament.

I don’t know for sure.

But descriptions of small companion dogs around the turn of the 20th century describe very sweet, loving, devoted dogs.

Queen Victoria (r. 1837-1901) wrote on the epitaph for her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, “Here lies DASH, the favourite spaniel of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, in his 10th year. His attachment was without selfishness, His playfulness without malice, His fidelity without deceit. READER, if you would live beloved and die regretted, profit by the example of DASH.”

In any case, today, we often DO think of small dogs as yappy ankle-biters.

As a child, I remember a miniature white poodle living next door that terrorized the neighborhood. Sometimes it would be let out the front door (no fence). It laid outside on its front lawn for random parts of the day. If you walked by on the sidewalk, it would chase after you and viciously try to bite your legs. It was serious about it, too.

No one turned people in for stuff like that in the 80s, so we just learned to stay away from that house and walk on the other side of the street.

I agree, though.

Some of those small, yappy dogs could use a dose of the American Dirus dog’s calm, gentle, non-reactive temperament.

Unfortunately, very few breeders understand inherited temperament, let alone how to alter it to benefit the breed.

Plus, more prominent breeds have so many different breeders all focused on a diverse number of what they believe to be important that a unified focus on a particular companion dog temperament is quite challenging to deliver breed-wide. 

If one particular breeder of a small breed of dog focused solely on inherited temperament toward a calm, gentle, loving family companion dog, any success they had would be out flanked by the many other breeders out there looking at compliance toward the AKC’s breed-wide beauty standards.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there in the purebred dog scene.

Even small-sized doodle breeders are striving for the teddy bear look with a so-called “hypoallergenic” (*cough) coat type.

What specific temperament are they working toward?

Do they want the super intelligent Miniature Poodle temperament or the broadly outgoing Golden Retriever temperament?

I haven’t seen any real work done on temperament for most of the small companion dog breeds.

When I say “real”, I mean: focus, standardized, dogs specifically chosen for temperament regardless of appearance, etc.

Most of the time, I hear, “Oh. That one’s so cute. Let’s get the Chihuahua with the brown nose and fluffy ears.”

Little dogs are cute!

They were bred on purpose to appeal to your cuteness senses.

Big round doe eyes.

Smooshy faces.

Petite size.

Stunted emotional development (staying puppy-like for a longer period of time).

What’s more… you can pick them up if they behave badly.

This makes having to “know” how to train a dog less necessary.

You can’t pick up a giant puppy that weighs 65 lbs at 4 months old!

Well, maybe YOU could, but you have to admit… it wouldn’t be nearly as easy as that little Chihuahua up there.

So with a giant dog breed, it takes training knowledge to convince them to do what is right.

Not so needed when you can simply whisk away the small dog, keeping it out of trouble.

So, perhaps that yappy, ankle-biting wee-beastie is just not as well trained as your giant dogs simply because it isn’t as critical.

I have heard Lois mention that small dogs fear:

1. not being seen.
2. being stepped on.

This may lead our small furry friends to lean to move out of the way quickly or nip in response to some fear they have that you don’t see them.

Either way, Lois, the queen of the true companion dog temperament, is now working on breeding a small domesticated companion dog that looks like the fox.

She is currently on the second generation out of purebred foundation stock.

And you can bet that her dogs will eventually have that special something, just like Pete and Ripley above, because she wouldn’t have it any other way!

If you want to follow Lois’s Companion Fox Project, she is old-school and  only posts about it on Facebook in her Companion Fox Project group.

There are already 484 people following her evolutionary artificial selection.

Here’s the link to gain access and keep tabs on her progress:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/442518493085826

Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.

Dublin

Pete

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