It seems to me that there are three primary personality “types” that we see in our domestic dogs: the leader, the happy-go-lucky, and the alert dog. There are sub-categories of each, but most dogs can easily be put into one of these categories first. There are also healthy and unhealthy versions of each. Each type can be aggressive, but that aggression looks different type to type. It’s helpful to know what our dog is, and was born as, so that we don’t try to train them to be something that they are not. Trying to train an alert dog, with the goal of it becoming the happy-go-lucky dog, is less effective than knowing what a healthy alert dog looks like and aiming for that.
It’s important to note that I’m referring to the personality type that a dog is born with, and not the personality that it has developed based on its upbringing. We cannot affect the “nature” of a dog, but we can affect the “nurture”; knowing the “nature” helps us to “nurture” more effectively.
The best way to illustrate the difference in the personality types is to describe how they interact with our human world when confronted with an unknown situation. The three types show their clear differences when a stranger enters the house:
Happy-Go-Lucky
The “Happy-Go-Lucky” dog sees strangers as innocent until proven guilty. Their owners often joke that if someone broke into the house, their dog would be on its back begging for a belly rub from the intruder. On the wild/domestic spectrum, this dog is more domestic. It is more likely to be social with humans than dogs, but, like all dogs, can be good with both. This dog is an excellent pet. Your friends can interact with it however they wish and kids can wrestle with it on the floor. Think: classic Norman Rockwell Golden Retriever.
The best thing about these dogs is that it’s hard to completely mess them up. Although any dog can become aggressive, these happy-go-lucky dogs rarely do. Usually, the worst behavior they exhibit will be things like: incessant begging, jumping on people out of excitement, or stealing food from plates. Most of these behaviors are seen as “cute” by us humans and these dogs owners’ lives are minimally effected by the worst of their behavior.
Alert
The alert dog sees strangers as guilty until proven innocent. They may attack an intruder, but they are more likely to make a lot of noise. You cannot sneak into an alert dog’s house without it noticing. In its healthy form, an alert dog will bark at the door when someone knocks, but then defer to the humans once they have taken control of the situation. This dog may not want affection from you until it trusts you. The Alert Dog is more wild/instinctual than domestic, and more likely to get along with dogs than humans, though both can be fine. Alert dogs are often high in intelligence and drive and can be incredibly fulfilling to live and work with.
It’s my belief that humans have favored the “alert” trait in dogs historically and, as a result, we have far more alert dogs than we would otherwise. It’s easy to forget now what an ever present threat predators (or even other humans) were to us in our past. We are soft, hairless primates that can barely climb trees and we could use the help of an always alert carnivore to warn us of danger; we did and we do.
If under-socialized or under stimulated, these alert dogs can be hard to live with. Their alertness can turn into all-out fear, sometimes of everything and everyone. I’ve worked with many people who cannot have friends over to their house due to the scene that their under-stimulated alert dog will make. I believe that alert dogs are the most likely to bite, though not attack humans. When they feel cornered, the may lash out (or “fear bite”) in order to get some space. Dogs that have done this a time or two learn quickly that it is a very effective way of getting overzealous humans to back off, and are thus more likely to use this tactic again.
Leader
The leader doesn’t care whether you are innocent or guilty when you walk into their house, because it is supremely confident that it can deal with you either way. The leader can be aloof and doesn’t need your affection, especially if you are a stranger, though it will accept it when it’s in the mood. This is the type that, in the middle of receiving an epic back scratching, will simply walk away out of boredom, moving on to bigger and better things than you, leaving you saying to yourself “I thought we had something!” When an alert dog is barking, it is alerting THIS dog, and then watching its reaction to the unknown situation, in order to know what to do next. In our relationship with our dogs, this is the dog we are emulating, we should strive to be the leader.
In its healthy form, the leader is dominant, though not aggressive. It will stand up for itself without hesitation and police the behavior of others using minimum necessary force (the natural training method). They can be pushy, but generally great pets. If under trained, however, the leaders can become bullies. They can act aggressively toward other dogs or humans, and won’t shy away from a fight. If you “bite” them, they bite back harder. Unhealthy versions of these dogs can claim entire pieces of furniture or areas of the house from their owners. “Nobody sits on that couch, that’s Mitzy’s couch” is not an uncommon thing to hear.
We are perfectly willing to accept that humans have different personality types and as a result thrive in different environments. Not only that, but the variation in personalities among us actually helps us as a group. Dogs are no different. A healthy pack benefits from having multiple “personality” types, and our human packs have benefited from the variation in dog personalities as well. Knowing our dogs’ nature helps us to nurture them appropriately. Your alert dog will thank you for not hoping they become a Norman Rockwell model, but something else entirely and something just as good.