# Do you think puppies establish their personality based on who they're raised by?



## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

Do you think puppies establish their personality based on who they're raised by? Zeeva came to us as a puppy. She was a good puppy. But she got a bit anxious, shy and somewhat neurotic as she grew older. My husband jokes with me and says she is exactly like me (pretty true actually) because she watched me behave that way. At first I'd laugh but it got me thinking...Smokey came to us very stable in terms of befriending people but somewhat dog aggressive/reactive. I've no clue who raised him as a puppy but IMO he's a solid guy...I often wonder how Zeeva would be had she been raised by someone more stable than I. Is it silly to think this way? I don't really want to go into the nature vs. nurture debate because that really isn't the question...I'm simply asking if our personalities make an impression and rub off on our puppies???


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## Alyalanna (May 28, 2011)

Yes, personally, I believe that our personalities rub off on the puppies/dogs that we raise. I don't believe that they rub off enough to completely change their personalities but I do think we influence the dog that they will become.


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## volcano (Jan 14, 2013)

Yes. Dogs read you like a book. This is getting into dog whisperer territory, hes not a dog trainer by any means, but he does have some insight into how they think.


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## Sarah~ (Apr 30, 2012)

I've been wondering that too, Eko acts a lot like me. I am a pretty nervous person and Eko tends to be nervous in a lot of the same situations that make me nervous.


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## Muneraven (Sep 4, 2012)

I'll go a bit further out on a limb and say that both cats and dogs take on some of the personality of their owners. They still have their own personality to be sure, but they pick up some of our habits and the way we see the world. 

We have four dogs and three cats, and all of them have distinctive personalities and are different from one another, BUT all of them are kind-hearted and sensitive and all of them have their own way of joking or tricking or being funny. Also all of them are homebodies. They each have these qualities because they were raised in a pack where these qualities are highly valued. 

I also think that our pets are very good at seeing the space in our lives that needs filling. I think they are better than that than we are. When my partner and I got together, her daughter was 13 and struggling with ADHD, a touch of autism, and the horrors of being that age. My crabby old female cat took one look at that kid and moved into her room. I honestly wonder if our daughter would have made it without old Tubby cat there for her. She cried on that cat, talked to her, fed her pieces of bagel. And that cat doted on her girl and stayed with her all the time. Oh, once in awhile Tubby would come upstairs and remind me that she had been my cat for 12 years before this teenager took over the basement. She'd come find me and let me pet her, but she and I both understood: Tubby was NEEDED downstairs by a teenager who'd never had a pet and needed a non-judgemental friend very badly. And Tubby, who had used up several of her nine lives by falling out a window, swallowing a sewing needle, having her kidneys inexplicably fail briefly, and so on . . .that cat lived to be sixteen years old. She lived long enough to see that girl of her's off to college. She was a remarkable cat.

The point of my lengthy story is to say that I think our pets both take on some of our personality and also become what we need them to be. 

Sometimes I think that each one of them are little miracles.


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

I think their owner's personality contributes partially to forming their personality because your personality is injected into your training and raising methods, but that doesn't mean they adopt their owner's personality. 

My dog is my complete opposite. I'm an extreme introvert and he's an extreme extrovert. I'm easily stressed out and frustrated and he can handle anything and everything. I'm distrustful of everyone and he'd jump into a car with a stranger if they asked him to. I think the only thing we have in common is we both like food a lot.

Even the very fearful nervy senior husky I'm taking care of for my SIL has become much, much friendlier and outgoing in my care. I always expected my animals to turn into these unfriendly one-person animals but they always turn into outgoing, friendly, well-adjusted extroverts. What I liked most about my SIL's husky was that she was exactly like me, but now she's become so friendly and, well, 'normal', that I feel like our special bond that we had because we were the same and understood each other is lost because she's changed.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I always say that my oldest dog is just like me. I got her when she was 10 months old, but she was returned a few times during her first year, so I was really her first real owner. I'm a very confident person, pretty easy going until someone gets me going, I don't have a problem making friends, or telling it like it is......all of my dogs are like this


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

I think sometimes some of our dogs complement our personality, not mirror it. Maybe because we see one of our negative (to us) traits like shyness, but because we are focusing on what's best for our dogs, we push ourselves outside our comfort zones for their sake, ending up with a confident stable dog that actually helps US.

I'm a homebody when I'm not working, but because of my GSDs in the past, I took them to classes, I took them to the public walking paths, I took them to stores - things I don't normally do when I could have the opportunity to hang around the house. I can be intense and emotional, and my dogs seem to also help me to chill out sometimes and not take things quite so seriously.


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

genetics + environment = end product. 

The genetic base for Zeeva's temperament was already there when you got her - she would not be miraculously stable if she were raised with a different handler. She is who she is, and her environment shaped her. 

And if you start thinking like that, you'll also have to consider the fact that perhaps you HELPED Zeeva greatly into becoming as capable as she is today - in a more passive or neglectful home, she could have become a real problem. 

If we take my current pup as an example: she is who she is, and nothing I do will change her base temperament. However, depending on how I raise, socialize, train, and develop her, she will grow and stabilize within the confines of what her genetics allow her. I can see this in training clubs - pups can exceed or fall short of their genetic expectations because of their environment and handler. However in the end, they can only have leeway within the range that their genetic capability allows.


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## Rangers-mom (Jan 28, 2013)

It is interesting because raising a dog for the Seeing Eye is almost an experiment for nature vs. nurture. The breeding is very controlled and based largely on personality. The puppy raising is also very controlled. All puppy raisers are given specific instructions on how to handle almost every situation.

Watching the puppies in our puppy club for the first year I found it really interesting how similar and yet different all the puppies are. For instance, they breed for quiet dogs. As a result we can have a meeting with 25 dogs and no dogs will bark at all. They breed for sociability so we never had any growling or fighting no matter how many dogs were together.

Still there were differences. Some were more social. Some were more confident. After that experience I really got the impression that genetics controlled a lot more than we think. It just seems to me, after watching all these dogs, that a dogs personality is mostly predetermined by genetics.


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## LoveOscar (Feb 4, 2013)

It is a dogs survival method. How they survive generations upon generations, because as a species they adapted from wild to domestic by attaching themselves to humans. They see and mimic facial expressions, noises, actions. Thats why its the on going joke of dogs looking like their people. They adapt themselves to mimic their owners for survival, endear themselves to, ask for help from their owners. And also why the internet is full of some strange expressions on dogs lol.

LO


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

I think there is a large degree of the owner seeing things he or she wants to see. Don't we all want to see a piece of ourselves reflected back on us through our dogs?


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## vicky2200 (Oct 29, 2010)

I think the person raising the puppy plays a part in the puppy's personality, but the puppy will still have its own unique personality. This is part of the reason that I prefer to get dogs as a young puppy.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I don't believe that my personality rubs off on my dogs...if so, they'd all be very similar. 
Instead I have three very different dogs due to their genetics/not due to how I raised them. 2 were with me from the age of 7 week old puppies and one came into my home at 21 months. 
And the third one wasn't influenced by the older two's quirky temperament. He's very stable because of his genetic make up.
Though, I have to add, If I were over the top with anxiety, anger management issues or a fearful timid personality, I'm sure that may influence my dogs behaviors.


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## Vagus (Oct 7, 2012)

My puppy's breeder came to visit me a few months after I brought him home (we live in the same city) and I mentioned how calm he was in his puppy class - even the trainer commented on how relaxed he was. The breeder commented on how my everyone in my family is very relaxed and he is probably getting his cues from us. I'm not sure how true that is, but he is certainly a dream compared to what I was expecting. As he gets older he just gets calmer and gentler, even with the cat (touch wood!). He's only 6 months old now though, and plenty can change between now and adulthood.


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

Not fully... but, I believe your temperament, actions, and energy level can help shape a puppy... but not really change who they already are.


For example... my 3.

Zira came to us at 3.5 months old from a Petstore rescue. She is from a puppy mill and has horrible genetics to back her up. I gave her everything... best food, best care, vet care whenever needed, loving home, lots of toys, training, more socialization then most dogs out there, etc etc. However, she's a complete nut. She has horrible fear and anxieties. She's nervous in many situations that most dogs wouldn't even bat an eye at, and she's unstable beyond repair. We manage her... we can't "fix" her. In another hand, she could have been MUCH worse... but she still would have these issues.

Storm came to me at 9 weeks old from good lines, a good breeder, and was the female pick. However, I raised her pretty much the same. Other then different training obviously. Growing up, Storm lived by the same rules, same energy from me, same house, same people, and if anything... less socialization then Zira had. She's the complete opposite from Zira! She's a STRONG, bold, and very serious female. She has solid nerves, and could care less about anything you do to her or put her through. She's not fearful, she's not reactive, she's not unstable at all. She's stubborn, and her high drive makes her 10x more dog then the average house pet. She's a completely different dog in almost every single way. No matter what I do... that's Storm. With someone else, or in another type of home, she could have too much emphases on a specific trait and be worse (Or maybe even better). Someone else could bring out her aggression more... or ignore her slight DA.... and she could be a problem. Someone could have been a little more upbeat and gotten her to be more flashy in her OB. Who knows. But none of that changed who the dog was to begin with... just influenced.

Duke came to me at 2 from a home where he was abused. I had a heck of a time with him at first. He was dog aggressive, and very nervous around the house. He'd pee himself if he saw an older person, if you touched the broom, or if a guy came up to him that was a up beat personality... it just made him lose it. I brought him in, worked with him, started training, built confidence... etc. But he was brought into the same environment as the other two. I didn't change the house for him. He's a million times better then he was. He's still off a bit with some things, but he's not the same dog. I believe my confidence, and my love for him changed his mindset a bit and allowed him to change HIS ways. Again in other hands... he could have continued down that path and been a "mean" dog.. when here, he's a lover!

So in a way yes... and in a way no. Dogs feed off of your energy and emotions. My dogs know how I'm feeling before I do. You can influence the dog to feel a certain way. However, your dog is what it is, regardless of who raises them. You can't change genetics. Most likely your Zeeva was nervy from birth. That's just what was in her background. And like someone else said above.... YOU may have helped her to come around a bit. She may have been more severe in someone else's hands. You never know.


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## Lucky Dog (Dec 1, 2012)

I believe they do. They can read us like a book !!!


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## Valerae (Jun 13, 2011)

Both my GSD and mutt are rescues. My GSD was 2 when we adopted her. The only things we know about her past are that she had a litter of puppies and that she was shot in her paw. She has the sweetest temperament. She's loving, empathetic and wants to be petted by (almost) everyone. She was aggressive towards me on two occasions shortly after we adopted her (took her to a Tuft's behaviorist who thought she was dealing with internal anxiety she didn't know how to express). I worked on training and brushing her daily to connect with her and we're completely bonded. Anyone who sees us together knows she's my girl and I'm hers - no person or dog looks at me the way my Wrigley does. Dog only knows what else happened to her in her prior life, and regardless of those circumstances she's grown to love and trust me as her companion.

My puppymutt was picked up off the streets of Kentucky when he was 4 months old and brought up to upstate NY by our rescue. We adopted him when he was 6 months and now he's a year and a half. He's wicked smart but mouthy, crazy about food and leash aggressive towards other dogs. It's clear that he had little human interaction between birth and being picked up by the shelter. His behavior also suggests he was in charge of foraging for food. But we work with him daily. He's very loving, snuggley and goofy.

Having rescues sometimes means not knowing about their past and that presents challenges. While their pasts have definitely shaped some behaviors and personality traits, it shows that they can grow to trust and love any companion willing to work with them at any time in their lives.


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