Providing appropriate outlets for your dogs breed specific behaviours is key to their wellbeing and to preventing frustration and related problem behaviours. Most breeds of dog have their roots in a dog bred for a specific purpose and most breeds can be grouped into a ‘type’ of dog. Have you looked into what your dog was bred for? Maybe your dogs breed is in our table below.

Type of dog	Original purpose	Modern breeds	Common behaviours
Herding	Moving livestock by working very closely with their human.	Border Collie, Portuguese Water Dog, Shephards, Corgi.	Stalking, herding, perceptive to movement.
Terrier	Bred to find, pursue and remove rats and other vermin.	Jack Russell Terrier, West Highland Terrier.	Tenacious, energetic, highly driven.
Sporting	Assisting in the hunting and retrieving of game animals	Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Pointer.	Chasing, retrieving, swimming, trainable and keen to work with humans.
Hounds	Scenting and chasing a variety of animals	Sighthounds (Greyhounds, Whippets etc)Bloodhounds, Daschunds.	High prey drive and very chase orientated. Will struggle to be called off a scent or chase.
Working	Guarding the home or livestock, pulling carts and sleds.	Rottweiler, Great Dane, Boxer.	Often labelled ‘reactive’ as they may be aloof to unknown people and animals, especially around the home. Independent.
Toy	Companions and lapdogs	Chihuahua, Pug, Shih Tzu.	Highly affectionate and attentive, like human company most of the time.

The role of genetics in meeting your dogs needs

In the 21st century, dogs are deeply ingrained into the human world. They assist humans with innumerable tasks in their working roles. Guide dogs helping the visually impaired, bomb detection dogs find explosives and guardian dogs keep their humans livestock safe from predators. Of course, dogs also play a vital role making humans happy, as pets. Indeed, dogs are one of the most successful species on earth and have reached every country and continent on the planet (Wang et al, 2016; Wynne, 2021). Understanding your dogs genetics and history is key in meeting your dogs needs.

A dog’s genetics will dictate not only what the dog looks like, but will have significant bearing on their behaviour and personality too. In 2013, Brown, Darwent & Sacks investigated if there was DNA evidence proving the continuity of genetics in arctic dogs living in modern times with those alive prior to European colonisation. Mitochondrial DNA was obtained from the bones and teeth samples of ancient (ca. AD 1250–1910) and modern (ca. AD 1930–1990) Inuit Sled Dogs and Alaskan Malamutes from the Alaskan Arctic and Greenland. The authors found a high frequency of haplotype A31 between the ancient and modern DNA. Most modern dogs of the Eastern, but not Western, Arctic carried this haplotype. They described this as direct evidence that ‘modern Eastern Arctic dogs maintain indigenous ancestry’. 

Working dogs

So how does this help us in meeting your dogs needs? The Brown, Darwent & Sacks study tells us that the genetics of these arctic breeds has sustained throughout hundreds, if not more, of years. There are a number of these types of dogs living in the UK, most popularly the Alaskan Malamute. For thousands of generations, these dogs have been used as sled dogs- there is evidence that dogs have been pulling sleds for humans for at least the last 9000 years (Vitale, 2023). When living with these breeds, we need to make sure we are providing appropriate exercise and outlets for their needs. Knowing about local mushing (a general term for sledding activities) groups is important if you have a Malamute and potentially a great outlet for your dog. Mushing is a fun activity that allows dogs to engage in their natural behaviour and has been shown to release oxytocin (the happy hormone) in the dogs brain so may also be beneficial in building the dog-human bond (Leggieri, 2018).

Understanding the original purpose of your dogs breed and finding appropriate outlets for that makes a huge difference to their overall wellbeing. Meeting your dogs needs is also helpful in preventing training and behaviour problems from developing. Many dogs bred for working are bored and frustrated. These dogs will typically find an outlet of their own if we don’t provide one- and we might not like what they choose!

References

Wang, G. D., Zhai, W., Yang, H. C., Wang, L. U., Zhong, L. I., Liu, Y. H., … & Zhang, Y. P. (2016). Out of southern East Asia: the natural history of domestic dogs across the world. Cell research, 26(1), 21-33.

Wynne, C. D. (2021). The indispensable dog. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 2730.

Leggieri, L. R., Marozzi, A., Panebianco, A., Gregorio, P., & Carmanchahi, P. (2019). Effects of short-distance recreational mushing on oxytocin, gastrin, and creatinine kinase in sled dogs. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 22(4), 320-328.

What next?

• Looking for help with your dog? Contact us to arrange in person or online training.
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