Retriever Training New Haven CT

"I would rather train a striped zebra to balance an Indian club than induce a Dachshund to heed my slightest command." -E.B. White

We all have ideas about how easy one breed is to train versus another. When Stanley Coren wrote his popular book, The Intelligence of Dogs (Free Press, 1994), he tallied input from 200 obedience judges to rank breeds from most to least obedient. The breeds ranked as most obedient were the Border Collie, Poodle, German Shepherd Dog, Golden Retriever, Doberman Pinscher, Shetland Sheepdog, and Labrador Retriever. Those ranked as least obedient were the Afghan Hound, Basenji, Bulldog, Chow Chow, Borzoi, Bloodhound, and Pekingese.

Of the top seven breeds, six come from herding or retrieving backgrounds, jobs for which the ability to follow human cues is important. A good retriever must be able to follow its handler's directions to locate fowl downed out of the dog's sight, or to avoid swimming into danger. A good herder must be able to follow the shepherd's directions to place the sheep where they are wanted.

Of the bottom seven breeds, four are hounds used in hunting, breeds in which independent thinking is more critical to success. A hound that continuously looks to its handler for directions is useless. Of these bottom seven breeds, four (the Afghan Hound, Basenji, Chow Chow, and Pekingese) are considered to be progenitor breeds according to recent DNA research. These breeds share more genes in common with ancestral wolves and perhaps are ...

Author: D. Caroline Coile, Ph.D.

Copyright 2009 BowTie Inc.

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