toedtoes wrote:
Again, I disagree. Dogs can't "inherit" traits from their owners. They may feed off an emotion, but that has more to do with lack of trust and training than anything else.
Look at all the little yappy aggressive dogs owned by lazy people. The dog didn't "inherit" a lazy personality. Rather the dog was raised without structure and became hyper and aggressive.
I think we are saying the same thing. The difference is your point is the bad inherited behavior can be offset with proper training. I agree with you there.
However as you pointed out the dog may feed off emotion. Until someone stops feeding the dog these disruptive emotions the dogs continues to be influenced and behave according to the owners emotions/traits.
This training you speak of never happens for most dogs. The owners are generally umaware of their own questionable behavior they certainly don't see how their own traits influence the dog.
Those lazy prople you refer to, do not provide any additional training for the dog.
The dog simply lives their life feeding off the emotions of the owner. If the owners emotions are poor/questionable. Unless there is some sort of intervention/training, the dogs behavior will be poor/questionable.
In the long run unless the lazy owner hires a trainer the dog will only be as well socialized as the owner.
