A little over a year and half ago, Kovu, the Belgian Mallinois came into my life. He was about a year old. His owners had become afraid of him. Puppy Kovu was a present from the boyfriend to the girlfriend. She had wanted a Golden Retriever. They both agreed that they would work together to raise the pup. They are both in their early 20’s. The problem was, that her mom was coming back to live with them (she had been in Mexico for the high of the pandemic and could now travel back to the States.) They were terrified what Kovu might do to her. He didn’t accept anyone in the house, only the two of them. The pandemic created a bubble around the house and the owners. Kovu, left with no direction, assumed it was his job to protect it. Did I mention Kovu is a magnificent, pure bred, top of the line, Belgian Mallinois? The type that soldiers use in combat, that police officers regularly count on to do the hardest jobs, the type of dog that was bred, in essence, to work. But not any work; the hardest mission possible are given to these guys. They are warriors.
For some people owning a pure bred dog is the realization of a life long dream; having loved a certain breed since childhood they now find themselves in a position of getting that dog. For others, like Kovu’s owners, the look of a certain breed is the appeal. What most people fail to realize, however, is that owning a pure bred dog and not fulfilling them is akin to having a person with a Phd not be able to pursue a career in their chosen field. Frustration and discontentment are very likely to occur. In the case of the dog however, that can also entail destructive and unhealthy behaviors. So before deciding on getting a dog, any dog, ask yourself how much time and effort are you willing to dedicate to it. For the majority of people having a dog means simply having a companion, a being that can add joy to your life. In those cases getting a mixed breed or mutt will be much easier to fulfill since the genetics of those dogs are not so honed in.
Remember we humans have genetically chosen certain traits, tweaked and prodded for decades, even centuries to achieve certain qualities that pure bred dogs now possess. We fail to be cognizant of that at our own peril. If you choose a herding dog as your pet, and don’t fulfill them, they most likely will start nipping at heels because they were genetically bred to do just that. If you preference is a dog that was bred for protection but fail to train them, they will, in the majority of cases, start protecting you. Retrievers will retrieve, bully dogs will bully, guard dogs will guard. It is, literally, in their DNA to do so. The best thing a potential owner of a pure bred dog can do is to educate themselves about the breed they are getting and understand that they will have to dedicate time and effort to make sure that their dog doesn’t revert to genetics if their needs are not being met. If you fulfill the animal, then the genetics don’t play such a big role. It is that simple.
