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Lucky Star
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13-09-2006, 10:18 PM

How Do Dogs Recognise Other Breeds?

It does seem to happen - I had a mongrel that hated all Dobermen - only them, and Loki does seem to mistrust certain breeds, including boxers, westies and jack russells - all of which he's had run ins with in the past.

Why is this? I understand about breeds with docked tails confusing other dogs etc. but there must be more to it?
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Azz
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13-09-2006, 10:52 PM
I'd have thought from their visual appearance... and maybe a touch of smell?
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Dharkwolf
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13-09-2006, 11:14 PM
Well...

If it looks like a teckel, it smells like a teckel, moves like a teckel and barks like a teckel - then it probably is a teckel.

Or to put it another way - they recognize dog breeds probably just like we do - by recognizing the characteristics of a given breed and remembering them. They also model their behaviour on what they remember.

Our pups will happily approach breeds which in the past have proven fun to play with (in our case, irish wolfhounds, jack russel terriers, boxers, malamutes and dobermans for instance) and be aloof or even make threatening displays towards breeds which in the past have shown themselves to be agressive (in our case - border collies and huskies).

It is interesting that they can make very clear cut distinctions between the breeds - they will never confuse a malamute (friend) with a huskie (threat).

There is however one effect which you need to be aware of - and which is very easy to neglect.

Do dogs recognize a breed or do they recognize a reaction of their owner towards a given breed?

Say you are afraid of teckels (hey - I think they are the scariest dogs around!) if you show your fear of the animal your dog is going to recognize and react to that - rather than react to the breed itself.

So - how can I be sure that our dogs recognize certain breeds? Simply because their reaction is always the same - regardless of the person who is walking with them. Interestingly though, though the type of reaction is always the same, the magnitude of the reaction varies depending on who is handling them.

Hope that helps - can you give us a wee bit more background on that question though?
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Azz
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14-09-2006, 01:34 AM
I agree with Dharkwolf - as breeds are breeds because they have certain distinguishable characteristics, our dogs, when they come into contact with ones they have encountered previously, stop and think to themselves "Hold on a second I've met your sort before!"

It seems so with Rocky and Border Collies - there are two that are always aggressive towards him but there is another that is the total opposite... but Rocky doesn't like him and barks at him whenever we see him.... funny thing is I can just see on the (friendly) border collie dogs face "Wha, wha, what've I done mate? "
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angelmist
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14-09-2006, 01:37 AM
Excellent post Dharkwolf but whats a teckel?
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Shadowboxer
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14-09-2006, 03:03 AM
Originally Posted by angelmist View Post
Excellent post Dharkwolf but whats a teckel?
A Dachshund
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madmare
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14-09-2006, 05:35 AM
I would say by sight as my girl hates Border collies after being bitten. For her its the black and white colouring with the shape.
Tried to introduce her to one of Patch's Collies who is such a sweetie and all was fine to start with as she is mainly white but as soon as she spotted the black and white on her head she went mad.
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Zetacharlie
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14-09-2006, 07:18 AM
My Jack Russell was attacked by an Akita and a GSD when she was about a year old. Ever since then any dog that resembles either of those breeds- Husky, etc.-even if she sees them in the distance-she starts "screaming" and wants to go the other way or be picked up
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Trouble
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14-09-2006, 08:03 AM
The only dog Syd has ever had a problem with is a Weimeraner, but he only dislikes that particular Weimeraner, he is absolutely fine with all other Weimeraners.
So I'm not convinced they do dislike specific breeds just specific dogs. Also I have docked dogs but no dog they come into contact with seems to be confused by their lack of tail. I think body language is way more complex than that.
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angelmist
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14-09-2006, 02:38 PM
Originally Posted by angelmist View Post
Excellent post Dharkwolf but whats a teckel?
Originally Posted by Shadowboxer View Post
A Dachshund
Oh right, thanks.
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