I think breed does play some part and this is the experience that makes me think so.

I know someone who has had border collies and worked them successfully in obedience for years, a few years back she decided to add a vallhund to her pack as she hoped to do more heel work to music and freestyle - having trained some of her bc's to this very successfully.

And there she came unstuck with the vallhund - you can't train them the way you would a border collie, they are not motiviated the same way, they have a stubborn streak a mile wide and a tendancy rather than saying, "yes mum, again." as a bc would when in a training session are more likely to stand stock still stare at you and say "done that, want it doing again, do it yourself." She has succesfully trained her valls to compete at htm, not so much with the obedience, but admits herself she had to work round a whole different method of training with the vallhunds to the one she used with the bc's

I think its more the indivadual really. I've met collies with no herding ect. Breed traits can give you a clue as to what to expect but its really more important to look at the dog in front of you.

Adam

There are always exceptions with any breed of dog, and I believe it is essential to observe a dog and get to know it before starting anything. However, I think breed traits are relevant to a behaviourist working with a dog and a trainer - they can be a very good starting point and can often be employed to advantage - a head start so to speak. With mix breeds you obviously have no assumed knowledge of what the dog's traits would likely be and so it can take a little longer to get started and the history taking and observation, together with getting to know the dog is all you can go on. As someone has already said you need to spend time finding out what will motivate a dog and then you can begin, adapting your approach according to what the dog needs.

Lol, I did have one,

I find breed traits really important, from a trainers point of view,

When I encounter a new breed, one which I have never delt with before, I often come on here and talk to owners and people with good understanding of the breed, its been a god send. Once I know what to expect I can adapt training fairly easily to that dog,
On a behavioural front, I would still take into account the breed then the problem,
all dogs are individuals but with many breeds you have a good starting block for knowing what will work fairly well then just adapt it to suit the dog

hope this makes sense, its late and I have had a really hard shift lol

I agree that breed traits are very helpful in understanding a dogs natural instincts... of course you also need to look at the individual, but to understand whats going on in it's head and why he's reacting in a certain way to certain stimulants a good insight into it's breed traits is a good starting point...

If Tess is on lead and my children run off in different directions she gets very restless... um, yeah... she's a BC and her flock is spread to wide and she can't do anything to bring them back... if a dog she doesn't know races up to me she'll get between me and the other dog... um, yeah... she's a BC and wants to protect me... if anyone get's angry or raises their voice to her she freezes and gets scared.. um, yeah, she's a BC and very tone-sensitive... so raising your voice is hardly the way to get her to do something you want....

knowing the general breed traits has really helped me decide which breed I wanted and could handle, understand my pup's instincts, and helped in finding a training course suitable for her... during our very first puppy class our trainers asked all owners to mention the most important traits of their specific breed (all the dogs were purebred)... I was amazed that some owners had no idea...

Hmmm not really, all my dogs have been trained in more or less the same way, with a bit of fine tuning aimed at the individual.

I found it really interesting watching a class of 6 to 8 pups age range from about 5 to 10 months & all different breeds or crosses. The breed traits were not so prevalent at that age. They mostly just wanted to play with each other. But when I saw these dogs about a year later at a class reunion, then you could see definite breed traits coming out.

I have one in my training class at the moment
He is a sensitive wee soul (most of the time!).

I think breed traits can be very important, but not always.

Often tapping into those in bred instincts can really help a dogs behaviour.

i think it is of the upmost importance in understanding how issues have developed & also as a aid to helping the dog.

I often use breed motivations to help a dog

Personally I have found in my experience with Cherry who used to be very fear reactive, that breed traits can be very unhelpful. People, trainers etc just used to say she was the way she was because of her breed-she is a Kerry Blue terrier-they are known for being dog aggressive.

This despite the fact that I also had a male Kerry who was brilliant with other dogs and used social skills, calming signals very effectively!

But if I had just had Cherry I would have blindly believed what they said to me and thought "Well-it's just the way they are I never want another one". Instead I have gone on to work with Cherry and modify her behaviour. She actually exhibits a lot of Collie type behaviours and there isn't a lot of those in her pedigree!

Also, thinking about breeds all being the same and behaving to a certain pattern can lull you into a false sense of security like when we had a Black lab come up and try and have a pop at Cherry. I thought they were all friendly! This one had bitten a couple of dogs and knocked a lady over so he hadn't read the guide book to his breed I guess!