Breed Traits, Excuse or Blueprint?

Breed traits seem to have become a convenient excuse for lazy training. Have you ever heard “because he’s a Beagle, they just do that” or “Goldens are supposed to be friendly” etc? I hear reasons why this breed does that and that breed does this. But so what?

I am not saying breeds don’t have common characteristics because they do. I’m saying I hate it when there is no training done and no effort whatsoever is put forth, and results are expected or demanded. Well here’s a news flash; the entire soul of training is to manipulate behavior.

Let’s pretend you get a dog “known for” being friendly. And just because he is “supposed to” be laid back and good natured, you don’t socialize and just assume he’ll “supposed to.” Guess what? You will not only deprive critical socialization puppy experiences, you won’t teach anything about the world. (Remember training is teaching and dogs are always learning.) So even though Breed X is “supposed to” be friendly, it is very real to create quite the opposite by lack of training. I have also seen Breed X being forced to put up with far too much because they are “supposed to” be so tolerant. It’s not fair, and I have seen too many Breed X dogs “turn bad” because they were constantly thrown into situations they didn’t like.

On the flip side. Let’s pretend you get Breed Y who is “known for” being aloof and more reactive. How dumb is it to not take that information by the horns and start training asap? If the blueprints are right there saying, in a big fat ugly way “these can be potential problems” why ignore that? I actually read about (nameless breed) on (nameless rescue site), and I quote: “is rather independent and much like a cat will usually not come to you when called.” To which I say what a huge insult not only to the breed, but to cats as well. Sorry, but I call BS.

So I ask you, what do you focus on? Are breed traits restrictions or blueprints for training?