09/05/2026
Another great series starting, check it out. 👍🐾
KNOW THE DOG
Part 1 of 19 – The Dog Beneath the Behaviour
Before you ask how to stop the behaviour, ask why the dog wants to do it.
I’m going to start this series with something that sounds ridiculously obvious:
Dogs have needs.
There we go.
Nineteen-part series finished.
You’re welcome.
Except, of course, it isn’t quite that simple.
When we talk about a dog’s needs, most people immediately think about the obvious things.
Food.
Water.
Shelter.
Exercise.
Veterinary care.
A comfortable place to sleep.
A couple of walks every day.
All incredibly important.
But a dog is more than a stomach attached to four legs that requires emptying twice a day.
Dogs also have behavioural and biological needs.
They need opportunities to perform behaviours that matter to them.
And what matters to an individual dog can be influenced by its species, genetics, breed or type, breeding line, age, developmental history, previous learning, environment, health, temperament and individual personality.
That last bit is particularly important.
Because this series is called:
Know the Dog.
Not:
Read the Breed Label and Assume the Rest.
We Created the Dogs Living in Our Homes
To understand many modern dogs, we need to understand something about where they came from.
Humans have been selectively breeding dogs for a very long time.
Once dogs became associated with human societies, we increasingly selected them for characteristics that were useful to us.
Different populations eventually became particularly suited to different jobs.
Herding livestock.
Guarding.
Hunting.
Tracking.
Flushing game.
Retrieving.
Controlling vermin.
Protecting property.
Pulling loads.
Working alongside people.
Working independently from people.
Finding things.
Chasing things.
Catching things.
Carrying things.
And, in some cases, killing things.
Humans didn’t simply alter what dogs looked like.
We also influenced how populations of dogs were likely to behave.
That’s enormously important.
Because when you bring home a dog, you haven’t just brought home its coat colour, ear shape and body size.
You’ve brought home a nervous system.
You’ve brought home motivations.
You’ve brought home behavioural tendencies.
You’ve brought home genetics.
And you’ve brought home the potential influence of generations of selective breeding.
Then, occasionally, we seem surprised when the dog starts behaving like the sort of dog we deliberately created.
You Bought the Genetics as Well
Imagine buying a working-line German Shepherd.
You love the athletic appearance.
You love the intelligence.
You love the intensity.
You love watching beautifully trained working Shepherds online.
Six months later:
“Simon, he keeps grabbing everything.”
Right.
Let’s have a conversation.
Or perhaps you bought a Spaniel.
“He won’t stop sniffing.”
That’s going to be an awkward complaint.
Border Collie?
“He’s obsessed with movement.”
Retriever?
“He’s always carrying something.”
Terrier?
“He’s digging up my garden.”
Scent hound?
“Once his nose goes down, I apparently cease to exist.”
Sometimes the clue really is written on the tin.
But, and this is important, not always.
Breed Is Not Destiny
I want to establish this right at the beginning because we’re going to talk extensively about breeds and breed groups throughout this series.
Breed matters.
Genetics matter.
Selective breeding matters.
But:
Breed is not destiny.
If you’ve got a Border Collie, I cannot tell you exactly how that individual dog will behave simply because I know its breed.
Your Collie might display pronounced eye, stalking and movement-controlling behaviour.
Another Border Collie may display considerably less.
One Labrador might retrieve until you need surgery to reattach your throwing arm.
Another Labrador may watch you throw the dummy and look at you as though to say:
“You threw it. You get it.”
Two puppies from the same litter can develop into noticeably different dogs.
That’s because behaviour is complicated.
Most interesting behavioural characteristics aren’t controlled by one magical “Spaniel sniffing gene” or “Collie herding gene”.
Behaviour develops through interaction between biology and experience.
Genetics can influence predispositions.
Then development matters.
Early experience matters.
Learning matters.
Reinforcement matters.
Socialisation matters.
Environment matters.
Health matters.
Age matters.
Hormonal and physiological state can matter.
And the individual animal matters.
So throughout this series, whenever I say a breed is likely to display something, read that word carefully.
Likely.
Not guaranteed.
We’re talking about tendencies and probabilities.
Not fortune-telling.
What Is a Need?
This is where things become interesting.
Not everything a dog wants is necessarily something it needs.
My dog might desperately want the roast chicken sitting on the kitchen worktop.
That doesn’t make stealing Sunday dinner a biological necessity.
A dog may also become highly motivated to perform behaviours because those behaviours have been repeatedly reinforced.
That doesn’t automatically make them innate needs either.
So we need to be careful with language.
When I talk about meeting a dog’s needs in this series, I’m using the term broadly to include appropriate opportunities for important species-typical and individually relevant behaviours, alongside physical, social, emotional and environmental requirements.
That might include opportunities to:
sniff.
explore.
search.
play.
chew.
forage.
move.
rest.
sleep.
interact socially.
problem-solve.
make appropriate choices.
And, depending upon the individual dog, perform safe and controlled versions of behaviours connected with the functions for which generations of its ancestors were selected.
Searching.
Tracking.
Retrieving.
Carrying.
Chasing.
Gripping.
Digging.
Hunting.
Controlling movement.
And so on.
The exact balance will differ enormously between dogs.
That’s the point.
The Dog Doesn’t Know It’s Unemployed
This is one of the strange situations we’ve created for modern dogs.
We developed animals for jobs.
Then, relatively recently, huge numbers of those dogs became primarily companions.
The Spaniel doesn’t necessarily spend its day flushing game.
The Retriever may never retrieve shot game.
The Collie may never see a sheep.
The German Shepherd probably isn’t guarding livestock or doing police work.
The Terrier hopefully isn’t required to spend Tuesday afternoon exterminating rats.
But removing the original job doesn’t automatically remove every behavioural tendency associated with generations of selection.
The dog doesn’t know it’s unemployed.
It certainly didn’t receive a redundancy package.
So if appropriate outlets aren’t available, some dogs will find their own.
Unfortunately, their choice of recreational activity may not match ours.
Your Sofa May Become an Employment Opportunity
Take a dog with a strong desire to use its mouth.
Perhaps it enjoys gripping.
Tugging.
Carrying.
Chewing.
Possessing objects.
Those behaviours don’t disappear simply because you’ve bought expensive furniture.
If we provide appropriate outlets, we can often channel some of that motivation into something useful.
Structured tug.
Appropriate chew items.
Retrieving.
Possession games.
Search games.
Training.
Interactive play.
If we provide nothing, the dog may conduct its own environmental assessment.
Shoes?
Potentially useful.
Remote control?
Interesting texture.
Cushion?
Needs investigating.
New £2,000 sofa?
Excellent. Finally, some proper enrichment.
Now, I’m deliberately being humorous.
A dog destroying furniture can occur for many reasons.
It could involve inadequate appropriate activity.
But it could also involve separation-related distress, anxiety, frustration, exploration, teething, learned behaviour or other factors.
That’s precisely why we shouldn’t diagnose behaviour from a single description.
Behaviour has context.
Stop Asking Only: “How Do I Stop It?”
This is probably the central message of Part 1.
Owners understandably tend to approach trainers because they want something stopped.
“How do I stop him pulling?”
“How do I stop him digging?”
“How do I stop him chasing?”
“How do I stop him barking?”
“How do I stop him grabbing things?”
“How do I stop him sniffing constantly?”
They’re reasonable questions.
But I often want another question answered first:
Why is the dog doing it?
What is maintaining the behaviour?
What happens immediately before it?
What happens afterwards?
What emotional state is involved?
What has the dog previously learned?
What does the dog gain?
What does the dog avoid?
Does the behaviour itself appear rewarding?
Is there a breed-related predisposition?
Is there frustration involved?
Is the environment encouraging it?
Could pain or another medical issue contribute?
Is this a normal behaviour occurring in an inappropriate context?
Because if we understand function and motivation, our training decisions generally become considerably better.
Behaviour Can Be Rewarding Without You
This is another thing owners sometimes overlook.
You aren’t the only source of reinforcement in your dog’s world.
The environment pays dogs constantly.
Chasing can be rewarding.
Following scent can be rewarding.
Digging can uncover interesting smells.
Running towards another dog can result in social interaction.
Jumping onto the kitchen counter occasionally produces food.
Pulling on the lead sometimes gets the dog to the interesting smell faster.
Barking can make something move away.
Searching can be intrinsically enjoyable.
That’s why some unwanted behaviours become so persistent.
We’re standing there with a piece of sausage saying:
“Fido! Fido! Look! Sausage!”
Meanwhile Fido has discovered deer scent.
Your sausage has just entered a commercial negotiation with several million years of mammalian olfactory biology plus whatever selective breeding sits behind your dog.
Good luck.
The Predatory Motor Pattern
We’re going to dedicate an entire article to this because it’s fundamental to understanding many breeds.
For now, however, I want to introduce the idea.
Predatory behaviour can be described as a sequence containing components such as:
orient → eye → stalk → chase → grab-bite → kill-bite → dissect → consume
Not every dog performs the complete sequence.
Nor do all breeds show the different components with equal intensity.
Through selective breeding, humans have altered and emphasised particular elements in different populations of dogs.
That helps explain why a Border Collie’s relationship with moving animals can look very different from a Terrier’s.
Or why retrieving breeds have been selected for behaviours useful after game has been shot.
Or why particular working dogs may show strong chase, grip or possession characteristics.
We’re going to pull all of that apart later.
Because once you understand it, some apparently bizarre dog behaviour stops looking quite so bizarre.
Meeting Needs Does NOT Mean Allowing Everything
This needs putting in capital letters.
UNDERSTANDING A BEHAVIOUR DOES NOT MEAN PERMITTING IT.
A dog having a strong desire to chase doesn’t mean:
“Well, it’s biological, so I’ll let him chase sheep.”
Absolutely not.
A Terrier having predatory tendencies doesn’t mean we provide the neighbour’s rabbit for enrichment.
A German Shepherd enjoying gripping doesn’t mean we sacrifice the postman.
A Collie wanting to control movement doesn’t mean children become livestock.
Meeting needs means finding safe, ethical and socially acceptable outlets.
We can acknowledge the dog while still establishing boundaries.
Those two things aren’t opposites.
Good training should be able to do both.
Fulfilment Isn’t the Same as Exhaustion
Another enormous misconception.
“He’s energetic. He needs more exercise.”
Possibly.
But perhaps not simply more.
Sometimes he needs different.
Physical exercise is important, but there’s a tendency to treat exercise as the universal cure for behavioural problems.
So the owner throws a ball.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Dog becomes fitter.
Owner throws farther.
Dog becomes fitter still.
Six months later, the owner has developed shoulder problems and the dog has the cardiovascular capacity of an Olympic athlete.
And it still won’t settle.
A tired dog and a fulfilled dog aren’t necessarily the same thing.
Depending on the individual, fulfilment may involve physical exercise combined with sniffing, exploration, searching, chewing, play, social interaction, problem-solving, training and appropriate breed-relevant activities.
And something else that gets forgotten:
Rest.
Dogs need adequate sleep and downtime.
Some dogs don’t need another activity.
They need everyone to stop bloody entertaining them.
We’ll return to this later because even the idea of “meeting needs” can become excessive.
More enrichment.
More stimulation.
More games.
More exercise.
More excitement.
More, more, more.
Sometimes good ownership is recognising when enough is enough.
Genetics Load the Dice – They Don’t Write the Ending
That’s probably the easiest way to think about what we’ll be discussing.
Genetics can influence the probabilities.
Selective breeding can increase the likelihood of particular behavioural characteristics appearing.
But genetics don’t tell us precisely how the individual dog will turn out.
Think of it as loading the dice.
Then development, experience, learning, environment, health and the individual dog all interact with that genetic starting point.
That’s why we’ll eventually devote an entire article to the outliers.
The Border Collie that couldn’t care less about controlling movement.
The Retriever that doesn’t particularly retrieve.
The Shepherd with relatively little interest in gripping.
The Terrier whose main ambition appears to be occupying the warmest cushion in the house.
They’re still perfectly legitimate members of their breeds.
They simply remind us that populations have variation.
And Then There Are Crossbreeds…
We’ll get to these later.
Because this becomes even more interesting.
Take two breeds with different behavioural predispositions and cross them.
What do you get?
People sometimes unconsciously imagine inheritance like mixing paint.
Half of this.
Half of that.
Nice even mixture.
Unfortunately, biology didn’t receive the recipe.
A first-generation cross receives genetic material from both parents, but complex behavioural traits aren’t divided neatly down the middle.
Nor will every puppy within a litter inherit identical combinations of genetic variants or develop identical behavioural characteristics.
Which is why:
Breed A × Breed B does not guarantee the behavioural “best bits” of Breed A plus the “best bits” of Breed B.
If only genetics offered a drop-down menu.
We’ll spend considerably more time on that later in the series.
Look Beneath the Behaviour
Some of you will recognise the phrase because it’s something I explored extensively in my book The Dog Beneath the Dog.
And this series sits very comfortably alongside that idea.
What we see on the surface is behaviour.
But underneath it can sit:
genetics,
motivation,
emotion,
learning,
reinforcement,
development,
environment,
health,
previous experience,
and biological predispositions.
If we only attack what we can see, we can miss the reason it’s happening.
Again, that doesn’t mean every behavioural problem is an unmet need.
It isn’t.
Fear matters.
Anxiety matters.
Pain matters.
Learning history matters.
Poorly reinforced training matters.
Environment matters.
Frustration matters.
Developmental experience matters.
Medical conditions can matter.
Sometimes several things are interacting simultaneously.
Dogs are biological organisms.
Not flowcharts.
Over the Next 18 Parts…
We’re going to get underneath all of this.
We’ll explore selective breeding and behavioural genetics.
We’ll break apart the predatory motor pattern.
We’ll look at German Shepherds, Border Collies, Spaniels, Retrievers, Terriers, Dachshunds, sighthounds, scent hounds, guardian breeds and others.
We’ll look at working lines.
We’ll look at outliers.
We’ll look at crossbreeds.
We’ll challenge some assumptions around designer crosses.
We’ll look at why endlessly trying to satisfy a behavioural tendency can occasionally create problems of its own.
And eventually we’ll bring everything back to the most important animal in the whole series:
the individual dog standing in front of you.
Because breed gives us clues.
Genetics gives us clues.
History gives us clues.
Behaviour gives us clues.
But none of those things gives us permission to stop observing the individual.
So the next time your dog does something you don’t like, don’t abandon the question:
“How do I stop this?”
Sometimes we absolutely do need to stop behaviour.
But add another question first:
“Why does my dog want to do it?”
Then ask:
What is maintaining it?
What need or motivation might sit underneath it?
What has this dog been bred to do?
What has this individual learned to do?
What appropriate outlet could I provide?
And what boundaries still need teaching?
That’s when dog training becomes much more interesting.
Because once you stop seeing only the behaviour…
you start seeing the dog.
Next – Part 2: You Bought the Genetics Too
How thousands of generations of selection helped create the dog lying on your sofa and why genetics influence behaviour without determining destiny.
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