By Euro Weekly News Media • Published: 01 Sep 2015 • 11:00
INHERITED BEHAVIOUR: How strongly he will attach to people.
SO much depends on how your dog gets on in life.
I thought it appropriate to write about ‘Inherited Behaviour’ because all dogs will certainly have inherited behaviour.
The behaviour of dogs, like all animals gets inherited via genetic pre-disposition and genetic memory. Genetic pre-disposition towards certain types of behaviour or attitudes in life are inherited at birth, much like the pre-programmed default factory settings you may find on a computer or TV when you buy it new.
What they govern are things like a dog’s prevailing temperament, personality and the type of behaviour that comes instinctively to him when faced with different situations or events.
As an example everything from how readily he will pursue prey to how confident, fearful or aggressive he will become in more testing situations and even how strongly he will emotionally attach to people making later separation issues in people more likely.
Genetic memory is a rather different phenomenon. If an animal repeats a specific behaviour enough times, a ‘memory’ of this behaviour eventually get stored in its genes and cells, which is then passed down from one generation to the next.
This is how birds know when to migrate or how to build nests without any other bird showing them. Or how sheepdogs know how to stalk and round up sheep without any other dog showing them. It is purely down to the effects of inherited genetic pre-disposition and memory.
The same phenomenon is behind all different, and also far more genetically magnified working instincts found in different breeds of dog. In other words they are born with a certain inherited compulsion to behave in a specific way.
Listen to David on TRE every Saturday 10am to 11amCosta del Sol (Gibraltar/Sotogrande) 98.7fm(San Roque to Calahonda) 91.9fm (Calahonda to Motril) 88.9, Costa Calida 92.7fmCosta Blanca (Torrevieja to Elche) 105.1fm (Elche to Calpe) 88.2fm, (Calpe to Gandia & Ibiza) 104.6fm,(Denia to Valencia) 95.3fm Mallorca 103.9fm
Share this story
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don't already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Download our media pack in either English or Spanish.