Anim 130

Dog Obedience
Breed Recognition and Training

All dogs are trainable! Some just have

traits that make them easier to train to fit
into a Pet household,As a
sporting/hunting dog,as a herding dog,as
a guard dog etc.
Why is it important to know and
understand breeds?

Knowing breed and group tendencies will help Handlers be

able to meet that dogs behavioral needs. As well as direct
assist to which re enforcers might work best.

For example if I am working with a Beagle I know that that dog is probably
going to want to be sniffing a lot and will be easily distracted by that. If I'm
working with a rottweiler I know that this dog is probably going to be a little
more sound sensitive and distracted by noises and things going on in the
environment. Herding dogs can have a difficult time just standing still.
Sighthounds are not always easily motivated by food
 CKC Breed Groups
 Group 1 - Sporting Dogs
 Group 2 - Hounds
 Group 3 - Working Dogs
 Group 4 - Terriers
 Group 5 - Toys
 Group 6 - Non-Sporting Dogs For ease of classifying,
 Group 7 - Herding Dogs form, function &
 Miscellaneous Class
behavioural attributes
breeds were put into
groups. In Canada we
have 7 groups & an
interim.
Group 1 - Sporting Dogs
 Bred to point, flush and retrieve game
 Subdivided into Setters, Spaniels (flushers),
Retrievers and Pointers

 ActivityLevel – Medium - High

 General household Trainability – Med - High
 Pointers
 Bred to search silently for game and
to freeze and ‘point’ instead of German Short-haired
capturing prey Pointer
 Coat varies between short dense,
wire & sporting
 Setters
 ‘Sets’ Dog sets up the game for Irish Setter
the sportsman (crouches down)
in the direction for a good shot,
when it finds it’s prey after
silently searching
 Coat: Varying colours, sporting
coat. Short saddled with
feathering on ears, underside,
legs and tail
 Spaniels
 Smallest of the Sporting group Brittany Spaniel
 Used for flushing birds towards
sportsman through dense
undergrowth
 Coat: sporting, typically short
saddled with feathering
(sometimes profuse) on ears,
legs, underside and tail
 Retrievers
 Bred for retrieving birds
 Coat:
 Short dense (Lab) Labrador Retriever
 Sporting with feathering (Golden,
Flat-coated)
 Thick, dense wire, curly or wavy
(Chesapeake Bay, Curly-coated)
Group 2 - Hounds
 Bred to trail game either by sight or scent
 Subdivided into sight hounds and scent hounds

 ActivityLevel – High and extremely low

 General Trainability – Average.But the handler
must become more interesting and rewarding than
what the dogs were bred to do
Scent Hounds
Bloodhound

 Bred to hunt game by scent.

 Coat: The majority are short
dense, such as this Bloodhound
or a Beagle Some are wire Like
the petit basset griffon vendeen
Sight Hounds
 Bred to Hunt by sight, they Greyhound
chase, knock down, capture
and Dispatch game
 Coat: Short Dense
(Greyhound) silky (Afghan)
wiry (Deerhound)
Group 3 - Working Dogs
 Subdivided into Guarding And draft work (pulling)

 Activity Level - Varies

 Trainability -
 watchdog - high to average
 livestock guardian –Average
 pulling – average
 Guard
Doberman Pinscher
 Bred for guard and
protection work
 Coat: varies short dense
(Dobermans)Heavy double
coated (Great
Pyrenees)Wooly and corded
(Komondor)
 Livestock Guardian
 Bred to live with and protect
livestock Great Pyrenees
 Draft work
Alaskan Malamute
 Bred for pulling sleds or
carts
 Coat: Thick, double coat
for northern climates
(Siberian Husky)
(Bernese Mountain Dog)
Group 4 - Terriers
 Subdivided into long-legged, short-legged

 ActivityLevel – High - average

 General Trainability – High - average
Long-legged
Airedale Terrier

 Bred to “Go to ground“ and

control/exterminate vermin
 Coat:Most are wiry; requires
stripping (Clipping if soft)
Some are short dense
(American Staffordshire
terrier) or silky (Bedlington
terrier)
 Short Legged
 Bred to “Go to ground“ and
control/exterminate vermin Scottish Terrier
 Coat: Majority are wire some
are smooth (smooth fox
terrier) Some are long
course (skye terrier)
Group 5 - Toy

 Bredas companion animals or have been shrunk

down from their original size to become more
companion like

 ActivityLevel - Mid to low

 General Trainability - High to Average
 Group 5 - Toy
 Bred for companionship
 Coat: Varies greatly, Silky
Maltese
(Maltese) to short dense (Italian
Greyhound) hairless
(Xoloitzcuintli) wire (Brussels
griffon) double (papillon)
Group 6 - Non-Sporting
 Dogs not easily categorized into the other groups.

 ActivityLevel - varies greatly

 General Trainability – High to average
Group 6 - Non-Sporting Dalmatian
 Bredfor various functions
 Example: Dalmatian
 Bred as a carriage dog to
protect the carriage from
thieves
 Example: Schipperke
 Bred To keep boats free from
vermin. name comes from Schipperke
‘little captain’ as it was a
favorite boat dog
Group 7 - Herding Dogs
 Bred to herd and move livestock

 ActivityLevel - High
 General Trainability - High
Group 7 - Herding Dogs
 Bred to herd/move livestock
 Coat: Varies Australian Cattle
 Double (Aust. Cattle Dog)
Dog
 Full Double (Rough Collie)
(Old English Sheepdog)
 Wooly corded (puli)
 Wire (Laekenois)
 Miscellaneous Class
 Breed Function Varies
 Breeds awaiting full CKC
recognition
Mixed Breed Dogs
 Asa trainer, how do we tailor a training program for mixed
breed dogs?
 We can observe dogs as individuals based on outward
appearance, i.e. puppy looks like part Great Pyrenees, we can
assume it will have tendencies to be protective aloof and would
benefit from early socialization with other dogs or perhaps if it
looks like part Greyhound, we might want to ensure we do our
initial training indoors to reduce sight distractions
 That we should treat all dogs as individuals andThat's easy if
using positive reinforcement methods, adjusting as we go, to
meet that animals behavioral needs.