Globe and Mail: December 23, 2006
Stanley Coren writes about the magic of the human-dog relationship.

Coren begins by debunking the assumption that "dogs are just wolves in sheep's clothing." For one thing, dog DNA reveals a mix of ancestry that includes jackal, coyote and dingo as well as wolf. For another, breeding has made dogs so different from their forebears that their lupine antecedents cannot explain their behaviour.

Coren hypothesizes that wolves and other canids, rather than humans, did much of the initial breeding that transformed their offspring into dogs with little of the dominance, suspiciousness and aggression characteristic of adult canids. Even as adults, these animals retained the pup-like traits of barking, friendliness and accepting leadership. "Domestic dogs are the Peter Pans of the canine world," Coren writes.

While wolves shunned sustained human contact, dogs were comfortable near the humans who used them to protect their encampments and perform other services, such as warming their beds; a "three dog night" meant that it was very cold. Later, hunters bred for retrieving, shepherds for herding, bored royalty for pocket-sized toy dogs. Dogs today can be categorized as retrievers, pointers, spaniels, setters, sight and scent hounds, guard dogs and personal-protection dogs, draft dogs, vermin hunters, fighting dogs, companion dogs, Spitz-type dogs, herding dogs or drovers.

The genetic manipulation that was the vehicle for creating different breeds within these categories led to breed-specific traits and behaviours that are the keys to understanding dog personalities. Even mixed breeds can be assumed to share those of the breed they most resemble.

Coren has devised a 60-question Dog Behaviour Inventory personality test, much like those used to assess humans, to evaluate canine intelligence and learning ability, sociability, energy level, emotional reactivity, and dominance and territoriality. He also suggests which combinations of these traits make a dog suitable for various services: pet therapy, police duty or just plain companionship.

In his chapters on creating super-dogs, Coren describes how the U.S. Army's Superdog Program, and especially Australia's Drug Detection Dog Breeding Program, have pioneered the process. The secret involves choosing selectively bred puppies and exposing them to a variety of experiences that include handling, stimulation and measured stresses.

Unfortunately, man can also create the antithesis of the super-dog. In a chapter called Creating Monsters, Coren describes the history of fighting dogs and the appalling techniques used to train them "You got to give the dogs a taste of blood," one trainer told him. After rabbits "you work up to cats then other dogs that won't put up much fight."

Rap and popular subcultures glorify dog fighting and make it a thriving business for gambling operations and mob involvement. "Illegal dog fighting occurs in every state in the United States and in all provinces in Canada," Coren notes.

These "Macho Dogs for Macho Men" savage humans as well as other dogs. In the United States, for example, pit bulls account for 41.2 cent of all dog-related deaths, 49.6 per cent if pit crossbreeds are included. Coren calculates that "pit bulls account for 80 to 100 times number [of fatal attacks] we would expect based on their population percentages."

As a scientist, Coren thinks in terms of probabilities and, writes, "the probability is high that aggression will be triggered in those lines and breeds of dogs that contain the genetic heritage of dogs selected for their fighting abilities in recent generations — even if animal has lived a peaceful and uneventful life until that moment."

He hopes that chemical profiles soon be developed to identify dogs with these dangerous tendencies. Otherwise, political solutions and breed bans "may result in the virtual extinction of certain "at risk breeds."