Pure Breed or Mix? Are There Training Differences? (Part 1)

The pure bred dog is something fine to look upon. It is an animal that has been refined over the centuries to reach its pure, unadulterated state today. These dogs have been bred for temper and bloodline from early times. Yet there is a dog that goes back in history even further… The Mixed Breed or Mutt as some people would call them. This dog is a very ancient mix of pedigrees that, while not always the best of mixes, is most assuredly unique. The temperament of these animals is usually quite good and they tend not to have the congenital defects of their pure bred counterparts. It is possible to produce similar animals thru breeding efforts but as a general rule, mixed breeds are generally a unique animal that won’t be replicated. But what of their training capacity? Is there any reason to train these animals in any different manner than their pure bred brethren?

By and large, the answer is no. These animals are fully capable of learning any behavior that the pure breed is capable of and usually more. Due to better temperaments and high intelligence, these mixed breed animals frequently score quite highly in obedience pre-tests and are very trainable. While pure breed animals have been refined over the centuries, this has occasionally led to inbreeding of the animals and the specific breed has suffered in the way of congenital defects and maladjusted temperaments. The mongrel has not been so afflicted and while it may not always have the handsome lines of a Great Dane or the gorgeous coat of the Chow Chow, it can certainly have the better characteristics inherited from either of these lines and more. A mixed breed dog can have the house pet qualities of a Poodle alongside the protective qualities of a Doberman and the maternal eye of a Saint Bernard. While possessing all of these qualities, the mixed breed may leave behind the overly aggressive and high strung tendencies of the pure bred ancestry. This figured into the equation along with the price factor of the animals and it is quite easy to see why so many households happily have a mixed breed pet. These animals have the ability to display intelligence, show care, obey commands and circumvent obstacles. They have been doing so for thousands of years and show no signs of stopping.

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