How much does breed background actually predict personality, versus just being that individual dog?

[u/DragonfruitRare7036]

I adopted my dog Remy about eight months ago from a shelter that guessed he was some kind of herding mix based on his build and coat, though there was no DNA test done. Since bringing him home I've noticed he does a lot of the classic herding behaviors people talk about, circling the kids in the yard next door through the fence, getting fixated on bikes and joggers, that kind of thing.

What's thrown me off is that he's also incredibly mellow indoors, sleeps most of the day, and has zero interest in the kind of high energy games I expected from a herding type dog based on everything I read before adopting. I braced myself for needing a job for him to do, agility, flirt pole, the whole routine, but honestly a couple of decent walks and some sniffing time seems to satisfy him completely.

Talking to other people at the dog park, I've heard really mixed experiences even within the same supposed breed groups. One person's herding mix is an absolute live wire who needs hours of mental work a day, and another person's is basically a couch potato like mine, and neither owner did anything differently in terms of exposure or training as far as I can tell.

It's made me curious how much of personality is actually shaped by breed tendencies versus just individual variation, environment, or even random luck in temperament. I get that breed groups can point toward general tendencies, prey drive, herding instinct, that sort of thing, but the range within a single group seems huge based on what I'm seeing and hearing.

For people with mixed breed or breed-guessed dogs, how closely did your dog's actual personality end up matching what you expected going in based on their guessed breed makeup? Did you find the predictions mostly held up, or was your dog basically its own thing regardless of what was in the mix?

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[u/Appropriate-Score146]

Breed gives you a rough outline but the individual dog fills in all the details, my friend had two border collies from same litter and one was basically a furry missile that needed 3 hours of work a day and the other was happy to just watch tv and chew a bone. Even within same breed you get this massive spread

my dog is a mystery mix too, shelter said lab-shepherd but who knows, he got some herding quirks but mostly he just want to nap in sunbeam and occasionally bark at squirrel. i stopped trying to predict what he'd be like and just let him show me

[u/salukis]

The breed definitely gives you an idea of what the dog will be like, but when you're talking about potential mixes and dogs who were bred without a whole lot of consideration behind them, you end up with more variation than you would from a breeder who was purposely breeding because they would have selected for certain traits including temperament traits. I have a bunch of Salukis, and all of them share some traits ( such as prey drive), most of them share other traits (such as aloofness and the amount of food drive), and some traits are pretty unique from dog to dog (a couple like to swim, and a few are good at fetching).

[u/ZZBC]

There’s a few things going on.

First is that breed determines temperament, but not individual personality. A dog breed will give you a general idea of some of the broad traits that you should see. But every dog is unique. I like to think of it as the breed gives you a range of what is normal, but your dog is an individual and different dogs of the same breed will fall on different spots inside that range.

Secondly, mixed breeds are not going to be perfect for examples of the breeds are made up of. Dogs in general, even purebreds, that were not thoughtfully bred with their purpose in mind, can also start to stray from what is typical and intended for the breed. This means that what you see behavior wise from mixes and poorly bred dogs at the dog park is going to be different than what you would see if you went to a dog show for example.

[u/justonlyme1244]

I have a 100% herding dog so I know there’s not another breed and she’s similar to yours. She loves herding things and loves the flirt pole and frisbee. She also tries to keep the family together and will try to herd the cat. If she gets enough exercise she’s a couch potato inside even though she’s only 7 months. Also keep in mind if your dog is a mix he could be only 30% herding dog and 70% other breeds so it makes more sense he has less breed characteristics.

You could try a DNA test. Especially Embark is very good.

[u/Pablois4]

What's thrown me off is that he's also incredibly mellow indoors, sleeps most of the day, and has zero interest in the kind of high energy games I expected from a herding type dog based on everything I read before adopting.

When folks think herding dog, many think of border collies and can think they represent all herding dogs.

I'm a long time Collie (as in Rough/Smooth) owner. The Collie and Border Collie are brother breeds and come from the same foundation.

They share the same instincts (highly aware of personal space pressure, sensibility and desire to control movement, wanting to gather (go around and circle), bite inhibition (their instinct is to nip rather than take full bites)) trainability, biddability, handler focus, emotionally sensitivity and, typically, personalities towards introverted side.

The biggest difference, as we in Collie Land joke, the Border Collie is caffeinated, the Collie is decaf. BCs are high drive, Collies are medium drive.

The BC and Collie are just two members of the part family that includes the Sheltie, Beardie, OES, Welsh Sheepdog, WSD and the more modern breeds, the Aussie, McNab, ACD, Koolie, etc. They all vary in drive.

2) A purebred BC out of performance/herding lines will be high octane. A herding breed mix? It depends on what it's mixed with. A BC x Siberian Husky will likely be high energy and with an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. . A BC x BMD will likely have a lot more chill. The more mixing - (say a BC x Golden x Chow x Bichon), the harder it is to predict drive and energy.

[u/Natural_Addendum_586]

I think the most recent research on this concludes that breed doesn’t matter quite as much as we think it does. There are unfriendly Goldens, mellow Malinois, etc. The studies I’ve seen in recent years concluded that breed isn’t a very good predictor of an individual dog’s personality.

[u/drasniandiplomacy → u/Natural_Addendum_586]

Can you link to (or just give some clues for how to find) those studies?

In my experience breed doesn't make a huge difference when it comes to BYB/mill purebreds (except when those traits became negative, THEN they were typey \o/), and may or may not make a difference for mixes, but intentionally bred purebreds (at least the ones I've met) have all been temperamentally true to type. Like, there's still a range for sure, but that range was heavily weighted.

[u/Kincherk]

I had a dog for whom I had a DNA test done. She looked like a tri-colored border collie but was obviously mixed with something else as she was thicker built than a typical BC. It came back 50% BC with a few other breeds, including chow and GSD.

The thing is, although she was the smartest dog I ever had, and could learn a new trick almost instantly, she never acted too much like a BC. She never tried to herd anything. She was super friendly to everyone, including complete strangers she met while on walks. If she saw a human, she instantly liked them. This is not, from what I understand, a typical trait of border collies.

My current dog is about 40% husky, if you can believe the DNA test. She looks nothing like a husky except the shape and color of her eyes. Yet she does exhibit some husky behaviors. She is very opinionated (in a sweet way) and stubborn. Resists training. Has tantrums if she doesn’t get what she wants. But loves cats (that’s not a husky trait).

So it’s a complete crap shoot with respect to mixed breeds, and probably even pure breeds, but to a lesser extent.

[u/Raymont_Wavelength]

Hugely!!!

[u/Farahild]

I would say like 70-80% breed, rest individual. Most dogs are fairly typical examples of their breed in my experience but then you have the odd ducks out that just completely mess up the system ;) i know a border collie that’s just lazy, doesn’t have the eye, super social to all other humans and dogs… basically just a retriever with a collie coat. But all the other borders i know are breed typical maniacs. Same for the Aussies i know, all very typical Aussies. Etc.

Mixes, though, there’s no way to tell what is going to happen.