Vive la Différence!



Each dog is equally adorable and well-dressed, but vastly
different in personality.

"This dog is SO different from my other dog!”  Whether talking about a new dog that followed the passing of a beloved canine or an additional dog in the household, anyone who’s had more than one dog has thought this at one time or another.  It shouldn’t be surprising, but when a new dog looks similar to the former dog or if the dogs are siblings, we tend to expect them to be more alike.  Time, nature, and nurture all create different personalities in our canine companions and that’s what makes them interesting and unique.

Dogs certainly share common behaviors and tendencies as a species, but spending time with a variety of dogs reveals that all dogs are different.  Not all dogs love to play fetch.  Some like to play tug.  Some like to chase.  Some like to just hang out.  Not all dogs like to be touched.  There are dogs that love lots of activity.  There are other dogs that prefer quiet.  Each dog has its own personality and preferences.  And like people, no two dogs are exactly alike.

Many of us try to recapture a part of a well-loved dog who has passed by acquiring a puppy of the same breed, perhaps even from the same breeder.  We want the puppy to be similar to its predecessor, but we forget that most of our memories are based on our best and most recent memories.  It’s easy to forget about housetraining, how Great Aunt Martha’s heirloom quilt was ripped to shreds, or the hours spent training and working on “perfect manners.”  Keeping a puppy from the beloved dog’s litter doesn’t re-create the same dog either, since there is the genetic influence of the other parent as well as a different life experience.  Sometimes, it helps to get a different breed or a different gender to remind us that this is not the same dog.

Each dog has its own personality, even if he's a "twin."

What if we like a friend’s dog of a certain breed?  Dogs of the same breed might share breed characteristics, like herding breeds being highly prey driven or scent hounds being easily distracted by smells.  But within the breed, there can be wide variations of personality based on parental temperament, early puppyhood experiences, and training.  The dogs might resemble each other, but don’t expect them to be the same dog.  Not all Dachshunds are alike nor are all Labradors.  That’s a good thing.  Variety is the spice of life.

Sibling dogs within the same litter theoretically have more in common.  However, it’s possible for there to be more than one sire for one litter since dogs have a uterus shaped similarly to a glove. Even with the same parents, dogs can have very different personalities, just like human siblings.  When raising puppy siblings together, there is the additional complication that they tend to bind to each other more than to their human, especially if the human doesn’t purposely take time to work with each dog separately.  The type of interaction with we have with each dog also shapes the dog’s personality, and of course, our relationship with him or her.  With the dogs side-by-side, it also makes it easier to draw comparisons, which can sometimes be unfair.

It’s a natural inclination to make comparisons between dogs, especially after one dog has given us so many happy memories.  But it’s also important to remember that each dog is an individual and special in its own right.  We should respect and appreciate him or her for his or her own wonderful qualities. Once we allow ourselves to do so, it’s amazing to discover that there are so many “perfect” dogs out there and a place in our hearts for all of them.  We just have to learn that “perfect” takes many different forms.