Misconceptions of Man's Best Friends

For many years, humans have been breeding dogs to look, behave and live how they want them to. However, recent studies have shown that the effort some people go to in order to have the ‘perfect dog’ may have been a waste of time.

Many breeds are chosen for their appearance and other useful characteristics, but many people will choose a dog thinking they’ll be well behaved, or avoid others because they are a ‘dangerous breed’. This is an opinion that has been held for many years, based on stereotypes and the uses of these breeds throughout history. One example of this is the Doberman. This dog was developed in Germany by a tax collector who required a guard dog to protect him as he collected money from the nearby townspeople. In the modern day, these dogs are still seen as aggressive, despite surveys and research that shows many are trustworthy and affectionate, and this may be partly due to practice of ear and tail cropping that gives the dog a fierce appearance and reduces their ability to communicate and socialise with other dogs.

Although a dog’s genetics may have some effect on their behaviour, any problems that may arise are more likely to be caused by a lack of training, or under socialising a puppy while they are still young and impressionable.

This shouldn’t be used as a reason not to care for a dog of a certain breed, as these average lifespans are only an average and are affected by many things. This is something demonstrated by our good friend, the chihuahua, who has an average lifespan of 7.91 years. This may put some people off adopting a six year old chihuahua as they are only going to spend a year with them, but this is very unlikely. In the study, the results have been skewed by the numbers of small dogs dying young due to improper breeding and the desire to have ‘teacup’ dogs, whose tiny bodies are unable to cope with the stresses of everyday life. This means the age shown in the study is not representative of the majority of chihuahuas who live to the age of 12 to 15, and even those documented to have survived to 20. So, knowing that the dogs who have brought the average down died young, you can safely assume that a six year old chihuahua has a good life ahead of them yet.

Although dogs should be chosen for who they are, instead of what they look like and how long they will live, many stereotypes surrounding them prevent those in need from finding the loving homes they deserve. Shelters in the UK and across the world are fighting a losing battle as they hit a crisis point after the pandemic and the more recent cost of living crisis, and with people becoming more and more picky about the dogs they would adopt, spaces are filling and dogs are staying there for longer.