In this chapter, you will learn about these powerful genetic traits and how they might affect your dog and her compatibility with you. You’ll get insight into the personal profile of your dog’s DNA—her qualities and characteristics, her family history, her interests and hobbies, her ideal education and lifestyle. Knowing what kind of material information your dog’s genetics bring to the table will give you a powerful advantage in your endeavor to live happily ever after together.

The Right Dog for the Job

The truth is, we’ve all had it a little backward so far. We’ve somehow overcomplicated dog breeds and genetics and simultaneously oversimplified them.

We get lost trying to differentiate between hundreds of dog breeds. The emphasis on the ever-growing array of “pure” and “designer” breeds creates an overwhelming number of choices for the dog lover shopping for their next best friend. We try to educate ourselves about the dog we are getting; then we commit, often with absolutely no idea what we are signing up for, or what steps we might take to keep everything copacetic with our puppy love. We buy the dog—and the idea that the importance of genetics comes down to “good” genes and “bad” ones. We miss the points we really need about our dog’s DNA.

It’s not if a kind of dog has “good” or “bad” breeding that will matter most in the end. It is about what the dog was bred for—what circumstances, what places, what behaviors—and why. These are the things that will tell you the most about what your dog is. Though there are occasional “bad seeds” in the gene pool, problems are more likely to arise from an owner simply being unaware of what kind of dog he has in the first place.

Think about it this way: If we try to use a hammer to tighten a screw and end up making a big mess, the hammer is not “bad.” A bowling ball is not “bad” for breaking our toe if we try to use it in a soccer game. The point is that differences in design matter, even if two things seem categorically related (be they tools, balls, or dogs). Not knowing—or ignoring—what something was made to do can set the stage for misunderstandings and accidents.