If we are bold enough to extend a true compassion—one built upon a deep understanding—rather than just sympathy, towards our dogs as we try to understand their behavior, we take a necessary first step toward an authentic relationship with them. If you are reading this book, you are about to take a giant leap forward. You are about to experience an entirely different kind of bond with your dog. But first, let’s clear just a little more baggage out of the way.

Bad Eggs and Dropped Balls

When things go wrong, such as a dog bite, it’s so tempting to point a finger. We often default to the age-old debate of nature vs. nurture.

One prevalent cultural myth is “It’s all how you raise them”: the notion that dogs are blank slates on which we write our own influence through nurture (raising, training, care, or medication). The notion that we can prevent potential behavior problems with basic obedience training or simply “rehabilitate” problem pets into “fixed” ones through such measures is simplistic and naïve. Solid training practices and healthy provisions can go a long way toward ensuring better chances at success and can exact remarkable changes in certain behaviors—even helping animals to overcome traumatic experiences from their past. But there are also some things we just can’t change—like a dog’s basic design features.

When it doesn’t appear that any balls were dropped by a perfectly good owner, we may look to the other polar extreme for an explanation—nature—assuming that the dog must be a “bad egg.” Maybe there’s something genetically wrong with him, like bad breeding or another identifiable disorder.

Looking through such a polarized lens, we’re likely to completely miss the point. We are not seeing the dog for what and who he really is. The truth is, it’s not nature or nurture. It’s the interaction between nature and nurture. It’s about the daily choices we make in handling and managing our dogs once we understand the instincts, capabilities, and limitations they bring to the table. One thing (nature) must work harmoniously with the other (nurture); this is the very essence of compatibility.

Good Intentions