Genetic Predisposition Aye - Page 1

Me has always believed that certain traits o' a canine be determined in t' womb aye. Courage, Pain tolerance, aggression can be influenced somewhat by environment, but only t' an extent.aye Trainin' can only take a dog so far aye. Hence t' importance o' bloodlines. One can take 2 dogs raised in t' same environment, and situation. Dog A will be trained t' be a PPD. If dog A be not genetically predisposed t' have t' traits needed, he will struggle through his trainin', no matter how good t' trainin'. Dog B may have had no trainin' what so ever, but if he be genetically predisposed t' have t' traits needed for a PPD, he will take t' it like a duck t' water. Me certain ye have all seen owners and trainers tryin' t' make a dog somethin' they be not cut out t' be aye. Some of these genetically predisposed traits can be positive, and others be negative.Aye Some will defend manbiters by sayin' t' dog wasn't socialized, t' dog was tied out etc. When t' truth be, t' dog was determined t' bite a human in t' womb.Aye

Das Kapitan has made a very good point.  He couldn't have said it better.  And it has always amazed me that there can be a great deal of variable genetic influence within any single litter, creating  in some cases significant differences in temperament and trainability. 

Breeding is everything. Don't get me wrong, a great trainer is a huge help.  In all the genetics courses I have taken....the genetic lottery is mysterious and pretty interesting.  The thing I have learned is to stack the lottery drawing with good genes and I don't mean inbreeding/close line breeding. 

For an example,. if I remember correctly, the number of genes involved in coat color, mix of colors, length, type of hair, etc alone is around 50 give or take, I may be off a few.  So it is rather mind frying to think of the huge number genes involved in a good working temperment

"Feral children" would be a good example here.  Genetically they have the predisposition to function in a social environment with society, but the "critical period" of early learning has passed that would allow them to learn a human language beyond its more subtle unconscious language of "body talk", eye cues, etc.

Studies of clones in horses and other animals have shown that, while although the subjects are genetically identical, they develop differently on account of epigenetic changes, differing maternal hosts, and a variety of environmental factors.

My opinion: While the genetic potential or predisposition is prerequisite, it can not fully predetermine the "finished result".  Genes cannot give you a guarantee for "intended purpose", as some would like to believe.  Good environment, diet, excercise, socialization, training and handling are still essential to the outcome.

Some breedings can produce litters very uniform of temperament and character, though slight differences develop due to "puppy pack" structure.  The same breeding pair could very well produce a less uniform litter at a later time.  Litter uniformity is inarguably a feature that does appear more frequently from linebred parentage, but is just not "always the rule".

And then you have the "dark DNA" which can serve as switches to turn other main genes and sets of genes on or off.  Itis not completely understood how all tyhese switches are activated, but it is suspected that it is mostly due to environmental; stresses and inputs.  The drug companies don't want to write or talk about this much because there is a mad scramble on to patent this "dark DNA" sometimes called "junk DNA" or discarded DNA through evolution and natural selection.  They used to think this stuff was inactive.  Now they know it can serve as mysterious switches.  So we come back full circle. Maybe the old GSD breeders of 100 years ago were right when they felt that environmental stresses could modify genetics of puppies in the womb before they were born and after.  This concept was completely rejected with the advent of medelian genetics, which is not being proved faulty.

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BLIMEY!!!! just how many Jack Tars thar be on t' DB?

You all are the most intelligent of all I have heard in our database....Thanks for the great thread   keep it up ...I agree    99% also.....

Yellowrose me Beauty, Ye be more breathtaking than an Amarillo Sunset Aye!!