Are certain breeds predisposed to behavior problems?

You know, I would say yes and no. I think any dog can develop any behavioral issue. Do I think that maybe some breeds are more prone to it, in the sense of, are all pit bulls bad? No, not all pit bulls are bad. Are all Dobermans and rottweilers bad? No, they're not all bad. But some dogs instinctively have an internal sense of a job or need to do a job. Many dogs have those requirements as a breed. A Border Collie is a very active, intelligent dog. They need the stimulus to fulfill that need for activity and challenging them and everything like that in terms of their mental capabilities. And so, I think that there are breeds that have needs, and when those needs aren't met, then that could lead to some behavior issues.

That's a sticky question. On the one hand, we know that dogs have not been able to breed on their own. They've been chosen selectively, specifically by people, to have certain traits. Especially the working breed, your herding dogs, and so on, they will have some consistent behavior patterns. Still, even when we look at them, they're still unique individuals because their life experiences and what they've learned will also play a big role. So it's not hard and fast. The way I like to put it is that we all have those days when we, at some point, say that we're not going to behave like our father. And then, when we're parenting, we say something like, because I told you so. So we're not doomed, though. There are going to be some tendencies that we will always express that are inherited from our ancestors, but we can also learn and grow because we're each our own unique individual. That's the same for our animals as well. The real concern I have is when we start to make overgeneralizations of groups, and this can be a real problem with breed-specific legislation. Having bans on Pitties or Dobermans in apartment complexes or municipalities has been consistently shown not to keep the community safer. Based on their physical appearance, we can't judge how they'll behave. We still have to treat each one of them as unique.

Behavioural issues are not breed-specific problems. Instead, they often result from the relationship between people and their dogs. Dogs, like children, need to be taught proper behaviour and manners. Providing guidance and setting expectations can help prevent behavioural issues in dogs of any breed.