I’m on my hols in Northern France to a place I come to a lot and have for many years.
Here’s the thing…in all those years I have hardly ever seen a French dog jump at people, rarely seen them play with other dogs off-lead, always see them calmly walking down the road not pulling and always see them lying quietly under a cafe table whilst their guardians guzzle wine!
It had seemed to me that the typical French dog is so in tune and trained by their guardians that they are simply better ‘educated’ than our lovely & unruly pups.
For many years I have thought that either the French must have amazing training techniques or more darkly they all use electric shock collars to scare & control their dogs.
But on this trip I have a new theory…it is all about cultural attitudes to dogs.
Let me first caveat that by making sweeping ‘french dogs’ and ‘UK dogs’ statements I am breaking my own rule of lazilly applying stereotypes. I have no statistical evidence so this is purely anecdotal from one part of France.
Still that’s never stopped me before 🙂
As a dog behaviourist I cannot stop myself observing people and their dogs all the time and looking for patterns.
So here’s my latest hypothesis…it is cultural!
My observations remind me of that Victorian era where children were raised to be seen but not heard, and I think what I am observing is a French culture of dogs being seen but not heard in public.
This is in no way implying that the culture is one of not loving their dogs but one of the dog being required to be more compliant and not allowed to express its personality.
I think in the UK, at least in my world, we seem to reluctantly accept & love our dogs’ playfulness and ‘naughty’ behaviour. It is part of their endearing charm.
Many people I work with, and myself included, like and love the quirks and playfulness as long as it does not impact others, stays within the law and is safe for the dog and its guardians.
On a more academic level I do not know if there remains a strong belief in dog ‘dominance’ in theory in France that in the UK we have largely debunked on scientific grounds.
Maybe, although misunderstood dominance theory is still common in the UK mostly due to the more dramatic YouTube dog specialists that still peddle that approach.
Anyway, it has got me thinking that the culture of dog guardianship really is very geographic and different everywhere. I have been following shelters in Morocco that do an amazing & caring job rescuing dogs in a culture that is considered to be pretty harsh by UK standards. The culture of that location will hopefully change in time.
Final thought for me…however we choose to live with & love our dogs is our choice.
But my one consistent principle is that the welfare, happiness and confidence of our dogs should be at the heart of how we live with them…cultural differences or not. Ian
PS. just sitting in a cafe writing this and a couple next to me dropped some food, and their dog took it. They have just smacked him twice. Pointless, unnecessary as the dog is simply behaving naturally to the surprising bounty. Do not know if this is strengthening my cultural theory or not but has made me mad and sad!
ian@justbemore.dog
