Clearly some breeds display instincts suited to their tasks, such as the herding behavior of many sheepdogs even as puppies.
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Replying to @drethelin
An untrained German shepherd would be a poor police dog. Does this mean they are not suitable for the job?
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Replying to @drethelin
@drethelin Yes? Part of what makes them better is that they are pre-adapted to respond to training, as with hunting & herding dogs.1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
@sarahdoingthing I meant in general. If you see a poorly trained German shepherd that doesn't really inform you of its full capabilities1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @drethelin
@drethelin full capabilities in a counterfactual universe in which it had received certain training during critical periods, totally1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
@sarahdoingthing how do you do the inferring of potential full capabilities?1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @drethelin
@drethelin pretty sure actual military/police dog trainers have both breed limitations AND a dog equivalent of the SATs1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
@sarahdoingthing if both training and genetics are necessary but not sufficient is there any way to differentiate the effects on success?1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @drethelin
@drethelin twin studies, giving lots of different dogs identical training (one problem IRL is good genes make you seek out education)1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
@sarahdoingthing litters make "twin" studies easier!1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
@drethelin except dogs have littermates by different fathers even more frequently than humans do
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Replying to @drethelin
@drethelin well you get control for uterine environment while varying genetics, kinda cool0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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