Nature vs. Nurture

So we went to my sister Mary's house in New Jersey last weekend to visit her, her boyfriend Robert and meet their new addition, Java.  Java is Rave's sister from the repeat breeding that was done in 2011.  Mary and Robert adopted her in early July from her original owner.

Java and Rave share a lot of similar characteristics, but it was clear that Java's upbringing was very different that Rave's.  It was really interesting to see the similarities and difference in the sisters.  Physically, Rave is about 3 inches longer and maybe 1-2 inches taller.  Java is much more compact.  They weigh about the same though.  And right now, Java has a much nicer coat, but motherhood has wreaked havoc on Rave's coat.  She's totally naked and only has this coarse weird hair left and it's all sunbleached--she looks like a hyena!  So Java looks much more beautiful than Rave at the moment!

I think their innate personalities are pretty similar but it's a really good example of nature vs. nurture.  Rave was raised with a lot of training, relationship building and tons of socialization.  Rave is super confident, very outgoing, super biddable and has a very light, happy spirit about her.  Java was raised with very little direct human interaction, training or socialization.  Basically she was just part of a pack of dogs.  She had no rules, the only thing she appears to know is sit, and has very little motivation to work with people, choosing to self reinforce instead.  And clearly in her previous home, she got much of her confidence from being in a pack of dogs.  Being alone has allowed some fears to come out.  So now Java is having to learn how to navigate the world without any of her own species around.

One one hand that sounds almost unfair.  But when presented with other dogs, Java completely tunes out humans.  It's her mission in life to herd other dogs.  And when she saw Rival, Rave and Gyps playing fetch, she turned into an obsessive border collie!!!  Nothing else existed in the world but herding them.

Now when Rave was a pup, she was super herdy, and to some extent still is.  But I intervened at an early age and put rules on the herding and made Rave defer to me before getting to herd Rival when he retrieved.  So she basically had to be able to do a down stay while he retrieved and maybe I'd let her go chase him.  I also made sure that she could also retrieve on her own while Rival was out---instead of obsessing about him.  She still enjoys herding him, but it's not even remotely obsessive.  And Gyps appears the same way, and I will put rules for this situation in place for her as well.

But Java spent the first 18 months of her life basically "working" the other dogs in her home.  So that's all she knows.  She won't engage in play with humans, though Mary is working on it very hard and we saw some great things by the end of the weekend.  She won't tug, retrieve and really likes to play keep away!!!

But she doesn't know any better! So Mary and Robert have a challenge on their hands, but they just adore Java and are willing to do what they need to do to make her as happy and joyful as possible.  She's a lovely dog, and just needs time to really understand how fun and reinforcing people can be!!  They are doing all the right things, Java just needs time to let her confident, beautiful self come out.

I think Java learned a lot from Rival, Rave and Gyps.  All three of them are super confident and it rubbed off on her.  They also taught Java how to swim and retrieve sticks!  Java loved Gypsy and they were so cute together, but Rave was a bit protective of her young 'un!