This page is part of the Command Training section of the Dog Science
Dog Training
Workshop, which is an element of the Dog Science Network
Assessing Your Dog's Potential for Developing Obedience Skills
Like every other dog, by nature of his genetics, your dog will tend to be good at some things, but not so good at others.
The best way to gauge your dog's potential to master obedience skills is to find his breed listed on the obedience rating chart, to see how dogs of his breed usually do when it comes to such things.
If your dog is descended from a mixture of breeds, your best bet for determining his potential for learning to obey commands is to ask yourself which breed he most closely resembles. If he looks like he is part German Shepherd and part Bloodhound, for example, then, check the obedience potential of each of those breeds and figure that he is likely to come in someplace in the middle.
Like people, dogs can only rise so far above their genetic limitations, so we cannot promise that comprehensive behavioral conditioning can transform every dog from every breed into an A+ obedience star. Realistically, if you want a dog who you can teach to excel at obedience work, then, you need to select your companion from one of the breeds that is genetically prone to do well at that sort of thing.
However, no dog should ever be written off, because sometimes they do surprise you by developing skills far beyond what you might have imagined was possible.
In any case, this workshop will teach you how to train your dog up to his full potential, so we may not be able to tell you how to make him just exactly what you want him to be, but we can most certainly teach you how to make him all that he can be.
This page is part of the Command Training section of the Dog Science
Dog Training
Workshop, which is an element of the Dog Science Network