How does the Parents temperament affect offspring?

[ckuz13]

My husband and I went to see some puppies tonight and the parents were not as sweet as expected. The puppies were cute and playful but the mom would not let me touch her and the Dad seemed very nervous. He did let me hold him but the mom just kept running around and seemed as though she did not care for us..The breeder said her dogs had great dispositions but I did not see this tonight. As we left the house and walked toward the door the mom nipped at my feet..she was very angry.. Is this because she sensed she is losing her babies or was this behavioral. We do not want these temperaments in our new dog, so was this a red flag? We need to decide tonight whether we are going to purchase a puppy..Help..

[MyFairLacy]

Dogs with poor temperments should never be bred, especially if the dog is aggressive. A dog's temperment has both genetic and environmental influences on it. Puppies will genetically inherit temperment from the parents, and the mother's temperment will affect them as well. They may or may not turn out okay with the right socialization. I personally would never buy a puppy if the parents were not friendly and didn't have the attitude a yorkie should have. I have a cat with a terrible temperment, and I sure don't want another pet with one...15 years with a timid, unsocial, or aggressive pet is not enjoyable at all.

[Archie's Mom]

I don't know much about this -- but I will say that when I went to see my puppy for the first time, his mom was there and she was such a mellow, friendly dog; came to me to pet her and was very calm. My Archie is exactly like her in that way. I did not meet his dad, who was a champion, so I assume a pretty even-tempered dog. The family dog I grew up with also had very mellow parents and he grew up to be the most sweet-tempered dog also. I dunno -- the behavior of the parents of the puppy you visited does raise a red flag for me, but perhaps someone who breeds dogs could tell you better. Have you tried posting this in the breeder's section? Good luck!

[ckuz13]

No I have not posted this on the breeders section. But I was turned off by the mom. The puppies were beautiful females. I have visited other sires and dams before and never experienced the barking and nervous anxiousness she was displaying. The owner said she never acts that way so I felt like we were the reason she was so upset. But I have worked with animals and was just really shocked when the mommy went after my feet the way she did. Darn! I would not want my dog to act that way towards anyone.

[yorkiekist]

I wouldnt believe that you were the reason the dogs acted that way!! I would bet that they act that way alot!! You might keep looking. Well socialized dogs shouldnt act that way.

[LoveMyJake]

I would say that if you are having doubts, then you should keep looking. When I got Jake, I found his parents to both have very sweet dispositions. They were friendly and the mom didn't seem to care if I held her baby. I was able to hold them both without any problem. I could tell they were very well socialized. Jake has a wonderful, sweet disposition like his parents. I got Jackson from the same breeder, and I found the same to be true of his parents.

[Catrina]

yeah i think it is part hereditary and part environmental but if you train them well, i think the puppy will turn out fine.. but go with your gut feeling..! princess's mom was sooooo nice and her dad was a bit aggressive and even with training, princess is still aggressive.. but i realized theres nothing i can do now its just "in her blood".. sooo yeah i just let her be the spoil rotten brat she is

[edumma]

When I went to see MY Remy for the first time at the breeders home the mother dog was extremely friendly , the male dog was not there .Remy was extremely shy and would not come near me the whole three hours I was at the house, she also barked the whole time . Remy is now about a year and a half old and is still very shy around people but with lots of socialising she is slowly getting better.So she is the total opposite of her mother !
Eileen

[mainegirl]

My Ozzy's parents are both owned by my breeder so I met them. They are both very sweet. Mom is a little shyer but goes to the breeder expos to meet people and is really quiet and well behaved. Grady, his Dad, is a social butterfly and loves everyone and greets everyone at the door with kisses. Ozzy is just like his Daddy I think temperment is key so if you have doubts I would reconsider. You can compensate for some issues with good socialization but you need to be prepared for that undertaking.

[Sookie]

After reading your post I realize how lucky I am! I never met the parents of either of my girls - I merely took my breeder's word for it that they were of good temperament. Both my girls are very nice dogs and have never nipped at anyone. I really did socialize them quite a bit; I don't know if that helped or if they take after their sires and dams.

[ckuz13]

I think my wanting a girl so bad is blind sighting my instincts. I want to go run over and get my pup before someone else picks her but at the same time I think what if she is not the right one. Gold Dust yorkies has boys avail. but I was counting on a girl. Alot of people think boys are less temperamental. Some breeders think this is just a socialization problem and should not be an issue with the pup. I have to really think about this.

[Nancy1999]

I think its possible the mother was being protective of her babies. I got friendly with Joeys mother before I tried picking up Joey. She warmed up to me pretty fast, but because my husband rushed over to one of the puppies, she didn't seem to like him so much. This really bothered him because he just loves animals. On our second visit, things went more smoothly. I think animals read our feelings and if you were nervous, she could have picked up on this. If your really interested, maybe a second visit would help determine if she's really aggressive. This is like one of those nature/nurture questions and while I believe that an animal is hard-wired by heredity, we can modify that behavior greatly (not so much with cats, lol).

[NuggetsMom]

Actually I can understand the mom being a little nervous...how would you feel if you gave birth to a litter then all these strange humans were coming in holding all your babies I'd probably be a little uneasy as for the dad I'm not sure..when we got Nugget his mama was ok as long as we were sitting down she got freaked out if people were up walking around..no behavioral problems with Nugget...his dad was very well behaved too..just my opinion <3

[Tammyh]

Puppies do tend to pick up on especially the mothers disposition. I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule but if it were me, there's no way I would take one of those puppies. We've experienced this first hand, which is unfortunately why we had to learn the hard way. I will NEVER buy a puppy again unless I can see the mother and make sure she has a good disposition and is not nervous and aggressive, etc. Good luck in your quest for your new furbaby!

[Emmsmom]

I didn't get to see Diesel's dad but we did get to see his mom and his brother. His mom was really shy. She wasn't mean or anything but just very shy. She was also very nervous and didn't want us around her pups. Diesel is very shy and laid back and he does not like strangers. He won't bite he just gets really shy andif I am holding him he gets really quiet but he always lets them rub him. What is odd is that he takes to kids MUCH better than he does adults. This past fall we were at a farm waiting on a hayride. I was holding him and the kids behind him were rubbing him. Well I turned around because he wanted to sniff their hands. We he ended up sniffing noses and the decided to lick them LOL. THe kids couldn't have been more than 6 year old. I can see how he picked up his moms traits.You just have to be very careful when choosing a pup. If you aren't happy or have doubts then think I would maybe look at other puppies and see if this is the one you really want. Good Luck.