The Harmful Effects Of Canine Stereotypes & Prejudice

By Norma Jeanne Laurette

Introduction

​In a world quick to label and judge, dogs often suffer the results of snap decisions based on looks alone. A muscular build, square head or short coat (especially black or brindle) can brand a dog as dangerous. It can lead to fear, avoidance, discrimination in adoption and even housing and legal restrictions. This tendency not only harms dogs and those who love them, but for many it closes the door to discovering their true potential for affection, loyalty, intelligence, playfulness and companionship.

Judgments rooted in appearance are almost always wrong and disregard the combination of influences that shape every canine such as genetics, environment, training and unique personalities. This parallels human prejudice where people are judged by the colour of their skin, facial features, tattoos, body type and size and even their choice of clothing. Although stereotyping is harmful, misguided and preventable, many people continue to judge one another by appearance so why would they not do the same with dogs.

The Harmful Effects of Breed Profiling

​Breed profiling, the canine equivalent to racial prejudice continues in spite of evidence that proves the associated assumptions are wrong. The dog in the photo above was my boy Tala. Although many people were afraid of him due to his appearance, he was an amazing dog and not once showed any sign of aggression toward another dog or person in fact, he was amazing with puppies and was good with everyone in my classes, including children.

Greg and I adopted Tala and his littermate Atka at 7 weeks of age and took them out for plenty of socialization. Since Atka was a stunning puppy and Tala was black, Atka got all the attention and Tala was ignored. Because of this, although Tala developed a wonderful personality and temperament, he also grew up to be aloof and standoffish with new people. Had he received the same attention from strangers that his brother did, he would have become a more social adult dog. This is just one example of how judging a dog by appearance can affect it long term. To learn more about how to nurture a great temperament in your dog see our first book Blueprint To A Happy Dog R5.

Tala aka Boo & Atka aka Bubba

Although specific behaviours are common to each breed they are also influenced by nurture versus nature. Guardians can set their dogs up for success by channelling their instincts through appropriate outlets and providing early, positive training and socialization. For example, an untrained Border Collie is likely to chase and nip at ankles but with proper training, the same dog shows remarkable self-control and is a joy to be around.

Another example comes from the two German Shorthaired Pointers I’ve been lucky to share my life with. GSPs have a strong prey drive, as they are selectively bred for bird hunting. My first pointer that belonged to my ex was trained to hunt. We had two cockatiels with free rein of the house and they could walk on or around her without ever being touched because she was taught impulse control and to wait for the cue to fetch. Years later, I adopted a second GSP with no hunt training – she caught and killed birds in my yard. Once she learned a strong “leave it” cue, I could call her off the birds when we were out together.

Careful Breeding

​Careful breed selection is important – not because certain breeds are prone to aggression but to ensure the dog’s needs are met and to match their training requirements, energy and instincts to the guardian’s lifestyle. Understanding each breed’s natural tendencies is one of the keys to bringing out the best in our dogs and preventing unwanted behaviours. We DNA-test all of our rescues, so we know which behaviours to expect and work on.

A study of over 4,000 dogs of many breeds with similar training and experience, found no significant breed-related differences in aggression toward strangers or guardians, meaning that a dog’s history is a much better predictor of aggression than appearance R2. It’s important to understand that aggression is just communication, it’s not a breed-specific trait. Every dog has the potential to bite and any breed can thrive with responsible breeding, proper training and socialization. For more information about aggression see our first book Blueprint To A Happy Dog R5.

A major problem occurs with shelter dogs when their breeds are determined by visual assessment alone. This practice is so unreliable that even experts disagree on a dog’s dominant ancestry 70% of the time R2. A dog with a broad chest, square head and cropped ears might be labelled a Pit Bull mix and immediately flagged as high-risk, despite genetic testing that could reveal a Labrador, Hound or Collie mix. This visual misdiagnosis triggers a myriad of consequences including mandatory muzzling in public or euthanasia under breed-specific legislation R4. I once had a Doberman-Golden Retriever cross that I adopted from a breeder who owned both parents and had a breeding accident. She looked like a skinny black Lab mix, and not one person ever guessed her breeds correctly.

Breed Selection

​The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) states that breed specific legislation has failed to reduce dog bite incidents in every jurisdiction studied, yet it continues because fear sells headlines R4. Meanwhile, a dog capable of therapy work, search-and-rescue or simply being an amazing companion is overlooked or dies because of a damning stereotype.

Dogs judged solely on appearance face euthanasia in shelters, breed-specific legislation that bans them from entire communities and rejection by potential adopters who fear how they look rather than who they truly are R4. Luna, for example was a square-headed shelter dog labelled a Pit Bull mix that was overlooked for months. A trainer who saw past the way she looked adopted her. She uncovered her gentle nature and intelligence and within a year, Luna earned certification as a diabetic alert dog, saving her guardian’s life repeatedly by detecting dangerous blood sugar drops. Although her appearance branded her as dangerous, her behaviour proved heroic. Stories such as Luna’s are not uncommon as the National Canine Research Council has documented dozens of marginalized dogs thriving in therapy roles in hospitals and schools, their success attributed solely to early and proper training and socialization, not genetics R4. For more information about socialization see my article entitled Socialization – Why It’s More Important Than Dog Training.

According to Greg Ceci, in order for a dog to be well rounded regardless of its breed(s), it all comes down to four basic pillars: responsible breeding, positive training, early socialization and meeting all the dogs’ needs R1. Unfortunately, many people are full of excuses as to why they are unwilling or unable to meet the requirements of these pillars. The truth is that taking shortcuts on any of the four pillars dooms the dog to a compromised temperament, emotional wellbeing and quality of life through no fault of their own R1. That said, even dogs that have been traumatized or were not properly trained or socialized, can often be rehabilitated and become trust-worthy.

Puppy buyers tend to prioritize physical traits such as fluffy coats, rare colours or designer crossbreeds over health and temperament screening. A 2022 survey of 2,000 new dog guardians showed that 68% chose their puppy based primarily on appearance, with less than 20% asking appropriate questions, meeting both parents or observing the litter R2. This obsession with appearance fuels a 2 billion dollar a year puppy mill industry that prioritizes quantity over quality and produces dogs with health issues, behaviour problems, reactivity and aggression R1.

Irresponsible Breeding

Irresponsible breeding is a huge part of the problem. Puppy mills and backyard breeders pump out dogs with unstable health and temperaments due to inbreeding and neglect, yet buyers remain fixated on purebred appearance rather than prioritizing health and temperament R1. The resulting decline driven by inbreeding and a shrinking gene pool has been directly linked to increased cases of anxiety, noise phobias and compulsive disorders in purebred lines. As a result, the breeds are unfairly blamed for deteriorating health and behaviour R2. Breeding fearful parents increases the likelihood of fear and anxiety in their puppies, not because of the breed itself but due to inherited genetic pre-disposition, prenatal stress, behavioural modelling and the breeder failing to meet the dog’s needs.

Research has shown that experiences during the critical socialization period between 3 and 14 weeks of age, permanently shapes a puppy’s lifelong responses to novelty and stress. In spite of this many breeders still raise litters in isolated kennels and end up reproducing dogs with aggression and health issues, not because of the breed but because they were never exposed to the world in a way that builds trust and resilience R3.

A 2021 study using the Canine Behavioural Assessment & Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) with over 18,000 dogs of various breeds found that guardian-reported aggression linked most strongly with a lack of socialization, training and exercise – not breed, genetics or ancestry R3. A 2021 study of Chihuahuas proved that they are much more likely to show aggression toward strangers than Pit Bulls R3. And because few people are afraid of a six-pound dog, the majority of bites go unreported and the behaviour unaddressed.

Insurance

​Another problem is that the insurance industry cashes in on this myth for monetary gain. Insurance companies either deny coverage or charge outrageous premiums for dogs with certain appearances, stating it’s a “risky breed” in spite of all the science that proves there is no correlation between appearance and bite severity in dogs bred and raised properly R4. Insurance companies also make it difficult for those who offer services such as dog training to get a fair price for liability coverage. Insurance policies are not based on science and punish dogs and those who love them for how they look.

The ASPCA’s Meet Your Match program evaluates dogs by behaviour, not looks, which results in a 90% success rate and very few returns R4. Likewise, trainers that use 100% positive, force-free methods report faster and more reliable results, especially when preventing or treating aggression, no matter the breed, proving that science and benevolent leadership are much more effective than following stereotypes. For more information about positive dog training see my article Positive Dog Training – Science | Ethics | Results.

Breed profiling mirrors the human habit of judging others by appearance, yet dogs suffer in silence when there is no one to advocate for them. Unfortunately, children often learn these biases from their parents, learning to judge a book by its cover and pass these same prejudices on to the next generation R1.

Kitchener-Waterloo Pit Bull Ban

​In 1997, Kitchener, Ontario was the second city in Canada to ban Pit Bulls. My dog training facility back then was Puppy Power (now belonging to Samantha DeJong, CTB.ccs, IPDTA-CDT). We were asked to perform temperament testing in order to grandfather the Pit Bulls that were already in town and tested over 50 outstanding Pit Bulls in one day.

Before the ban I had plenty of Pit Bulls in my classes along with all the other breeds and cross breeds and never had a issue with them. I was also conducting a lot of aggression consultations, and the dogs I worked were almost never Pit Bulls. Some of the most aggressive were the smaller, under-estimated breeds that were un-socialized and poorly trained, and some were Labs and Golden Retrievers. Over the years I’ve met many of the “questionable” breeds that proved to be real sweethearts, friendly, cuddly and a joy to be around. My point is that the breed was never the issue. Aggression is caused by people, whether they breed fearful or aggressive dogs, fail to meet their needs, sufficiently train and/or socialize them from a young age, fail to protect them, neglect or abuse them. My opinion is that breedism is discrimination! I will never accept discrimination of any kind against people and I won’t accept it against dogs!

Summary

Those who truly love dogs look beyond appearance and are more likely to rescue the ones that are overlooked, shaping their lives to reveal the extraordinary companions others dismiss. They prioritize personality over pedigree, leaving appearance as their last priority. Judging a dog at first glance doesn’t just sentence gentle souls to death row, it robs people of loyal companions, fuels fear over fact and denies many dogs a chance at a happy life. To end this prejudice, we need to open our eyes to the uniqueness of each dog and not the stereotype, because every dog deserves that chance.

References

R1: Ceci, G. (2013). Breed Profiling – Prejudice in the Canine World. IPDTA-CDT. Retrieved from article.
R2: Morrill, K. M., et al. (2022). Ancestry-inclusive dog genomics challenges popular breed stereotypes. Science, 376(6597), eabk0639. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abk0639
R3: Salvin, H. E., et al. (2021). Breed differences in canine behaviour: A re-analysis of the C-BARQ database. Journal of Veterinary Behaviour, 43, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2021.01.003
R4: American Veterinary Medical Association. (2023). Dog Bite Risk and Prevention: The Role of Breed. Literature review. https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/literature-reviews/dog-bite-risk-and-prevention-role-breed
R5: Laurette, N. J., & Ceci, G., 2025. Blueprint To A Happy Dog. [Self-published].

Photos by Norma Jeanne Laurette