The sure fire recipe for producing behaviorally sound dogs, in fact the only way, is to start with behaviorally sound pups. Piece of cake. All we need to do is produce behaviorally sound pups. And that is not a piece of cake. That is work, a lot of work, a lot of cost in dollars and mental wear and tear, and no small amount of luck thrown in to boot.

Behavior problems can be rooted in genetics and start at the moment of fertilization. Or they can be brought on by physical causes through the whole of the 63-day gestation period. Or they can be socially based and be planted from before birth through the first three months. Chronologically, the genetically determined problems are first and are programmed into the pup the instant sperm and ovum combine to form a zygote. Next in line, the early physical environment acts the whole while the embryo is sitting in the uterus and right on through until after the pup is born. Finally, social environment with both dogs and people kicks in and plays the major role as a problem source, particularly through the first seven weeks, but continues to be a source through at least another five to seven weeks, up to 12 to 14 weeks of age.

Genetically programmed problems can play a role all on its own and/or it can act to set the substrate on which physical and social environment will act, thereby enhancing or dampening the effects of less than optimum physical and social environments. Similarly physical environment effects can act to modulate the background against which social environment must perform. However, both these environmental factors can act independently as well. With all this impinging on the pup to be, how is it possible to produce behaviorally sound pups?

Though genetics and environment can interact at several different levels, to be practical we must consider them separately if we hope to control them. The first is genetically determined problems and their control. If a pup is to have a high probability of being behaviorally sound, it must come from behaviorally sound parents, which came from behaviorally sound grandparents. All uncles and aunts and their half brothers and half sisters should also be checked for behavioral problems. So how can a breeder possibly know the temperament of all those dogs? It's difficult and maybe next to impossible in our North American systems. But the exercise to find out everything possible about the progenitors is worth every minute spent on it.

The best system we have here is the field test and field trial programs. The most useful of the tests are those put on by the breed clubs with strong roots in the mother clubs in Europe, testing dogs using criteria patterned on the German system with a natural ability test for dogs under 16 months, a fall breeding test or intermediate level test for dogs up to 24 months, and the full utility test for fully trained dogs over 24 months. The breed clubs that follow this regimen will have the best and most complete records on temperament and genetic problems in general for potential parents and grand parents and beyond to include most of the genetically related dogs.

But most of the breeds do not have the deep roots in the European tradition and so are not tested by their own breed clubs. Therefore, second best is the field test/field trial competition system we have fallen into here in North America. Mostly we must assume that if a dog passed a test or placed in a trial, it can't be too scrambled. I'm not sure that is a valid assumption to make however.