I ask because our present pooch (Daisy-8 yo Australian Shepherd) is really quite reserved with strangers-she likes most women, but outside the family, she really doesn’t like men. We used to have a male Springer Spaniel (Buddy) who loved people-he was always greeting strangers and wagging his tail.
Labs seem to be people-lovers, while many of the terrier beeds seem to be one-man types.
Why the differences? All dogs descend from wolves-one would assume that most dogs would be alike (in terms of their friendliness to humans).
Each dog is an individual and the spectrum ranges all the way for every breed. That said, breed temperament is primarily determined by the original purpose of the breed. It also has to do with how long the breed has been bred for companionship as opposed to a working dog.
My first thought is differences in socialization. Some of it has to do with (a) how many people/other animals the dog is exposed to at a young age, and (b) the nature of these encounters came off (positively vs negatively). I’m not sure how well-studied juvenile-canine socialization is … I’m basing this a lot on personal experience.
EDIT: While I agree with Acid Lamp’s post in general … I’ve seen many dogs “'break type”. A Rottweiler that wants to be everybody’s buddy and yearns to be a lap dog. A vicious (if pokey) Basset Hound. And some others.
My understanding of AcidLamp’s post is that he or she agrees dogs “break type” and that “breed tendencies” are generalizations at best.
That’s my take on it – speaking very generally, breeds will tend to vary by original purpose, but individual dogs vary widely from their breed’s supposed tendencies.
Again, as a generalization, guarding dog breeds tend to contain a higher proportion of dogs who are suspicious of strangers, not necessarily of people. This is because they have been selected for many generations to be watchdogs and not to be too friendly with strangers.
As an example, I know someone with big, goofy, people-loving Rottweilers. But one time some friends came over during a party and snuck in the back door, to yell surprise as a joke. One of the Rotties immediately jumped up and bit the first yelling stranger who had come barging in…which is exactly what we’ve been asking them to do for so long.
Dogs, like people, are individuals affected by both their genes and their environment. My best friend Blackjack lived a life that ranged from less-than-desirable to horrid until he came to live with us. Yet anyone who meets him finds him to be incredibly friendly with people and other dogs. He’s a mutt, but an adorable one. I bring that up because part of it is human perception as well. He was originally described to me as a vicious junkyard dog. Of course if you only see a barking dog stuck behind a chain link fence then you aren’t making a very thorough evaluation. It took less than a minute to see that Blackjack was an intelligent, lonely dog that craved companionship. I’m sure you could find a dog of similar extraction displaying less desirable qualities.
One might perhaps assume that if one hadn’t thought about it for more than a second. Seriously, the whole point of having breeds of dogs is to make them different. Big, little; fat, skinny; fast, slow; whatever. Why on earth would someone think that personality would be exempt from this process? We’re going to fiddle with every single characteristic of the animal, except for how it interacts with people? Wouldn’t you think that might be an important detail to address? Seriously, just think a little bit.