Back in the day, Jon Katz (of Slashdot/Slate fame) wrote a book (and several articles) about his experiences with a temperamental Border Collie. Working dogs wa

Back in the day, Jon Katz (of Slashdot/Slate fame) wrote a book (and several articles) about his experiences with a temperamental Border Collie. Working dogs want to work, so in order to make the dog happy, they had to effectively buy it sheep. It was only after shepherding the sheep was the dog truly happy. Hundreds of years of selective breeding can’t be easily ignored. I’ve often thought about this with my dogs… when they are being bad, it’s because I didn’t let them run enough or give them enough exercise or attention.