What does “primitive” mean?

This may be the first time you’ve heard the term — or you may have heard it everywhere in the dog community. So what does “primitive” actually mean?

A so-called primitive dog is one that has changed little or not at all since it was discovered or “designed” by humans. It is still very close to its wild instincts: it doesn’t need a human to show it how to live, it can manage on its own. By default it is not biddable — it doesn’t particularly enjoy pleasing people.

Primitive breeds evolved by thinking for themselves to reach their goals, which is why you’ll often hear they are “stubborn”. This is important: the dog’s goal isn’t necessarily to do whatever it wants. It simply needs to understand why it is being asked to do something, and it has to be worth its while. Why should I lie down instead of going to sniff that interesting smell over there? Why should I heel when there are squirrels around?

They are also generally a little more wary of strangers, so they need to be well socialized in all kinds of situations to become more tolerant of people and of new things. Use positive reinforcement with primitive breeds, but staying consistent and firm matters just as much: they will test their human the way a teenager would. It takes a lot of work to build a calm, balanced relationship, but they remain loyal and give their family an enormous amount of love.

In the end, getting along with a primitive dog means building trust and seeing the relationship as a partnership. Your dog will show you how intelligent it is, how quickly it learns and how well it uses its brain to solve problems! Life is so much better when you work with your dog’s strengths and move forward together.