Would Lassie be the same dog today?

I grew up watching Lassie on a black and white TV. Lassie and Timmy lived on a farm and spent most of their time running across the countryside getting into trouble. The only time Lassie was aggressive was to the bad guys and mountain lions.

I often wonder why dog aggression problems have become so common today? Is it just that the news media picks up on these stories, or are there simply a lot more aggressive dogs than there were years ago?

When I was a kid, back in the 50’s, many families had dogs. Most moms were stay at home moms, so there was someone around the house most of the day. There were no leash laws (for dogs or children) and kids roamed neighborhoods freely, running through back yards in packs from one house to another. The family dogs usually followed this pack of kids, becoming socialized to the noise, actions, and behavior of lots of children of all ages, and with the other family dogs. These dogs were outside running with the child-pack whenever the weather permitted. When evening came, they were happy to collapse and sleep under the kitchen table or in front of the fire in the winter.

Fast forward to today. Most dogs live in homes where the owners work full time. Consequently, puppies spend hours alone in crates or laundry rooms. Their exhausted owners come home from work and simply want a little down time. So, the puppy gets a cursory walk and comes back in the house. In a few hours, the pup is put back in his crate for the night. They may have a fenced yard but too often they spend the majority of their time in the yard alone. The children are busy with soccer, little league, music and karate lessons. When they get home they sit in front of the computer or the Wii, they have to do homework and go to bed.

This difference in lifestyle means that most puppies do not get the socialization that the neighborhood dogs of my childhood got. They do not get the exercise either. Many of the more popular breeds are descended from working dogs. The retrievers, collies and terriers were all originally bred to do a job. Few dogs today have jobs. So, we have an abundance of under-socialized, under-exercised, bored dogs. The frustration and fear that these dogs experience will often surface as aggression.

If Lassie lived on a cul-de-sac with an underground fence, and Timmy’s mom was a corporate executive, and Timmy played soccer, baseball and took flute lessons, I wonder if she would be the same dog? Besides, they would now have city water, so all that barking wouldn’t be to tell the family that Timmy fell in the well, it would just be annoying.