Читать книгу The Golden Rules of Positive Puppy Training - Jean Cuvelier - Страница 24

A dog’s brain is not completely developed at birth. It is made up of a set of poorly organized neurons. Stimuli from the environment cause the brain to organize itself into a network of functional neurons. The more numerous and positive the stimuli are, the more numerous and stable the connections (synapses) between neurons will be.

This cerebral plasticity allows the puppy to escape genetic determinism, as many personality traits are only expressed in the presence of certain environmental factors. Thus, two dogs with the same genotype may, depending on their individual histories, have two different personalities.

Training is essential for the puppy to stabilize neural connections among the set of possible connections provided by their genetic makeup.

Genes are nothing more than a promise whose fulfillment depends on the environment.