Preferred Model of Aggression and why? - Page 1

I reading over several posts on PDB it would seem that there are two types of aggression in the GSD that is being advocated. Some it seems like a dog with substantial defense ( sharpness and civility included ) , but with strenght as well. Another model I observed is some persons prefer a dog whose aggression is bron from a strong desire to possess that prey item ( man or sleeve ). The former dog often is not social and this combined with its civility seem not so desired in modern society. The latter dog is often social and his aggression is contextual only occuring in situations where the need arises to keep the prey item from being repossessed from him/her.

Based on your years experience and general vision, which type of aggression do you like in your dogs and please also rationalize your choice. As a bonus you can put out names/peds so we can get an idea of which dog seem to be doing/producing what.
Thank you in advance for you views. No need to have " down under" .

Just plain ol'.... 'I will fundamentally change your life, if you don't back off' ....

 

Now that's one stare!!!!! lol,lol,

Lol. If looks could kill !

The OP hasn't understood what really drives aggression in dogs. It isn't prey drive based, but pack driven. Prey kills use lethal force but aggression is all about dominance and strong leaders.

I agree with Beetree. Personally I prefer the aggression that comes from dominance, confidence and possessiveness. In today's society in general there is not much tolerance of dogs with too much natural social aggression specially if accompanied with sharpness and there are not many people who can deal with this type of dog. Also a problem is that there are too many interpretations of what "defense" in a dog actually is and one of these interpretations is that "defense" is fear based. JMHO as we all see things in a different light.

GG

Koach points out that "In today's society in general there is not much tolerance of dogs with too much natural social aggression..."

'Today's society' (and presumably we are talking 'western' societies, in the US, Europe etc ?) may point this up a bit more - for all sorts of reasons relating to "the way we live now" - but I suspect there has never really been a time when there was so much more tolerance, if this meant dogs behaved badly or dangerously around gatherings of people.

Certainly I can remember back as far as the 1960s, when the

"little man, big dog" syndrome was noted, commented on and decried, as being anti-social; much as it would be today.  If 50-odd years isn't going back far enough for youse guys, there are plenty of written accounts of dog-catchers and other roles dating back to much farther in social history.  The only places I can think of where the aggressive or too sharp dogs were more usually 'tolerated' were with reference to more isolated farming / ranching type scenarios, where it could be to some advantage to have a notoriously territorial, aggressive dog.  I know there still are such premises in existence, but they have always been a minority, when taking "society" as a whole.

Natural social aggression is not always associated with bad behavior in public, there is a reason, especially in the past that RESPONSIBLE people sought German Shepherds for protection dogs. I don't think it was because the perception or uses of this breed then was as a Labrador.....but I could be wrong🤷‍♀️. And I bred and sold dogs to families in the seventies and seem to recall what people's expectations of the breed was then....but again I could have it mixed up with the Doberman back then🤔.

The 70s in Germany:

- GSDs almost always kept in kennels, not in the house ( way less social conflict, one handler - one dog )
- No GSDs on the streets at all - you found them either in the kennel or at the clubs during training
- "Naturally civil" GSDs sold to police ( no American connections/no internet, no private security yet )
- "Sharp" dogs either killed, "forgotten" in the kennel, or given away to yunk yards/ scrap yards/ shelters

About todays "lack of tolerance" -

there is no more understanding and respect for nature, be it dogs, be it cattle, or be it nature (and society) as a whole. My generation (sixties) failed - our children ( and their children ) lost the respect and the understanding for life as a whole.
When I was bit ( 6 years old ) by the "farm dog" of my aunt my parents asked "What did you do?" They didn´t blame the dog, I failed. Today a totally fine dog will be killed because it bit a child that threw on its tail from behind...
Dogs have to be Saints, no matter what happens. What about some education for humans instead?

Interesting how our experiences differ. or maybe the 80's and 90's were just different from the 70's.

- Dogs lived in homes as much as in Kennels
- Temperament was a big thing and dogs had a seriously high tolerance for Children and chose to walk away rather than bite
- Civil dogs were sold overseas to the Police despite the lack of internet because contact was made over the phone
- GSD's were in the street and very popular where we lived.

Or maybe it was just a difference in region.