How can you really assess a dogs nerves? - Page 3

Like Gustav said, a lot of weaknesses can be disguised, or just plain don't matter when the dog lives in a kennel and only competes in SchH where he has a large field to himself to perform each time.

YES!! Excellent point!  



i have said this before, but its worth saying again....."when was the last time you heard anyone talking about intelligence in the breed?"
the gsd, in years past, was always known for its extreme intelligence and trainability. nowadays all you hear is talk about drives, drives, drives.
and i have said before......"there comes a time when intelligence takes the back seat & drives take the wheel."


Ziegenfarm, DITTO!` Above all else, this breed used to be valued for its intelligence, its ability to think for itself, and make the right decision. Not anymore. That's why other breeds have taken over as Seeing Eye dogs, medical service dogs, and, in some cases, police and military canines.

Unless I have missed something, the dog in question is  Pit Bull and they are hardwired a bit different to a GSD.  Sounds to me like the dog is up for the fight, just doesn't want it to be with his owner, which is how it should be.

Margaret N-J

Opps...some of us seem to have forgotten that little detail!    

So from reading all of the above, we have lost some of the breeds versitility.  That to me is what the GSD was bred for.  We have lost some versitility due to the extreme drives that everyone is breeding for; whether it be sport or whatever flavor of job that people want them for.

I do know this after being a dog person myself for going on 40 years, we had better get our versitility back and pronto.  We need to pay attention to temperaments that take us back to what our breed was originally designed to do;  herd, nurture their person, take care of the farm; take care of our homes and the people in them instead of all the other faucets of the dog competition world;  breed for versitility.  If that means taking the world champion OUT of the equation, then so be it. 

I totally agree with VKGSD;  I want to be able to take my dog anywhere and everywhere and be able to trust them in any situation with any other dog or person(s) around and feel confident he isn't going to go off at some kid that runs by them screaming and flalling their arms or runs up to the dog and grabs them around the neck and gives a bear hug to the dog unexpectedly.  I want that versitility but you also have to remember that some of that goes along with socialization also.  Expose them to every situation possible during their first year or so and continue until you feel you can trust them completely anytime and anywhere.  That is how to bring back some versitility.  You also need a good, well rounded temperament.  Training to hit the sleeve and bite work comes secondary to versitility and a sound temperament. 

That is the dog I am looking for.  Great days everyone,  Nan

Brynjulf, Gustav and Zeigenfarm:

Intelligence is a terrible measure for training. Think about a very intellgent nervous person. Think about a very low IQ nervous person. How about high IQ and no drive [ look to any college campus] . They are not exclusive. My working difinition of intelligence;  is an organism ability to adjust to its enviorment. A nervous dog can learn to back down to enviromental stress or even its handler. Yielding to the handler could be a very smart choice. A confident dog can learn to yield to its owner/handler. I have watched dogs for years show submission as a way to get the handler to leave them be, and not yield to the handler control and remain disobedient. Stay away from any dog IQ measure.  IQ complicates the discussion and does not explain the situation.

Work the dog in a new location with a decoy he has never seen.  Use no equiptment, no prey movements, lots of eye contact.  The handler says nothing, no encouragement, handler is perfectly quiet.  And no warm up bites.  If you are working with an experienced person he will know how to put pressure on the dog without even making physical contact.  There is a big difference between training and what i am describing.  This is testing the dog not training.  And if your dog is questionable be cqreful who you have test your dog.  some good trqiners will absolutely shut a dog down if you ask them to test the nerves.  To take it a step further go to the same locwtion as described , leave the dog on a tieout, with the handler gone out of sight.  All of these things will add preasure to the dog making him more defensive and less prey driven.