Be honest : Is this your dog? - Page 3

TIG, you are right, but I think this part of your post is questionable: "This is a nervy dog by any definition."

We have never seen a video of this dog, nobody has seen the dog in real, we don´t know if this dog is "nervy" or if this dog simply is very protective. It´s a very small edge we are moving on - we can only guess - and most often the difference between "nervy" and "protective" is the result of education and training - these are "difficult" dogs, you need to channalize their drives, but at least I love this kind of dog. Trained well they are a blast.

Mithuna´s dog is what it is, there are no real options, gladfully she seems to be fine at home ( most dogs of her kind are 1 person dogs only, not willing to accept any family members ). Mithuna must be careful all the time, he must control her every single second, I hope he is aware of this; but once again: What are his options?

Selling? To whom?
Euthanizing? It´s not the dog´s fault that it is what it is
Shelter? Would be death sentence, too

In reality there are almost no 100% "stable" dogs, showing the perfect balance of prey, play, hunt, and defense - they either are too relaxed, too over the top, or they are too "real", it´s difficult to find the golden middle all of us are looking for.

It´s always about genetics, the kind of raising, training, education, and later on taking care as good as possible.

I feel sorry for Mithuna, that he got a dog like this. Normally dogs of this kind are either abandoned or euthanized ( and some are advertised as "real" stud dogs/brood bitches by weird "real dog" breeders, sold to unknowing buyers, but that´s another story ).

Now I lost my guiding thread... What I wanted to say is this dog is not "bad", it´s not the "evil", it´s just a dog not fitting into OUR modern, civilized, socialized world.

Over here we call them crazy - fight or flight - but when looking at the whole picture the good breeders over here tend to use these "crazy" dogs sometimes to freshen up their breeding stock of customized, easy to handle dogs.

Just read the latest posts - Joan, we thought the same ...

I don't think feeling sorry for Mithuna is even necessary. I think they are kinda proud they have a high maintenance dog, because they are thinking it is, "rare".

It gets tiring as we age, as I'm sure his friend who likes "mellow" dogs, learned to prefer. He'll get there. Just right now, he thinks he's got it all under control. Maybe he does. If he doesn't, it will be obvious soon enough.

Hackles and moving forward, uh, huh. Got that. Beau has always done that.

Yesterday, both my dogs started to act up, so I threw them outside. It took me a second to realize they were making a beeline to the side of the house where the Propane guy was filling the tank. I quickly stepped outside and hailed the guy, just as Mojo stuck his nose into the thigh of the guy. When I said, "Oops, sorry! Didn't see you there! Don't want you to think I was sic-ing my dogs on ya!"

I could tell that he wasn't freaking out, and Mojo's body language was inquisitive not threatening. So we kind of started to chat, with him making comments like, "I didn't see a fence so I figured they must be okay, etc."

Beau in the meantime had doubled back to join me up on the deck. Mojo, shortly after his inspection of the guy's blue jeans, turned around and went to pee on tree. I said, well, "Looks like you just passed the test!" And we laughed.
 

Suzie
Why feel sorry for me?
I am around with dog everyday and we go many places; have places we go off leash. We have zero regrets with this dog, which is part of family. And as I said many persons have dos that light up instantly, and they are fine with that.

Mithuna…get of the internet and get experience with a wide variety of dogs. Then you’ll be able to compare for yourself and understand for yourself why your dog is doing what it’s doing. Get with a variety of trainers, figure out who’s who, who’s done what, who’s accomplished something, and really try to figure out what they’re “selling.” Once you understand what someone is selling, you can put yourself into their POV and understand why they’re saying what they are. Don’t take one person’s opinion on a behavior a dog is exhibiting and try to figure out the reason people are telling you what they are.

To use your example…”most people in sport deal with prey driven dogs.” Go and see what kinds of dogs are at sport clubs. Just go for yourself and make that evaluation. Go to multiple clubs and see what the helpers there are dealing with. Maybe get an understanding of why a “prey dog” is preferred…but then also see what types of dogs are there. I think you'll be quite surprised as to what you find and what kind of experience most helpers do end up getting while doing sport work. You'll also probably realize how many sport helpers also do "real" work with dogs as well. Maybe it will help you bridge the gap that many try to perpetuate as huge between sport and real work. Dog training is dog training. Everything is an exercise. If you know what your end goal is, and you're a talented enough trainer...you can pretty quickly figure out how to achieve that goal no matter if its for sport or for real work.

Maybe once you get enough time out in the real world, visiting various clubs, getting to know various trainers, you’ll stop thinking of anyone as an expert. Everyone has something to offer…but never take any piece of information as law. Just think about why you like the statement that you posted. You agree with it…it makes your dog sound awesome and rare, makes it sound like it’s a dog that most people can’t handle. Is it? I have no idea. But the statement was said to you for one reason or another. Who was it said by? Someone who wants money to train your dog? Someone trying to convince you to pick them over another trainer? Someone who maybe doesn’t have the experience the competition might have so they’re using the limited amount of experience they do have in order to convince you that they’re better for the job than the other guy? One thing I do have to say is that the moment a salesman has to bash/trash/diminish the competition, is the moment I know they’re lacking in something. They’re not letting their work or their ability speak for itself, they’re trying to convince you with words instead of actions.

Mithuna, I feel sorry for you because out of experience I know that there are way easier dogs out there, able to protect you and your family, too, but way easier to handle, without you using the "panoramic view" every second of the day...

I think dogs of this kind are not made for "beginners", your country doesn´t have a huge amount of trainers and helpers for this kind of dog - it´s not easy, neither for you nor for your dog.

Bav

The guy who said this is a well respected person in the WL community and he is not even in my state; and i can post several similar statements from other persons.

Bav

Don't believe any expert, someone is an expert because they told you they were, because they breed lots of puppies, because noobs on the internet like them???

Stop believing: start seeing, doing, experiencing.

belief is sold to people by those with no proof.

Come on, guys! He just wants another 10,000 clicks! When has he ever taken a single bit of advice from any one on this board?

I'd love to see those "similar statements" from out of state WL experts, he says he can post, just for the fun of it.