Discernment - Page 7

re kenneling herself, I would consider discernement. I always used snaps/ locking chain on my kennel doors for the reason that so many dogs can get loose just during bordum, bumping the locks. Never heard of one with the thought of putting itself back into the kennel and shutting the gate. I have seen them return to their kennel and wait, but never shut the gate. Did she say how the dog did shut the gate on itself? Did she grab the wire with teeth and pull? Wish she had got video footage, that sure would have went viral quick!!

My current avatar ( a male, what else ) is a car chaser...took me a while...

any dog getting loose on a strange property? It is extreme luck that kept the dog from harm! thank goodness

in the case with a dog ''learning on the fly'' to avoid a trip wire set by the enemy, what about all of the other things the dog was taught about scent? I can imagine this dog was taught to follow a scent not to avoid it, the noise of a taunt wire is the stimulas here to consider.

No, seriously, there are great differences between dogs living in a kennel, or worse, living in a crate - and dogs living within the house.
It´s like children - the more input - the more output...
BUT during the times I owned "intelligent" dogs and I owned .... dogs, no difference to humans...
The less intelligent were easier to train - the more intelligent are more interesting

  Gsdstudent,

Following a scent here, tracking bad guy... yes, dog moves forward at the smell of the persons being tracked. When using a point dog in quiet warning instances like the wars, the dog is trained to halt quietly alerting and not surge forward after its quarry, thus not alerting the enemy ahead of the soldiers placement.




 

But I would maintain that a dog in prey drive is very teachable


GSDstudent, I have to disagree. I have a dog that shows prey aggression towards other dogs. In the reading I've done to get help with this problem, I've learned it is very hard to overcome because it's such an instinctive drive. (Some people say it comes from the 'reptile' brain, the most primitive part of the brain.) Dogs in prey mode can be totally deaf to any commands given by their owners.

Boy, the great escape happened in the 80's and I wasn't there to remember the details.  I heard about it in phone call - no net or YOuTube then.  I assume the gate opened inwardly and  and the closure engaged when it was pushed closed.  I thought the best part was the male fell for it multiple times. He wasn't a very discerning dog, was he?

"the male fell for it multiple times. He wasn't a very discerning dog, was he?"


nope, but it is the same here for three years, my pup still fools my old dog into dropping what he wants and barking at the door.........

@Susie, the more prey the less discernment is a step in the right direction......but as a trainer of Scout dogs in the US Army in very early seventies, the mythical stories of what these dogs did is very factual. It is also factual that out of 250 dogs at 1st/29th Scout dog detachment, we did not have any German Shepherds with the Mali type prey drive. There are concrete reasons for the accomplishments of these war dogs, some was training, some was innate traits that the breed possessed. I really don't care if people believe these stories or not, doesn't change the validity. I am really sorry I brought this subject up, lets assume discernment is a mystical "oldie" element. I know some are being sarcastic when they use oldie, it cool, I just consider the source....lol
Lets close this out, this is a topic better suited for a working dog forum.