Discernment - Page 20

(Continued)...Kali had no formal training. Yet when I walked her one evening, dressed as a witch for Halloween, 3 large teenagers approached us making surly comments about the 'witch'. Kali turned toward them, stood up on her back legs & roared! That was all it took, they crossed the street & ran away, but Kali kept herself between them & I, turning herself to face the retreating boys & keeping herself between them & myself
She would play very rough with me, we played a game like tag, she would get very excited & hackle up, snarl & growl, & look so menacing! But she would mouth my hands during her 'attack', leaving me slobbered, but never so much as a scratch or bruise. And if I took my attention off her 'charge' for an instant, her focus would turn with mine, game forgotten in that instant, to see what has caught my eye...I could trust her to watch my grandkids, she would herd them gently back to the sofa, never allowing them to leave. 
This dog had discernment, an almost uncanny ability to judge a situation & act appropriately. And to different situations, not just one good responce repeated

(Continued) Kali was a one of a kind girl, her intelligence just shone from her. She never made a wrong move, well maybe once, she jumped on a door to open it with out realizing I was behind it, & the metal clad door knocked me out cold. She stayed with me until I came to, licking my face & guarding me.
she could open doors, turn on faucets, open cabinets... But here's the difference....
My Beckett, was lying with me as I rested on a chaise lounger after I had my knee replaced. When the UPS guy arrived with a package , Beckett stood up & growled softly, scaring the poor guy across the driveway! But Beckett, I think, would have nailed him, even tho' there was no threat...he didn't, my 'aus' stopped him. But had that been Kali, she would have sat up & looked, & that would have been it. She knew what was a threat, & what wasn't. Just my usual Kali-tales, but I couldn't ignore a thread that described Kali's discriminating intelligence, her ability to make what I can only say are judgement calls. jackie harris

bumping this up to say I loved reading these Kali memories, and I wanted to make sure everybody had a chance to see them, too!  Thanks for sharing them with us, Jackie!

And, of course, the GSD is not the only breed capable of discernment!  This dog looks to be a border collie mix. Personally, I think the herding breed excel in discernment, because they are responsible for the welfare of the flock, and have to decide whether something is worth bringing to the shepherd's attention.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/dog-helps-alert-parents-to-abusive-babysitter-164358493.html

Discernment is among the higher forms of cognition. It is the ability to choose between courses of action when the outcome is not always immediately obvious. It is based on a deeper form of understanding.

Anyone who breeds dogs - everyone who breeds them should strive for the pups to be the absolute best.

I agree Kinolog!

I've seen some tough old Police K9's over the years that have literally gone from dealing with large fights where they might get 10-15 bites over 40 mins to a couple of hours later tracking in the rain for an elderly person with Alzeihmers who is missing.
Whilst the dogs didn't greet the missing person with hugs and kisses neither did they engage them (confront), they were indifferent on locating.  In my experience it was the real serious bad ass dogs that were better at this, the middle of the road dogs had to be carefully managed during the search.

On another note I dealt with an incident where I chased a guy out of his house and into the woods, within seconds of losing sight of him he hung himself but as he died the branch snapped and he fell to the ground, unknown to us. As the dog began tracking he found the person and attacked him, although he was completely passive, literally. I also saw the same thing again but the person had been dead a week and dog still bit them. I'm assuming there was some strong odour from the original hormones released in the fianl throws of life.

Ronin