A question I can't answer - Page 3

If they were all the same it'd be boring. I find nothing weird about the differences in personality and biddability. You will find that in every breed. It even exists in horses and people, cats and dogs alike.

I'd still like to know how someone can tell if a dog is genetically working for a ball or working for the person.

You can see the attitude in a biddable puppy. My Ina v Haus Targa (import Belgium) has very biddable puppies, very high social drive that can sometimes be a barrier to other drives. Since age and health are not on my side, I need biddable dogs so that is one of the traits I select for when breeding.

Margaret N-J

Bavarian Wagon:

Nevermind... I misunderstood your question :)

its, as allways a question of balanced dogs, not bred into extremes, seen the best in old czech lines.

one competitor and winner of Czech national ZVV3 championships told me that ideal dog for Czech program has 20 to 30 %  less (prey) drive, than ideal IPO dog,

I found that an interesting point of view

its very easy to see difference between working for ball or not, matter of working/testing a dog for 5 minutes

To find such dog(s) one have to select such pups from balanced litters, not one litter is all same, but best chance is in balanced litters/dogs, not high drive sport dogs

@ BE ive seen some first and second generation Gildo offspring that just would not switch off, is that something you also noticed or were those just the ones I knew ?

 

@duke:

Depends on who the mother was. Depending on the mother you could get dogs that didnt switch off and were busy.

We have a female here right now that cannot switch off. Or only switches off with something in her mouth. I dont like those type of dogs.

"My Ina v Haus Targa (import Belgium) has very biddable puppies, very high social drive"

Are you planning on breeding her again? Or on another breeding that would produce very biddable dogs? If so, would you consider shipping to the U.S. to the right home? A biddable adult dog would be very welcome too.

"Since age and health are not on my side, I need biddable dogs so that is one of the traits I select for when breeding."

Very good point. Age and health are not helping some of my clients either. And some of the younger healthy ones have enough to do dealing with stubborn kids. The last thing they need is a butthead dog.

From what I see, there is a big market for biddable, steady, calm, confident, smart, social GSDs. Especially for families and women. It is just not safe for a woman to go jogging or hiking without a big scary dog and the right GSD is ideal. Usually the dog doesn't need to do a thing. The psychos will take one look and pick an easier victim.

Ina has had her last litter JonRob, last pup going this weekend, a very biddable pup that lives to please, but will rag and fetch whenever you wish as opposed to whenever she wishes and totally confident. We get a lot of pups like this, since biddability is a trait I select for. I also have a two week old litter with one black male not yet booked that I expect to be this way, but too young to know yet.

If you wish to follow our breedings, we do have a Facebook page, Nyrvana German Shepherds.

Margaret N-J

I personally believe part of the problem is that there are people looking for a "biddable" dog meaning "A dog I don't have to pay", which is, IME/O, non existent. They are people that don't believe in rewarding with anything but praise, and the majority of dogs are eventually going to go "Not enough. Give me something of higher value."

And I say that as someone that's had a couple of highly biddable dogs.

My current litter resulted in *highly* biddable puppies that are extremely handler focused for their age. They're very easy to redirect, get attention from, and maintain focus with. They seek out interaction with their handler and are very happy to try a variety of things during training.

It's been quite some time since I had a 4.5 month old puppy that could have other dogs buzzing around it while it stared very intently at me with little prompting. I do enjoy it very much. My puppies love to be praised for doing something correct, but food or a toy reward is a higher reinforcer when it comes to solidifying a behavior.

To me, biddability is a general willingness to do with you, not a willingness to do with you without a fair reward. I've never believed ANY of my dogs did anything for me just for the sake of making me happy. They're dogs. They don't think that profoundly.

YES!