CHOOSING A 6 MONTH OLD PUP WITH CIVIL DRIVE - Page 1

Hi, I recently overheard an interesting discussion amongst several breeders and trainers re how to go about selecting a pup to be trained for family protection however would appreciate the views of those on the forum. The key issues were in and around how to test 6 month old pups, with emphasis on selecting a dog with civil drive rather than a dog to be trained for sport. Many thanks in anticipation.

pretty easy to see at that age, here is video of a six month old I sold to KNPV and you can easily see the dogs intentions at this age

important is to work with the right people as many will try to sell you a sport dog with some basic obedience, and that is everything BUT a guarantee that it will be protective

 

https://www.facebook.com/willem.gepken/videos/10216041430702606/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

Thanks Duke, appreciate it.

I understand what you mean, but civil is not a drive. It simply means a dog will bite a person without equipment on. I can't see the video Duke posted, but I'm guessing the six month old pup is showing a lot of defensive aggression. Dogs might not show strong defensive aggression until later and still be trained to be civil or genetically be civil. Also dogs with low defensive aggression and very high prey and a very strong desire to bite can be civil. Typically, when someone ask a question like yours, they are looking for a pup showing defensive aggression at an early age. Some of those pups will be strong dogs and some might appear to be strong when actually, their defensive aggression is coming from insecurity or lack of confidence. I'd say the best way to pick the type of dog you want is to find someone who knows the dogs in the prospect's pedigree and what they have produced. You also have to quantify more what you want in a dog because, as I said, different dogs will bite a person without equipment for different reasons.

Sorry Duke, I can't get access to that video.

Thank you apple. I have some adult dogs myself who possess the confidence and stability you outline. They are not equipment focused, however I bought them when they were around 12 months old. The discussion I overheard was interesting and humorous in the sense that someone asked how to test pups and was given numerous different answers!

I don't know that you can consistently test and predict if a dog will be civil at six months.

will see if I can chance settings on video, Apple,you are guessing too much LOL, and you can see suitability in pups already at 3 or 4 months, no problem, these good dogs will mostly be rejected or ruined by IPO folks, have one here right now just over a year, strong dog, good civil, cunfused by bad training

https://youtu.be/oegMiHL3khY

I agree with Duke on being able to start checking for suitability very early on.  Find someone who has experience on what to look for.  

NIce puppy on the video.   And good to see proper helper work on a young dog.  The handler had perfect leash control while having the dog on the bite.  Nice seeing it done right and really enjoyed watching it.  Thanks for sharing it Duke.