Drives - misunderstood term - Page 2

I think martial arts is one of the best analogies for working dogs. Different forms, different skills, one any better than the other; just different. But today with mixed martial arts we know that you have practice many forms to be the best. That's why I am a huge fan of cross-training. Nice articulate post. Thanks

What is the purpose of redefining terms? Is it to feed the ego or is it to better understand the dog? Not much has changed in the last few decades, but frequently people will claim to have a better understanding of the GSD or a better training method. The truth of the matter is they are repackaging old ideas and trying to sell them for their own.

Alphapup Sorry, I was away for the weekend. Mainly DRIVING. No pun intended. As to your opening statement, what can I say? You were working with a novice dog trainer, which most of us are. In my experience, which is limited, as a helper. You can alter the drive of a dog in one motion or position. By moving that sleeve closer to the body and higher up, you have now put THAT dog in a defensive position. I capttalize THAT because all dogs are different. Their thresholds are different in every way. That is why this dog slowed down and bit furthur down the sleeve. Look at the courage test or long bite, if you will. You will see a lot of dogs slow down as they approach the helper. Some people sugar coat it and call it gathering. Now, you can get a number of reactions from the same dog by what you do as he approaches. You can turn and run way, yell, raise the stick, run through the dog, stand still, etc. etc. To say that he misunderstood prey drive COULD be wrong. Something has to motivate that dog to chase and bite the sleeve.