How much drive is too much? - Page 3

I don't have a whole lot to offer here,  as this is my first sch. line pup and she's only 11 mos.  But I found the comment about "drive" being different than "energy level" to be very interesting.

I'd love to do schutzhund with my pup, and we are looking for clubs.  But firstly,  she's my companion.. house dog, comes to work with me,  and that's her primary "job."

She can be very calm around the house, safe with both cats, is not bouncing around the furniture.  But you pick up a ball,  or tug,  or ask her if she's "ready" and she is instantly on her feet with a serious focus.   She doesn't waste energy, but when she works she is fast and intense.  She loves to retrieve or practice recalls,  she'd do that for hours and never get tired, and working obedience she has very intense eye contact.  She lives for it when she's doing it.  But it can also be turned off at a moment's notice, and she doesn't drive us crazy in the house (well, maybe the alarm barking is a little nutty).   

So this thread was interesting to me and I hope it keeps going,  because everything I read helps me understand my girl a little bit better and how to work with her.

Mine is a little antsy if he doesn't get worked/exersized every day.  Skip a couple of days & he's pretty twisted!!!!

Well,  I couldn't lock mine up in the house and ignore her for two days, that's for sure!  She WILL get restless if we don't do training and exercise time every day.  But I don't think her needs in that area are excessively demanding.  I do need to make sure we build that time into our day though,  or she'll start going in my closet and putting my shoes in the toilet again.  :o)

Be careful what you wish for...drive of course is necessary...and good drive is needed...but there is such a thing as too much drive...and too much drive isn't a good thing...When looking for a puppy...the main thing to look for is an outgoing one that is willing to leave it's mother and to engage with someone else and also to play with toys...and yes even at a very young age you can tell what kind of grips this puppy might have as an adult...But even the most experienced people have trouble picking out a good puppy...Many of the very top dogs weren't the "Pick of the Litter"...they were 3 - 4 - or more in the litter...So there are a lot of varibables in the making of a good dog...including environment...food...training...etc...Good Luck...

~Bob~

Qman-  I think I'd have to agree with you.  IMO I feel environment and training plays a big part in developing a good dog.  It makes perfect sense that if you do not expose the pup and imprint it properly very early on you're gonna fight an uphill battle with a lot of undesireable characteristics.  When the whole thought process is broken down in simple terms to a "newbie" the light bulb goes off and it all makes sense.  I wonder how important of a role this all plays in other breeds as well; not just GSD's??  I think a lot of the "better dogs" were bred by knowledgeable individuals that understood the breed and the training required to bring out the best in each litter.  Wonder if sometimes it's better to buy from breeders who do not breed as often and only have one litter at a time say every year or every other year?  I'd think those breeders took more time to plan things out and have more time to spend with developing the pups way before they are ready to place them in their new homes??

I recently raised one to 8 months who had an immense amount of drive.  She was always intently focused on me, and constantly wanted to be with me to interact.  I couldn't keep her in the yard while working other dogs in the field, because she'd jump the four foot fence to interfere with what we were doing.  If I put her in the house, she'd jump onto the dryer in the laundry room so she could see what we were doing outside.  If I had her in the yard while I was inside, she'd jump through a window to get into the house.

Her grips were not as good as some, but they were coming along well with training.  For me, this type of dog is alot of fun, because I myself am not a very exciting handler to make it fun for the dogs.  Her focus on equipment was intense and unrelenting, which made need for capping the drive while having the object, and without having it, keeping her direct interest.  Looking for a happy balance with use of food items, the effect was poor.  Perhaps I should have imprinted food as a reward earlier in puppyhood.

With so many thresholds and magnitudes of differing characteristics such as drive, aggression, nerve and so on, it makes each dog fairly unique as to what the best approach may be for training them.  And you may have to "cap" some, while building others in some fashion, or preserving the level already present.  It seems many high-drive dogs have difficulties with the slow methodical practice in tracking, and an "off switch" could be nice.  Good focus/interest on the handler will always be a higher priority of mine, not too aloof or too clingy.  But high drive is alot of fun.

darylehret- I can appreciate and sympathize with you not being a very exciting handler.lol  I often times put myself in that category and it shows when I'm working my older dog.  How could I expect him to be having fun if I don't look like I'm enjoying myself either?? lol  Now my 6 mo old pup he makes training so much fun because he's so focussed on me and happy.  He's much more flashy than my Agar.  But I also run into the same problem with the pup that he wants to be all up in the mix and I can't have him out while training the older dog.  The pup will go crazy trying to join in or cause a diverssion so the spot light is back on him. lol  Hence the older dog gets quite irritated that he's trying to work and being interupted.  I'm anxious for the pup to reach his maturity so that I can tolerate some of his little quirks a bit better. lol  But we have a longggg way to go.