Work Potential in Puppies - Page 3

interesting thread. i agree with Preston... the eye of the eagle; saw that 30 years ago in a pup; that pup didn't have any proper socialization the way people seem to describe it (there was constant socialization in the city i used to live in though), didn't have any proper foundation for biting or whatever; but he was special; in retrospect he was a working dog, he was a Michael Jordan of shepherds; his eyes glowed in the dark even as a pup; he destroyed my parents house back then up until he was done teething, but he was affectionate and full of life. He turned into the most protective, calm, loyal and intelligent animal i've ever seen. I agree with d.h. in the proper upbrigning of the animal, the "connection" with the dog to be able to bring him to the podium, the socialization, training... but i also believe, a strong solid temperament with innate working abilities and loving rearing (food and the kind of play and stimilation a child can offer a dog) is all is necessary to bring a dog to his full potential; i'm sure that dog i've mentioned could've been picked up by a knowledgeable trainer when he was let's say 2 years old, and that dog would've made the podium; he was a true bicolor, i'd say around 60 lb male out of some bitch in a police department in nyc; they wanted rid off teh pups and we got him when he was 4 days old; he was raised on a bottle ; never knew or cared about pedigree, bloodlines... jmo on this topic, kosta

wscott00, what you are describing is footwork, and lack of it. If a dog misses corners and articles, is that due to the dogs true ability or does the handler just need to go out and train more? If the dog has problems with the dumbell, or the heeling, etc, is that due to the dogs ability or lack of effort on part of the handler? Most of it is. If a dog has a SchH3 by the second birthday there is not that much time for extra work to polish the dog for good scores. You have one dog, maybe two. The sport and your dog are your hobby and you spend a lot of time perfecting it. Your dog in the hands of a person who goes out maybe once a week, lack the committment and dedication that you have, how good would he be? What do you think he would score at? Back to basic ability - that you can tell in a pup, the rest is up to the human part of the equation. Kosta, Preston, another excellent point you guys made that was not really brought across yet and that is chemistry! Its like falling in love. If you are in love and in awe with your dog, if the chemistry is right, if everything fits, then everything else will fall into place as well. Including performance. :o)

geee, that was sexy d.h.

D.H I agree that a lot of the score is attributed to footwork, or the ability to handle a dog in a show. and i do agree that some one that trains once per week should be happy to just past. as well as a 2 yr old dog that gets to a 3 is doing good by just passing. But at what point does it go from we scored low because im dont train that much and i cant handle a dog very well to, well he's just not a good dog? I am the last person to put a lot of stock in to titles. but i think a 240 is extremely low. My dog ones scored an 82 in protection, he missed a blind, got dirty in the blind, broke and bit the helper during the back transport. so basically all he did was run 5 blinds, bite and out. he did nothing and still got an 82. the point i was trying to make is that a dog will miss a corner or a motione exercise but to score 80 across the board pretty much means the dog as a vague understanding what is going on along w/ blowing complete exercises. hell if it does everything half assed you would still score 85. i do agree that you can tell potential in puppies but you cant possible tell which ones will be able to handle the pressure and stress of training and trialing. A lot can be conditioned but the dogs true self will show up some day. Just my 2 cents

rin tin tin was bottle fed, so was my SAR gsd,opened doors and elevators,used hotel ice machines when hot,used public water fountains,answed phones,tracked humans while running(no one trained her to do any of that).Had the fire eyes.