Soft Working line Bitch - Page 4

biggest mistake today is from a lot of people to think that everything is trainable, and failing dogs are trainingfaillures only

Duke, that is because there is emotional investment involved. When one learns to think objectively, everything is more clear. There is an expression that says, "We dont see things as they are, we see them as WE are"....

the amount of times I see people wanting to TRAIN ther pet into becoming a personal protectiondog LOL

Think the problem with THIS thred is that we have (A) someone with a pet who thinks she might be a bit too soft-natured & lacking in protective instincts BUT just maybe has been 'sold a pup' a bit by expecting the origins of his dog in a breeding to produce working animals will actually supply him with an animal capable of work (even if no plans to actually work her), so is wondering about the hows & whys of that; and (B) posters who do not so much want him to find an answer to that, as to bang a drum about the way THEY breed, for dogs that will actually be working animals.

IF this youngster really is genetically unsuitable for (let's call them) 'active duties', then it might indicate a flaw in one or other of the parents used to produce her. Or they may both be excellent dogs and producers and she may just have inherited some gene from an earlier ancestor that has come to the fore in that great DNA re-shuffle that means ALL puppies are a crap-shoot ...

It's academic. Time to be looking at what the sire or dam give / could give when planning matings, not worrying about the results in one puppy when its been running this earth for 2 years. The OP didn't ask anything about notifying the breeders about the (unproven) result; if Selection was practised as I suggested, the breeder already knew how many of that litter they had to chuck out of the operational training pot, when she was made available as a pet.

If a GSD is purely a companion, the extent to which it is 'breed typical' in any & all individual aspects becomes of less importance. Most pet owners would not want the dog in their household to be one which was constantly ready to bite them, their toddlers, or their small terriers - even if only when commanded to do so. ;-)

Guys, we have been round and round this block so many times over the years; it's horses for courses, not all GSDs need to be the ultimate in monster potential, some will have other jobs to do in life. As long as there are some breeders producing SOME dogs capable of serious protection work, the variety & the versatility of this breed will endure. And so will its popularity.

No Hund, actually, the problem with this thread is the fact that people still believe that the average GSD is still capable of actual, real protection, just because its a GSD.
The biggest problem is that the lurkers are reading this and believe it and then buy one from the pet shop and depend on it for that protection, just because "it goes back to the original GSD"...

or the daddy is a champion in whatever dogsport

Hund this is the first post.   re-reading may explain more about why the post in the first place.

by Triskell on 17 September 2020 - 14:09 (userip: 95.44.176.206)

Hi All - I have a 2 year old working line GSD bitch. Her father was bred through the Manchester Police force breeding programme with a straight back and very dominant character. He excels at sleeve work. Her mother was a beautiful looking working line bitch and super friendly. According to her papers - Her mother was a Hungarian import whose lines were from Austria and Germany. I have watched youtube vidoes of her mothers parents etc in protection sport competitions. I have had my bitch since she was 11 weeks old. The thing is - her 'guarding' instinct never developed. She is everybodys friend. She is a much loved pet and wonderful companion- however I am just surprised that her temperment is so one sided and not balanced with the protective nature that our breed is supposed to have - especially given her working lines. Anybody any thoughts on this?! thanks

If the OP really wants/needs to know if the bitch has the nerve to be protective, they need to make arrangements to have her evaluated by someone who has enough experience to know not only what to look for, but how to bring the response out of the dog. No one here has ever seen the dog in the flesh, nor is likely to do so, so everything anyone's said is nothing more than speculation--find someone to test the dog and let us know the outcome.

hexe, if you need an expert to possibly bring out something that might be there, a criminal for sure is not going to bring it out, unless the criminal is an expert dogtrainer also  LOL

If a, dog is not makeing any changes in body language or paying any serious interest naturally to a stranger arriving. No kind of assment is going to change that. Any member that is saying anything different is only talking through ther hat. When I leave my family I want to know my dog's are going to do what they have to do if anything arise. So imo 90 Persent of what is said here I would disregard. If you want a home family gaurd Don't buy from a sports breeding program very unlikely you will get what you need. Do not buy from a pet breeding program, or a home help service dog program. Find a breeder that has developed a breeding program that fits purpose. A person that has developed a strain of dog that is from perants and grandparents and so on that display suspicion and natural aggression. Very easy to see if you are at the right dogs. When you are invited in these types of dog will only tolatare you because the master says so. So don't expect cuddles and loves. Except and nerve chilling stare. And when you move expect the eye to follow you. Because just because you were invited in doesn't mean you are trusted. And any thing else would not be for me. I could type about this for ever but I'll leave it at that. Because that is the beginning of having a reliable home family protection gaurd dog