Defining terms more precisely - Page 1

I also think this is a great topic Bucko. I really don't know what people mean when they say 'civil'.

According to Helmuts definitions...

What are drives? Unfortunately, people have forgotten what the term is meant to describe. It shouldn't be used to give a name to every little thing a dog does. Drives are the internal impulses and urges that motivate animals-- in this case dogs-- to take certain actions. In order for something to be classified as a drive there has to be a drive specific stimulus, drive specific action, and a drive goal. We can manipulate the drives in our dogs during training to suit our purposes and to get them to perform tasks that are the results of these manipulated drives. However, we should never lose sight of the fact that a drive has biological significance for the animal and its species. It is this biological significance that is specific to every drive that gives us a better idea of what we can and cannot achieve by manipulating the drive. Drives can be split into two main categories. The criteria that create the division are the drive goals. One category contains the drives that lead to the gain of something positive or pleasurable; for example: sex drive, prey drive, pack drive (in this case the desire to be with members of the same species). In this category there is a tone of excitement and lust during the drive action and deep satisfaction when the goal is reached. The other category contains the drives that lead to the prevention of something negative or harmful; for example: defense drive, flight drive, the desire to remain unscathed. In this category there is a tone of stress and tension during the drive action and relief when the goal is reached.

Prey drive is part of a dog's food gathering behaviour. In a predatory animal that means prey drive governs hunting and killing techniques. Chasing, flushing, pouncing, biting, and shaking-to-death, are the most important of these techniques when we are talking about protection training. In order to stimulate these instinctive techniques in the dog, we have to keep in mind what a real prey animal does when it is hunted.   Prey is always on the move, it always moves in an evasive fashion, and it is panic-stricken.  These behaviours in turn trigger pursuit, pouncing, biting, pulling, and shaking-to-death in the dog.  Prey drive is inborn, and is a trainable instinct, meaning it can be enhanced or reduced. Prey drive can be exhausted, meaning that a time will come when the dog "doesn't feel like performing the desired behaviours any more."  Author's note: Considering the serious effects the end result of this drive would have on a prey animal, I do not subscribe to the idea that prey work is only a silly game.





 

Defense drive counts as one of the dog's aggression behaviours, and it can appear in conjunction with other behaviours.  Threatening, staring, and biting are typical defensive reactions. Defense behaviour is generally triggered by threats, real or perceived, or open aggression.  The goal of defense behaviour is always to create avoidance behaviour in the threatener.  Defense drive may appear as defense of prey, defense of puppies, defense of territory, defense against the unfamiliar, or self-defense.  The drive is satisfied in each case when the aggressor shows avoidance behaviour.  Defense drive is not subject to exhaustion, so it can be activated at will. It should, therefore, be part of the combative behaviour of any protection dog.  Furthermore, it is responsible for behaviours like countering when under stress or when threatened.  The great danger when working a dog in defense drive is that the same stimuli which cause defense behaviour also cause avoidance behaviour.  Which of the two possible behaviours is displayed by a dog when a trigger stimulus is presented is dependant on a variety of factors, among them confidence and temperament of the dog as well as the threatener, "life" experiences of the dog, age and maturity of the dog, location (unfamiliar or home turf), distance between adversaries, and the presence of other external influences (prey, mate, puppies).  Author's note: Hopefully this allows people to see defense for the double-edged sword it is.  Defense is one part of protection training.  The idea that good dogs should only be worked in defense is a dangerous one which has wrecked many great dogs.

 

Aggression behaviour contains reactive aggression (defense) as well as active aggression (social aggression).  With all the different theories that exist about aggression, there still is no conclusive proof available as to whether or not genuine spontaneous aggression exists.  The three theories about where aggression comes from are:

• Aggression is learned.
• Aggression is created by negative experiences.
• Aggression is inborn.

The truth is probably that aggression results from all three processes.  Research is available to support all three theories.  For our purposes however, we should concern ourselves less with where aggression comes from and more with what triggers it, what its goal is, and what its biological significance is.  The triggers for reactive aggression (defense) was covered under the previous heading.  So, lets deal with active aggression.  It is always intraspecific, meaning social aggression, and is the result of competition over things (territory, food, mates, etc.).  Intraspecific aggression is activated by rivals, and by anti-social behaviour.  The goal of the drive is to cause avoidance, submission, or worse of the rival.  Biological significance is the even distribution of a species over available land to reduce the possibility of food shortages and epidemics as well as survival of a species and a pack by selecting the fittest animals for reproduction and as leaders.  In species with a social hierarchy behaviours developed from the aggressive drive, which limit the negative results and guarantee the positive results of social aggression such as threatening, dominance, submission, and rituals of non-physical combat.

Aggression increases through maturation and practise.  It can also be increased or decreased through training and through external influences, for example pain can be aggression stimulating.