Over-Confident - Page 1

In the dog world,what is your best explanation of an over-confident dog?
Are there pros and cons?

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Over Confidence in dogs? Theres no such thing in my humble opinion! However you might perceive over cofidence as simply an very outgoing or curious individual who knows they are the"" sh!t ""as they say just like me!

Now if your dog is trying to breed to your wife or use your car without permission, that is not over cofidence that is bad manners caused by lack of proper training.Please clarify any problem's so we may try and help you.

I guess maybe a dog that walks off a cliff thinking they can fly might be deemed "over-confident". Other than that, I don't think it's possible.

A very confident dog is one that has a very strong solid temperament, strong nerves and doesn't perceive most things as a threat.  A very confident dog may not perceive people or other animals as a threat or much of a challenge.  For example, a very confident dog may need to really be pushed by a decoy in bite work to become defensive and react.  I recently evaluated a Dutch Shepherd for Police work.  This dog really needed to be pushed to react aggressively, when he did he was serious and bit full and hard.  Worked great in prey, but I don't think he really perceived me as a threat till I got close and impressed him. 

Now, there is a difference between a weak dog going into avoidance and not engaging till it's pushed and a confident dog that stands there and stares you in the eye and waits to see what your going to do next.  It is important to be able to distinguish a very confident dog from one that is just ignoring or going into avoidance with a decoy.  It is rare but there are dogs out there like this.  The downside is that the dog doesn't perceive a threat in the same way or react as quickly as a less confident dog might. 

Think of it like this; there are very confident people out there like boxers or Martial artists for example.  They know their skill level and are not threatened by the average person.  Some, will respond to a challenge very quickly while others may just walk away knowing they can win the fight so there is no need to prove it.  Push them to far and they will react, but they have nothing to prove and are just as happy walking away. 

A confident dog will be comfortable in new surrondings and environments and not phased by most things.

JMO FWIW,

Jim

I much prefer the "Proven" Confident Dog, rather than the "Untested" Confident Dog. The important thing regarding a confident dog, is that he is the real deal and not a Poser.  He must remain confident in the face of adversity.  That his confidence doesn't wilt when he is faced with adversity of any kind. Whether the adversity be human attacker, beast or nature, facing pain and, or exhaustion, if the dog still reamins confident, that is a dog to be idealized.

Love confident dogs, but make sure it is not a dull dog that appears confident.  Some dogs show no fear, but not out of confidence, they just don't have any sense of something that should get their attention.  If they have no aloofness, a lost trait in some lines, they may appear confident, but in fact they just don't get it.  Some show lines for example do not understand what a threat is, not just that they have nothing to proove as Slam mentioned.  Two different reasons for not responding to threat or potentially fearful situations.