fear comes from poor nerves??? - Page 1

i assumed fear and poor nerves was the same thing, from recent threads i am now not so sure as it appears that a dog that has difficulty capping it's drive (hectic)  is considered by some as poor nerves even tho the dog may not be fearful per se. am i thinking abouth this correctly?

Your other post was about thresholds.  There are thresholds for different things.  There's a threshold for pain tolerance, a threshold for inciting prey, a threshold for defense...  These thresholds can be high or low, requiring a lot or a little stimulus or provocation.  Sharpness is a reference to the threshold that provokes a dog into a defense reaction.  A dog that requires little stimulus is considered sharp, one that requires more might be considered stable, or moreso even "dull".  That sharpness is related to the dog's level of threat perception, and assertiveness to confront or avoid a situation.  Whether or not it does so "fearfully" is another matter.  The manner in which it responds to a defensive situation can indicate strength or weakness of "nerve", described below.

Hecticness, or inability to restrict self control of drives is a function of nerves, but not an indication of nerve strength or weakness.  Higher nervous system activity originates from the cerebral cortex of the brain, and controls the states of arousal and inhibition that are necessary to function in our environment.  In short, an easily aroused dog is NOT necessarily a weak nerved dog or lacking courage.  There are three "strong nerve" types, from three varied levels of higher level nerve exciteability; choleric (exciteable), sanguine (balanced), and phlegmatic (sluggish).  The "weak nerve" type is often refered to as melancholic, and would tend to go into avoidance or flight mode when pushed to defense.  Because a melancholic type often has low stimulus thresholds, a dog with low thresholds (being sharp) is often confused as an indication of "weak nerves".

Just as perception thresholds can be adjusted by environmental conditioning through training and socialization processes, so can fear be conditioned for or against, at least to a certain extent.  That is where your skills of observation become crucial in evaluating the dog's true nature vs. it's "made" self.

   food for thought,,

That is where your skills of observation become crucial in evaluating the dog's true nature vs. it's "made" self...

And, as a breeder, you want to be very careful of who you breed the strong choleric type to.  Blended with a dog of higher thresholds and not-so-obvious weak nerves has the likelihood of producing sharp/shy offspring, or fearbiters.

Daryl,
Excellent post.

Anatomy of a 'fear biter':
What do people feel about this history, please ?

Bitch born into a Show / breeding 'hobby' kennel.
Is apparently a bouncy friendly puppy with no vices:
taken to dog club, entered conformation competitions
from 7 months of age.

At 10 months is needlessly attacked by two terriers
(1 Staffie, one Norfolk-ish) without warning or preamble,
on public street near gipsy camp.  Injured, not badly.

Continues to go to GSD club, do well at Shows.  Behaves
well in those surroundings.  (Trained, habituated response ?)
Temperament fine when judged   ['individuals'].

Around this time we get feedback on a litter brother having
temperament problems, some sort of biting incident.  He
comes 'home' to board for a while, doesn't appear very
problematic while there.

Bitch is still fine at club & shows, but increasingly shows
tendency to air-snap at stranger dogs and people, while on
walks etc elsewhere.

Has  had first Season, no obvious connection through timing.

Spends the rest of her life being wary of strange dogs and people,
outside the 'show scene'.   Not timid, in the sense of jumpy about
traffic, loud sounds or flying objects etc.  Once she does get to
know the person or dog (ie they demonstrate friendly intent and that
they are not frightened of her), she becomes their 'friend for life'.

She would rather walk away and avoid confrontation, but if person
insists, she will snap.  More actively aggressive towards strange
dogs, seemingly on a "best form of defence is attack" basis.

Poor hips, so 'retired' and spayed, age 3.5 years.  Lives as house dog,
retrains and works in minor Ob competition, still does the odd Companion
and Veteran show Class.  Until death at 14 STILL occasionally air snaps
at 'strangers', and folks she knows but has not got to know well.
Seems to pick up on their nervousness.  Got in a 'proper' bite once,
'defending' (?) property.  (Grabbed forearm, briefly).  Very reactive to
people giving her strong eye contact.

Never attempted bitework training with her because of the known
unreliability around strangers.  {These were the days before Surveys etc
came into common use}.

Opinions ?  Questions about anything I left out ?  Thanks.

Darryl, thanks, it will take me some time to process that but i think it is good info.

hund, sorry have no idea.