DEFINE THE TERM "NERVY" DOGS - Page 6

In response to a dogrules statement, I truly had no intention of implying that Tiekerhook dogs are really nervy at all.  I'm no authority that could fairly say yes or no to the question, as I've not had exposure to a lot of Tiekerhook dogs.  I'm sort of the "only kid on the block", mine being the only one I've ever seen in the flesh.  I was just going along with the presumption that was made in the recent Tiekerhook thread about "nervy" bloodlines, and the statements in this thread regarding "nervy" as merely being "low threshold", as if it meant something apart from "weak nerves" (for whatever that means to each of us as well).

What I do get from my Tiekerhook experience, is incredible attention for the handler, very intelligent, promt, and willing to please, enthusiasm for work, and no shortage of drive.  The list of "pluses" continues (speed, grips, and so much more), with no complaints at all.  Hard to believe?  You can bet it is for me too.  Have I had harder, more civil dogs than Hutch?  Sure, but at an expense that would kill the benefits I'm enjoying now.  He's got plenty civil though, don't doubt it.  Hard to physical correction, but sensitive to handler correction.  I'm absolutely prefering it to much of my past experience with other dogs.

There's a few recent vids of a Tiekerhook puppy on youtube that reminds me in many ways of my boy at that age.  If such handler focused quick learners like this are typical of Tiekerhook breeding, I see no problem with that myself.  In recent experience, Hutch was doing advanced herding excercises in only his third training session ever.  He's always right on cue, doesn't waste a moment getting there, controls his pressure on the livestock, picks up so quickly on what he's supposed to do, that he needs little guidance from me at all.  I trust him to take the wheel, and trust that he'll do what I want him to do.

Too soon to say much about how Hutch produces, I'm only finding out now.  And as you could guess, he's only half the equasion.

I have a problem in writing about not getting what I mean across... which is why I don't write much, but I'll try another stab at further explaining what I meant.  If you have not, please read my above post so this isn't taken out of context.

The first part, what causes the reaction is just that and, to me, would probably be the nerves/threshold.  One dog has hightened perception to EVERYTHING, and if this dog also has strong defense drives and is not confident, this dog would be your worst "nervebag".  If the dog is not that defensive, but is insecure, than it would be a spook.  If the dog is confident, either with low or high defense drives, but confident, then this may be a pleasing picture... a dog who is ultra alert, but doesn't overreact.  What I'm trying to categorize here is just how sensitive the dog is to it's environment, from everything to nothing, and all sorts of in between.  This is where I personally would put the lable nerves and "nervy".  And, to me, this doesn't just apply to defense.  A "nervy" dog will be quick to react in any drive that seems suitable... AND, the reaction isn't necessarily negative... it could be excited anxious.  These dogs are flashy and great workers if they also have the drives and confidence to back it up, whatever drive.

The second part is what will determine how severe the reaction is.  (See above for the trigger.)  This is simply the drives.  This is where a dog with strong prey drives, but very low defense drives will present itself as being ball crazy but it won't react to a real threat.  The level of each drive is independent from each other.  And, the point at which energy influences it will also be independent.  Generally a dog will tire from prey drive quicklier than it would from defense.  But with both there may always be reserves.  Ex. The dog that when pooped still will defend itself from a real threat, and the dog that's played all day and could barely run anymore might light up if a small animal ran right in front of it. 

The last, and possibly most important part, is the confident/insecurity.  This can be very specific to certain stimuli.  A dog that is very confident around adults, and in the environment in general, but is never around kids, may be insecure when first presented with them.  If they are very insecure, have a low threshold, and have a high defense drive then the picture will be quite different than if any of the three parts are adjusted to being a little more less reactive.  This part can be conditioned.  A dog can learn that it shouldn't be afraid of the club decoy, but may be afraid of a stranger on the street that leans and talks towards it in an unintentionally threatening manner.  A dog with strong nerves (see part one) would need a lot of stimuli to react but can still be afraid/uncomfortable about things due to undersocialization, past experiences, etc.  A dog with weak nerves AND insecurity will show it's fear, but the intensity of it's reaction will come down to it's drives... it can just be a spook, or it can be a liability. 

Again, these are just my thoughts... hopefully there are some mind readers out there to help interpret what I am trying to convey.  If we can see the different pieces to the puzzle, and not just look at the dog as a whole, then maybe we can predict better what strength/weaknesses it has and what it's likely to produce.

I think possibly a lot of people put nerves in the third part, with confident/insecurity.  This may be correct as some degree of confidence seems genetic.  But I personally think it applies better in the first part.  To address someone above - How quickly a dog overcomes, or bounces back, from something that scares it may have to be a fourth part, or may be part of confidence/insecurity.  One dog, once it learns something is not a threat, it will remember it and not react to it anymore, another will continue to have an initial reaction, but with repeated exposure it will bounce back quicker each time.  The first dog, to me, would have strong nerves (part one) and the second, weak.  Both were relatively confident to realize that it wasn't really a threat and that they can ignore it.

lol Gotcha amanda. oh, that is what you meant he is environmental nervy, why didn't you just say that?!!!

Like I said didn't really know how. You weren't asking me what I meant by environmentally nervy you were asking me define the term just as you did here.lol.

 

Amysue- I absolutely agree, there are so many parts to reading a dog. Unfortunately this dog did not have the ability to learn that something will not hurt him because he was hurt in the process. It is very difficult for any dog or human either to look at everything new as something fun and exciting they can overcome if they have encountered many physical harms in the process of encountering new environments or stimuli. Thanks for commenting