Soft Working line Bitch - Page 1

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by Triskell on 17 September 2020 - 14:09

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

by Triskell on 17 September 2020 - 14:09


by hexe on 18 September 2020 - 00:09

Maybe she is soft.

Maybe she's not.

If she's never encountered anything or anyone that raised suspicion in her, she's never had any need to be anything less than friendly, as RLHAR suggested elsewhere. If you really need to know what she's got in reserve, you need to find a reputable, experienced trainer who can do an evaluation on your dog.

My first GSD was out of the old 1980's-early 1990's American lines, and she had an outstanding temperament...she, too, was friendly with everyone we met, was great with kids [even though I don't have any, so she wasn't raised with them, and I don't particularly *like* kids] and a joy to live and work with. A lot of folks would've considered her too soft as well--especially because of her bloodlines.

Yet while she was less than a year of age, she defended me against a creep who came skulking around in a laundromat late one night when I was doing my wash, and there was no question that she was going to do more than bark and charge if he didn't vacate the area immediately. The jerk had me cornered, and was blocking my access to the only exits, but he also hadn't seen the dog because she was lying under the table for folding laundry, and his view was blocked by the row of washing machines until he rounded the corner and came rushing toward us. She'd been watching him, and as he moved in on us, she came out and up from under the table with a roar, launching herself at the creep with teeth bared and mouth open. He was so startled that he jumped back, causing her to miss his leg by a hair because she hit the end of the leash I'd used to tether her to the table leg. He turned and ran out of the building as she raised holy hell with her barking. I was every bit as shocked as the skeezy guy had been--the only training she had was basic obedience work. When the police arrived [the tenant above the laundry called them--this was way before cell phones], my young bitch was right back to her outgoing self, happily greeting the officers and grinning like a fool.

Before that night, she'd never been in a situation that called for her to be suspicious or defensive. When the need arose, she rose to the occasion. You never really know what the dog has until the animal is tested under the right conditions to elicit their natural response. Find someone to evaluate your bitch, and go from there.


by duke1965 on 18 September 2020 - 01:09

well let me try again, looking at todays dogs in the competition and videos thereoff, you are looking at TRAINING LABOUR, which will NOT pass on to the pups,

secondly, most of todays sportdogs work over preydrive and fooddrive which are great qualities for a sportdog to have,but totally useless when it comes to guarding and protecting

if your dog doesnot have any suspicion and/or civil agression, she probably will lick a burglars face at best 


Hundmutter

by Hundmutter on 18 September 2020 - 02:09

Don't agree, Duke; Dogs are all different, their courage and 'hardness' need to be tested at some time, in some way, by the owner - and they may not go the sports or the PP route, may not train for bitework at all, in those first couple of years of a new dog's life. We are not all straight into these activities, however much one might argue that with a working breed everybody ought to be.

My first question to the OP was going to be: what have you done with her that makes you come to the conclusion she is 'soft' ? Even given this dog's breeding background, the OP does not state whether she has been attending a Training Club or anything like that. It sounds as though she could just have been brought up as a companion, and has never felt a threat enough to bark at a possible intruder. Does not mean she cannot or never will.

Like Hexe, I have had experience of a GSD which came up trumps WHEN IT MATTERED. S/L, bred and brought up to be easy-going and friendly, capable of being handled by strangers; yet she put herself between me & someone who posed a threat, on more than one occasion. I would never have been tempted to describe her as 'soft' in the first place - but different strokes for different folks, you know ?

OP: re your 2nd thred on the same bitch: you may not have noticed that the Admins closed it down when they wrote to ask you to stay on one or the other and not duplicate. It said THIS IS CLOSED, right at the bottom of the page, and that's the reason you could not get answering posts. As you now have the 2nd thred running again (which again the Admins have now CLOSED) perhaps they will kindly amalgamate the two for you ? You seem to be attracting similar views in the posts you have got on there.


Hired Dog

by Hired Dog on 18 September 2020 - 10:09

Psychological effects on people do not count as protection. Protection is a dog that has sank his teeth in a human and its staying on that human, escalating even, when the human fights back.
A 5 pound dog barking at the door may make a potential burglar walk away, but, that is not protection in the sense we are speaking of, just like being a great shot at the range does not make one a warrior and studying the martial arts does not make you a great fighter, unless you have proven those skills in actual combat.
I agree with Duke, after a SOLID foundation made up of nerves and stability, a dog must have GENETIC suspicion and civil aggression in order to be an effective protection dog.

DuganVomEichenluft

by DuganVomEichenluft on 18 September 2020 - 10:09

Hexe, wow! Awesome story.
There is no real way of knowing what your dog will do until you have a situation like Hexe. The reason is, we shed all kinds of smells from our bodies. There is no way to duplicate true fear unless it's real. Hexe's dog, most likely, reacted to the scent Hexe was dropping.
My current GSD, Tami v. Oasis is an IPO2 from Germany. I got her when she was almost 8. She's not aloof with strangers. She simply ignores them. Even with people she knows, she simply doesn't care about them. She doesn't ask for pets but will accept them. She is a one person GSD. At around 9, I took her on a road trip with me. As I was fueling my car, her window was down, a man walked across the front of my car. He was about 10' away. He stopped and just stood there, watching me. Then, Tami popped up in the seat, sticking her head out the window. She had most likely picked up my fear smell. I was not in fear, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. This came from my Police Officer days. He immediately turned his attention to her and started asking questions about her but never came any closer. When she did stick her head out of the window, she was "locked on" to him with her eyes. I could even see her nose working. We both read each other and I knew at that moment, she'd protect me in a heartbeat. I got home from my trip and my husband asked me, 'do you think Tami would actually protect you". I didn't even think about the answer. Yes came directly out of my mouth.

Hundmutter

by Hundmutter on 18 September 2020 - 11:09

Duh !!! Should have read "This thread is LOCKED", not 'closed'. Somehow my brain or fingers substituted the wrong word ... but its the same concept / effect ;-)

Rik

by Rik on 18 September 2020 - 11:09

a friend of mine had an ASL, she was an AKC Champion and ROM bitch. I took care of her several times when he went on trips,
and on visits she would always run out for a rub on the head as I walked by. I never heard or sensed a single bad vibe from her
and she was very social.

my friend had an illness that required some prescription narcotic type drugs and a neighborhood thug found out about it. long story short, my friend woke up one night with the dog raising hell and someone screaming. she had cornered the guy in the kitchen, bitten him twice, with his hand dripping blood and held him there until deputies arrived.

the guy didn't fight back at all so I have no idea how that would have gone, but I was very surprised that she had confronted the
thief at all. sometimes you never know till you know.

by duke1965 on 18 September 2020 - 12:09

hundmutter, there are opinions, and then there are facts, opinions are debateble, facts are not, no suspicion/agression means no guarding and no defence, now you can take a high drive dog that sees everything as prey, he will bite your burglar, but also your husband, your kid playing and your jack russel  LOL






 


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