The real dogs - Page 1

I have a male who is a great pet and a stronger female but still a female that would not fend off an intruder who broke in while home alone. Unfortunately this I know. My friend in Michigan just called and had her home broken into and she has 2 strong sport males that apparently did nothing. I recently bred my female to a male stud that in the same situation the owner would have returned home to a half eaten human carcass. What kind of German Shepherds are people looking for these days. Some overly stable dogs seem to lay there and sleep while their house and home are raped or even worse the owner. Where are the real dogs and why does not everyone who has a German Shepherd have one?

I have been thinking on this. I had a meter man come in my back yard with my male and female. He said he chased off my male (who has been real world protection trained) and my female held her ground but did not bite. They are both showlines and i thought, "Figures". BUT last week my wife was home and the meter man parked behind her as she was leaving and as she let my male out of the yard to let him in, she said my male was about to go for him when she called him off. In my case I believe my dog picks his battles, why fight over a big wooden box (my house) when no one is home? But if he is defending me or my family.....look out. He is very serious and fights hard during karate class. I even told the helper to kick him and make it as real as he could because I wanted to see what it would take to break him, all that happened was he got very, umm, well, how shall I say it....PISSED OFF! He went for the guys leg and almost got it then chased him out of the room. I agree many soft dogs out there, but training has a lot to do with it. Most Sch dogs or "sport" dogs aren't trained in defense properly and they dont know what real aggression from a helper or potential bad guy is and therefore have no idea how to respond. Train for real life situations and thats what you get. I once helped a lady friend train her female working GSD for real life, we did mock attacks while getting groceries in and out of a car, mock home invasions, and other fun stuff like jumping out of a car window, dog passed with flying colors. Problem was after that she was so "serious" most helpers were afraid of her. I would not want a sport dog to "guard" my home. I know some that would kill you for coming in their house un-announced, but not many.

Oh yeah forgot to mention, my male is useless when it comes to Sch sport. No drive except as documented in other posts on this site, sleep drive and sofa drive. But he understands "real" situations. Still I am getting a hardcore working GSD to replace him as "sentry" because even though I probably would have been sued, in my mind he should have taken the meter mans posterior off with extreme prejudice. But hey, thats just me..

I think many dogs act much tougher when the owner is there or home but when left alone they do not have the real tough inside to stand alone against a threat. The real dogs I speak of when left alone choose to fight and only back off if the owner is home and tells them to back off. A wild dog fights to the death to protect its den or home. A domestic dog only knows his home as his den so if he is not willing to engage to protect it then what have we bred out?

I agree flipfinish. If he really meant it he would have taken the ass off.

One thing though, does an inside/outside dog really know what his "den" is? My dog might think it is his doghouse, although he comes inside all the time too. I can't read his mind, and I dont think all that much goes on up there anyways besides food, sleep, dad, and cheese fries...LOL! But I also think he might be chicken to fight alone, which is why I am looking for a Czech/DDR puppy. I have researched a great deal and believe they have what is needed for real protection if trained properly. Less drivey, but more focused and serious.

Flip, I believe that you have just shown the falacy of the superiority of "crazy drive" dogs. The standard does not call for, nor does real life have a place for dogs with extreme drives. I agree that they should be stronger in the show lines, but have had many that could be relied upon with complete certainty. I have also seen some "working" dogs from "working dog" clubs painstakingly trained over a period of years to SchH3 perform poorly in an ordinary trial because they did not respond well to the low threat level of the helper. These same dogs might well show indifference to an actual intruder who shows no overt agression, yet uses verbal threats. While you can not turn a couch potato into a sport dog, a lot can be done with the right training.

jdh there are places in life for crazy drive dogs. The male I used is fight crazy on the field or home but apparently very easy to live with day to day. The right training can do a lot but when a dog really has it you know. You just know.

I agree. My male was not shown the right amount of aggression by the local club helper and thus no reaction. However, why would you have a dog trained to bite someone who shows no aggression? Then my dog could bite anyone at anytime. Should I train him to kill anyone outside the family? I dont agree with him letting someone in my yard, but I wouldnt want him to bite for no reason. Again, train the dog in the right situation, and he will perform, especially the ones who have the drives for it.

I have heared this from a breeder friend of mine, and PLEASE NO BASHING, it does make sence if you think about it; Some SchH trained dogs learned to bit sleeve, ect...right? And in some cases they learn to look for the padding, right? What happens if the padding comes off, and its an actual intruder, is it possible the dog could be confused??? Seeing as there is no padding on the perp. Also, why in the hell would someone break into your home with two LARGE GSD's? Unless they studied them for some time and figured out the dogs and had that advantage? Okay, well someone please clarify this for me, thanks! Krista blueskyekennels@msn.com