Rehomed GSD training

RealityDreamer Prey Drive Reply :

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arrggghh! I think the pc has a grudge against me. After typing a reply,the pc freezes up on me..for the past 3 times! I have tried numerous times but have given up...I hope this works.

Anyway,thanks dogcom for the welcome. I'm not I'd be able to do that as there are resident experts & I'm just a newbie

I think there's been a misunderstanding..Prey drive is a dogs natural deisre to chase & capture prey. Nerves is the dogs ability to recover from a stressful situation. For example,a firecraker is popping. A weak nerved dog would run for cover. A solid/strong nerved dog on the other hand might actually get excited & want to play with it. The 2 are very different. A dog can be weak nerved (a spook dog) but with immense prey drive or vice versa. One of my dogs has a high prey drive but runs to the back of the hse when it's Chinese New Year.Another dog of mine loves chasing rags ,balls,flies,frog(u get the picture) & loves the sound of the whip cracking.
Prey drive cannot be used to determine a dog's nerves & nerves cannot be used to describe a dog's prey drive.

I think if ppl knew what solid/strong nerved meant,everyone would want a dog with rock solid nerves. You are right though that not everyone wants a hard dog or one with a high prey drive.

I think the confusion starts because they are so closely related. If a dog chases something,that's prey drive. "Chases something" is also how a dog plays.

A high prey drive dog does not mean he is aggressive. It just mean that he likes to chase & chase & chase till the cows come home.lol.Even then,I don't think he'd mind if u wanted to play a game of fetch with him. I just recently met another high prey drive competition SchH 3 dog who allows anyone to handle her new born pups.

I am not sure if I understood your question.
Prey drive can be seen during the protection & obedience phase of Schutzhund. The faster & more upbeat the routine is,the higher prey drive the dog has. Of course the trainer's skills has to be taken into account but let's just say tht they're all great trainers.
And yes..I do test prey drive from time to time..be it for SchH or not..

RealityDreamer

P.S. I am not sure if this will work..if it does,pls post this on the board so the others can read as well. Thanks

__________________
Is your dog driving you nuts Who should you call :
Trainer of Singapore's 1st Obedience Dog of the Year

Earn cash reading emails IN SINGAPORE.

RealityDreamer said:

Oops my mistake.

Dogcom,
Just wanted to correct myself.

A dog's ability to recover from a stressful situation is hardness. A hard dog is a dog that bounces right back up after a very hard correction(for example) or physically he has a higher threshold.

A dog with good nerves is a dog who is confident. The example of a the firecraker is a dog with good nerves.

__________________
Is your dog driving you nuts Who should you call :
Trainer of Singapore's 1st Obedience Dog of the Year

Earn cash reading emails IN SINGAPORE.

That's what I understand about 'nerves' and 'hard dogs'. As for 'Prey Drive' I just would like other's view point of how this is assessed. I'd rather not consider chasing and playfulness to mean 'prey drive'. Chasing is very much a dog's instinct

__________________
Is your dog driving you nuts Who should you call :
Trainer of Singapore's 1st Obedience Dog of the Year

Earn cash reading emails IN SINGAPORE.

Prey drive is just that...instinct to chase..that's all.
U make it sound like prey drive is a bad thing...? (pls correct me if i'm wrong..u noe how things get miscontrued through msges)

Did I make Prey Drive sounds like a bad thing??? You see my intention is neither to make things sound confusing nor to take as Gospel truth what we can read on the internet. I have a lot of respect for people who share their knowledge based on real experience. That is why I am always eager to hear other people's perspective.

If we were to take it that "Prey drive is just that...instinct to chase..that's all" as what you suggest then most dog have prey drive.

__________________
Is your dog driving you nuts Who should you call :
Trainer of Singapore's 1st Obedience Dog of the Year

Earn cash reading emails IN SINGAPORE.

Ahhh..ok. My bad. Sorry. Got the wrong impression




Right on. It is just that most ppl (I am not sure abt the S'porean community) do not mention the average prey drive much. It's normal for a dog to have prey drive. It is the level that varies...is it worth mentioning or not since most,if not all dogs have it.

This is In reference to just plain ol' prey drive..not prey drive required for SchH. If it's prey drive for sport..some enthusiast would test a dog. If it's not good enough for sport,they'll just say "no prey drive". A bullmastiff is a good example. He has prey drive...he chases cats..but it is not enough & it's very low. What would be mentioned abt this BM is "his prey drive is low"