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Elements of Temperament |
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Part Four: Nerves |
“Such shy animals are in all circumstances an encumbrance to their
owner, who must be ashamed of such a dog, and a disgrace to their race. Under no circumstances whatever must they be
used for breeding, however noble and striking they may appear outwardly.”
Max von Stephanitz, The
German Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture (1925)
The essence of the German Shepherd Dog (GSD) is character. By far, the worst possible temperament fault
in the GSD is weak nerves.
Unfortunately, this problem is rampant.
Von Stephanitz himself warned us about this
long ago. In fact, he told us that the
production of weak nerved dogs would be nothing less than the degeneration or
destruction of the breed.
Captain von Stephanitz
believed that the cause of weak nerves is kenneling,
but not in the sense of kenneling an individual dog
so as to create kennel shyness, but rather the process of “ . . . keeping animals that have been
torn away from their vocation and their natural conditions of life have been
going on for some generations . . .”. In
other words, the net effect of breeding and keeping dogs, without regard to
preserving temperament and working abilities yields weak nerves and the
inevitable destruction of the GSD.
Which is,
basically where we find ourselves today.
Nobody said it would be
easy. Von Stephanitz
recognized that the GSD should be exceptionally tuned in to the environment if
he is to fulfill his obligations as guardian and
protector. The tricky part would be
maintaining this heightened alertness and sensitivity without crossing the line
into over-reactiveness. Which is why there is a
system in place to help screen dogs with faulty nerves out of breeding
programs.
As with everything else, look at
nerves on a continuum. The degree of
nerve strength will vary across individual dogs. But, there is a minimum that must be set. The breeding requirements under the German
system are set up to help ensure that dogs who fall
below that minimum standard are not used for breeding. Is it a perfect system? Not at all, but it’s the best one we’ve got.
What is a weak nerved dog? Simply put, a weak nerved dog shows
avoidance or aggressive behaviors in response to
non-threatening people, situations or objects. This includes the shy dogs and the fear
biters. Nothing is more difficult for a
breeder or dog owner to hear than that her dog has a nerve problem. People will go to great lengths to bend
reality around and deny the problem. All
the alarms should go off in your head when you hear a breeder attempting to
blame the environment for a dog’s behavior. For instance, the shy pup who
cringes and skitters away from you when you crouch down to pet her. I’ll bet the breeder told you not to worry, she’s just a little shy and needs time to get to know
you. And I’ll bet the breeder told you
that is perfectly normal for a puppy. Or the young adult dog who lunges and snaps
at a neutral stranger you see walking down the street and you decide it’s
because the stranger was wearing a funny hat or that your dog is just
incredibly perceptive and recognized some evil trait in the stranger from which
she was bravely protecting you.
(Actually, if your dog did this only once or twice in a lifetime, I’d be
inclined to buy it). A dog’s reaction to
neutral strangers is always significant.
By neutral, we mean the stranger walking down the street who pays no
attention to you or your dog. Does the
dog ignore the stranger? Fine. Some curiosity
is well within normal range as well.
Avoidance or aggression are signals of a
serious nerve problem.
Understand that nerve problems
are not fixable. Skittering away from a
scary object or noise is not a training problem, it is a temperament
problem. With enough training, you could
teach a dog to inhibit his response to a particular stimulus, but you will not
fix the nerve problem. For example, you
could teach a weak dog not to run away from a moving wheelchair. But suppose the wheel chair user dropped a
book on the floor. You can be certain
the dog would panic all over again.
Training can, to an extent modify specific behaviors,
but it cannot change the dog’s genetics.
Weakness in temperament will always resurface under stress. And it requires stress tests to weed weak
nerved dogs out of the gene pool. That
is why Schutzhund remains the breed suitability test
of choice. The training itself provides
numerous opportunities to evaluate the dog’s overall nerve strength. Not only during the gunfire test or
protection phase will the dog’s nerves be tested. How well does the dog focus and concentrate
on the track with a bunch of strangers around, in an unfamiliar location? How does he handle his obedience routine in
front of a large crowd on a strange field with someone in the parking lot
honking his horn? There are plenty of
opportunities for the dog to get rattled.
Not that Schutzhund
is the perfect test, there are far too many weak dogs being dragged through a
title by talented trainers. But, it’s
better than nothing! Too often, dogs are
being used for breeding without being tested for anything. In the
Sound
Sensitivity
Sound sensitivity, that is a
fearful reaction to loud noises is not a synonym for weak nerves, but is
generally a symptom of a lack of overall nerve strength. Which is why the gunfire
test remains a part of Schutzhund. The ideal response to a sudden, loud noise is
indifference.
However, it is possible to find
cases of sound sensitivity that are learned rather than genetic. For example, the novice trainer who issues a
harsh correction just as the gun is being fired could induce a phobic response
in a sensitive dog. You’ll be able to
tell the difference, however, because if it is learned behavior,
it will be specific. As in the case of
the dog who had a bad experience in training which he came to associate with
the gunshot, if the dog shows a fear reaction only to that specific noise, in
that specific setting, the chances are that the behavior
was learned, rather than genetic. It
will take a lot of work to train this out, but it can be done, if the dog is
generally sound and stable. Dogs who are exposed to large amounts of live gunfire, such as
police dogs can develop phobic reactions which are genuinely learned, not
inherited. Again, you will know by the
narrowness of the reaction, the avoidance behavior
will occur only in certain circumstances.
The dog who can easily ignore a car backfire or
firecrackers on the Fourth of July, but panics on the training field may have
learned a negative association.
Life With a Weak Nerved Dog
It’s no picnic. Weak dogs are unpredictable. Combine weak nerves with a high defense drive and low threshold and you have a genuinely
dangerous dog. Who knows what is going
to set the dog off? Owners are always
stunned when their dogs show fear aggression.
They find all sorts of excuses for it, they
especially like to define it as “protection”.
The owner of a seven month old
pup from who-knows-what breeding contacted me about training for her pup. She had no prior dog experience and was bent
on breeding this male as soon as possible.
Nothing I said could talk her out of it.
She believed she had the world’s best natural protection dog. Why?
Because when invited guests come to her home, the pup plasters himself
next to her, leans up against her and growls at them.
The reality is, the dog is a nervebag and should never be used for breeding. It’s easy to understand how this owner
mistook her dog’s behavior for protection because she
didn’t understand what was happening, from the dog’s point of view. The dog is scared silly of welcomed
visitors. So, he glues himself to the
owner. Her close proximity gives him
just enough confidence to vocalize his anxiety by growling. I absolutely guarantee you, that if she
wasn’t there to protect the pup, he’d be hiding under
the furniture when guests arrived.
Nobody wants to hear this about their own beloved pet. But, we all need to hear it, in hopes that
these dogs will not be used for breeding.
This seven month old pup is exactly the kind of dog we worry about most
as he is likely to mature into an unpredictable fear biter.
We Just
Felt So Sorry For the Poor Thing
If I had a dollar for every time
I heard that! Puppy buyers fall for the
shy, timid puppies. We feel sorry for
them. The breeder feeds right into our
delusion that we can offer them a wonderful home and then they will be just
fine. Baby puppies often demonstrate
their weak nerves by acting shy. They
show avoidance to anything unfamiliar.
Some pups will remain avoiders, others will
mature into fear aggression. Either way,
they are risky business. Imagine a weak
nerved, low threshold dog being confronted by his first toddler tantrum?
It’s a little different for
adults. Shyness in a pup is always cause for alarm.
Puppies should be into everything, curious about everyone and pretty
much a royal pain. As the pup matures,
it’s perfectly normal for him to stop jumping all over everyone. Aloofness is not the same as
shyness. It is entirely correct for a
mature GSD to be reserved with strangers, showing neither avoidance nor
aggression. A certain suspicion of new
people is also acceptable in the GSD.
Far too many breeders want their GSDs to
welcome any and all onto their property with tails wagging. They actually don’t want GSDs, they want Golden
Retrievers wearing GSD uniforms.
My first GSD was a two year old
rescued former police K9 named Jet. Jet
was in a foster home when I went to meet her, accompanied by a friend. Her foster owner brought her out and gave me
her Frisbee. Jet grabbed the Frisbee and
flopped down on the grass, making believe I wasn’t there. At no time did she take her eyes off of her
foster owner. I petted and talked to
her. She ignored me. I asked if I could have her and was thrilled
when the foster owner said yes. My
friend was disappointed. She
acknowledged that Jet was exceptionally pretty, but she didn’t like her
temperament at all. (My friend is
heavily into Golden Retrievers). I
thought Jet’s temperament was great. She
surmised quickly enough that neither my friend nor I were threats, and
proceeded to ignore us and focus on the foster owner to whom she had begun to
bond. Jet had plenty of faults, but her
initial aloofness toward me was totally correct for a GSD. She showed neither aggression, nor avoidance
to us, just a complete lack of interest.
(Of course, I eventually turned her into a social butterfly and messed
the whole thing up).
Jet gave us another impromptu
seminar on GSD suspicion of strangers shortly thereafter. My then boyfriend was out of town when I got
Jet and he was eager to come over and meet her.
She woofed at the gate, but allowed me to let him in without a
complaint. She then placed her self on
an extended “watch him”. When he was in
the kitchen, she laid down and kept her eyes on
him. He went outside to install some new
lights, she went along, laid down and watched every
move he made. Eventually, she decided he
was ok and relaxed. They became good
buddies. Again, she showed no untoward
aggression and certainly no avoidance.
She didn’t instantly pounce on him to make friends. She conducted herself like a GSD. (For more about my adventures with Jet, visit
my web site http://www.dogbehave.com).
Thus, we expect puppies to let
their curiosity get the better of them and investigate all strangers with
enthusiasm. With maturity comes
suspicion, and some aloofness toward strangers is perfectly acceptable and not
a symptom of bad nerves.
What does signal bad
nerves is avoidance of a non threatening human or object or inappropriate
aggression. Remember what a dog in defense drive looks like?
When you observe that behavior in the
absence of a legitimate, identifiable threat, you’re looking at a nervebag. Nervous
dogs are often very vocal, you’ll hear a machine gun
bark or growling.
By avoidance, we mean the dog
will attempt to get away from the imagined threat by physically moving away or
freezing in place. Rolling over is
avoidance behavior you will observe in extremely
submissive dogs.
Again, remember that there is a
range here. Some nerve problems are
worse than others. One of the worst
cases I’ve seen so far was a 12 week old Siberian Husky
pup. I went to her home, crouched down
and turned sideways to meet her (crouching and turning sideways is, in canine
language a universal signal of friendliness).
The pup raised her hackles, growled, barked and backed up, releasing a
huge trail of urine as she escaped. She
stayed about twenty feet from me for a full twenty five minutes before
she was willing to approach me. (I completely ignored her). Recovery time is always
important. When a pup skitters away from
you or an object, take note of the amount of time it takes for the pup to
recover and decide to approach and investigate.
Some pups will startle at an unfamiliar object, but almost immediately
regroup and check it out. I’m a lot less
worried about those pups. Twenty five
minutes is a very long recovery time.
Fortunately, the owners of the pup aren’t going to breed her!
Watch out for growling! That is never good news. Confident dogs don’t growl at people or
objects. Hackles up is
another giveaway that the dog is frightened.
People are always telling me they’ve got good watchdogs because every
time the dog hears a noise, the dog growls at puts his hackles up. They’re dreaming.
No matter how impressive the
display, you can never rely on a weak nerved dog for protection. The only reason they haven’t run and hid is
because you’re right there. They can talk
much tougher when mom or dad is holding onto the leash.
Dogs are so much more confident
on their own turf that a lot of nerve problems get covered up. Imagine the purchaser of an adult dog going
to see the dog. The seller may even put
on a sleeve and give the dog a few bites, to really impress the purchaser. Be forewarned: playing sleeve tag with his owner on his own
property is not a stress test! It tells
you nothing. Get that same dog
out on a strange field, with his owner out of sight and see what happens.
But We
Only Wanted A Nice Pet!
To paraphrase Max von Stephanitz, GSD breeding is working dog breeding or ceases
to be GSD breeding.
There are already far more pet
dogs being born than there can ever be homes for them. There is no excuse for intentionally
producing pets.
Prospective puppy purchasers
must understand that if they go to a breeder who breeds “pets”, the odds are
astronomically high that they will find themselves stuck with a weak nerved,
unstable, untrustworthy pet. Breeders
who breed out of sentiment, ego or greed do not concern themselves with the
complexities of temperament. Nerves seem
to be especially sensitive to sloppy breeding.
A truly strong dog with good nerves is getting harder and harder to
find. You’re not likely to stumble upon
it by way of pet breeders.
The best pets come from breeders
who breed strictly to the SV standard.
In the best of breedings, not every pup is
going to have the same amount of drive and some will be placed in pet
homes. You’re chances of getting a sound
dog are far better by seeking out a real GSD breeder.
Even if your only goal is to
have a companion dog, you still need good nerves! A nervous, high strung spook dog makes a
lousy companion. Imagine having to lock
up your dog every time company comes over?
Or a dog you can’t trust with children?
How about a dog you can’t even obedience train reliably because the dog
is too busy freaking out every time you leave your own property?
Do not fall for big promises
from pet breeders. If their dogs truly
are stable, sound, trainable and protective, let them prove it on the field.
But,
My Dogs Do Work!
A few notches up from the
breed-for-pets crowd, there are breeders who resist the standard and argue that
since their dogs do some other type of work, they are suitable for
breeding. SAR, detection, K9, agility,
obedience, assistance and other dog jobs are wonderful and we would expect GSDs to excel in
these areas. But, they do not
sufficiently stress test the dogs.
Herding, under the German system is the only exception, as herding dogs
are expected to demonstrate protection abilities and courage. Thus, the HGH can be used in place of a Schutzhund title. Do
not confuse German style herding with AKC herding.
The other problem with relying
on some other type of work is that the plan lacks consistently. For example, suppose the breeder has a
working SAR dog who has demonstrated courage and confidence in training
situations. That’s good. But, what evidence to we
have that the dog can reproduce those traits in his offspring? How would we test that dog’s courage,
hardness and fighting instinct?
It gets really ridiculous when
breeders decide it’s okay to substitute an AKC
obedience title for a Schutzhund title, breed survey,
conformation rating and endurance test.
Also, keep in mind that not all nerve
problems manifest as plainly as the dog who shies away
from a strange object or puts his hackles up and barks at it. Nerve weaknesses can be very subtle, which
supports the value of a balanced breed suitability test. Consider the drug detection dog who falls out of a search when her handler gets too far away
from her. A lack of
drive? Could
be. But it could also be a nerve
problem if the dog is falling out of drive due to her anxiety when her handler
isn’t close.
This is why so many dogs are washed
out of law enforcement, not only for patrol work, but even for detection. Think a drug detection dog doesn’t need
strong nerves? Oh yeah? A weak nerved dog is not about to go away
from his handler into a strange warehouse with noisy machines to look for
drugs. This is the wrong time to find
out that the dog’s nerves aren’t as great as the breeder claimed.
Finding
the Good Ones
The puppy buyer can avoid a lot
of heartache by only considering pups from Real GSD breeders. The ones who breed to the SV standard and
understand what nerve strength looks like.
The breeders who are willing to stress test their
breeding stock and accept an objective evaluation, even when it hurts.
A dog with good nerve strength
is a joy. He can be trusted with
children. He is never a bully, he’s got nothing to prove because he knows he can
handle any situation that should arise.
And only a well bred dog with solid nerves is the dog you can rely upon
to keep you safe.
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Copyright 2002 Joy Tiz. Desert Thunder K9. All rights reserved.