Developing
Drive In your German Shepherd Puppy
FOR SCHUTZHUND
WORK
Building Phases
in the Protection Work for the young Dog (as printed
in the September issue of SV Zeitung 1981)
By Bernhardt
Mannel, translated by Helga Frey
I want to talk
about “recognizing the drive and instincts, and
the individual building phases in the protection work
with a young dog”. I would like to introduce you
to a method which I have advocated since 1965, In doing
so I have found many friends as well as many critics.
I do not believe in the saying “what the farmer
doesn’t know he doesn’t eat” So I
have made a sincere effort to learn about the facts
that have been obtained through scientific research
and have put them into use in my every day work.
The recognition
of drives and instincts is nothing new – but the
certain ‘know how’ is something that can
only be derived from working with the live animal, when
we try to understand out dog. We humans are able to
think logically – our dog cannot, he can only
associate what is to his advantage.
Through the
recognition of the instincts and drives, and by working
with them, we were able to make use of the utility dog
properties for out protection training. As long as 80
years ago Rittmeister von Stephanitz was the pioneer
in this field, as well as later on the police dog trainers
Most and Boettcher, who – in 1909 – broke
away from the humanization of the companion dog and
introduced training methods that are based on scientific
research. Dear Sportsfriends, these gentlemen were teachers
who were about 80 years ahead of their time!
From the infancy states of the protection and utility
dog we have now emerged into today’s dogsport.
The requirements of the protection work are laid out
in the trail rule book, wherein the helper in his protective
clothing is the central focus, and the sleeve is the
bit target for the dog; consequently, for the dog the
sleeve is the prey – for us the 100 points tare
the desired training goal!
I want to talk
only about the most important factors, those which are
the greatest help towards that goal – and every
dog handler should be able to recognize them. I want
to talk to you in the language that every dog handler
understands – the language that seems to be understood
universally when it comes to dog training.
THE TEMPERAMENT
We evaluate the
dog’s and natural way of interesting is only a
small part of it. The temperament is dictated by his
instincts and drives. His drives are brought to the
surface through (1) his own instincts and (2) the stimulation
he receives from the outside world. If not channeled
properly, these can develop into uncontrollable behaviour
towards his surroundings.
Let us start
by watching the young dog during the age where he is
leaning to mind. The puppy leaves the pack and is placerd
with a new pack leader – a person. Now starts
the age where he must lean to mind – which is
strongly influenced by his new pack leader. Within a
period of ‘getting to know the puppy’ and
interacting with him, we recognize his willingness for
submission to his master. If the dog only feels secure
when he is near his handler, this would indicate a strong
development of his pack instinct. Does the dog already
show a tendency to be able to occupy himself, does he
discover the world around him by ‘using his nose’,
does he start to follow tracks if so, then this would
indicate a strong development of his scenting instinct
which, even at this early stage, should be encouraged.
If the dog scents with a high nose he is displaying
a trailing instinct. Does the dog show and interest
in moving object, such as ball, is he interested in
other things that move – then this would be a
indication of his yet unawakened prey instinct, which
I should now try to develop through his play instinct.
This means the
dog learns to ‘make prey’ Through ‘
making prey’ the dog develops his self-confidence.
By letting him have the prey he experiences a feeling
of success. His prey can be a ball, a stick or a small
sack. All this is done at the age where he ‘learns
to mind;. His ‘learning to mind’ consists
of a focus on the positive instinct as they pertain
to the dogs’ self – survival instinct. I
must encourage his drive to be active. He receives his
emotional strength through this muscle strength and
his temperament. The temperament is expressed through
his physical activity and the enjoyment in whatever
he is doing. The fighting instinct is encourage through
his play instinct and by ‘making prey’.
We want to suppress
the negative traits during this age period. A developing
hinting instinct should be discourage by introducing
an alternate action such a playing with the ball. All
use of force which tends to develop the pack instinct
must be avoided at this stage. It is possible to stop
any drive or instinct development relatively quickly
when we can recognize it is starting to develop, but
it is already too late to stop it when the dog has fully
developed it! It would be rather negative to encourage
development of the pack instinct in the young dog during
this age period where he ‘learns to mind’
which can be done by placing too much emphasis on exaggerated
obedience; this will only result in turning a happy
and positive dog into a subservient one. Later on this
type of dog usually displays rather negative tendencies
in his protective drives and this combined with a low
stress level, results in the saying ‘a young dog
that barks a lot has a need for it. ’The young
dog that displays and inner calmness usually is well
able to withstand the stresses that are place upon him
by the outside world. The amount of stress that can
be placed on a dog must be determined by evaluating
his nervous system and his emotional balance. There
should be not doubt that our dog has a soul and experiences
emotions. I No later than after the dog has finished
teething with he deal with his surrounding on an emotional
basis. Some avoidance behavior that was not apparent
earlier may surface. Things that the dog has not encountered
before may startle him. How effectively he can deal
with these things depends on his stress lever. Quick
excitement – which is outwardly indicated by the
dog having his hackles up, by growling, by the slightly
tucked tail – gives him an indication that he
has a tendency toward a low stress level, which is always
and adjunct of the dog’s temperament. I need no
mention that in the overall framework of his self –
survival instinct, his flight instinct here is most
pronounced. Also, it the dog turns and runs from whatever
has startled him, this too should be recognized as a
negative trait. Her again, his low stress level is the
reason for his negative behaviour.
In contract
to him the dog with the medium stress level will get
a hold of himself quickly after something unknown to
his has startled him, he will usually assume a strutting
position and will start ot investigate what has startled
him.
The dog with
the high stress level who, even at this young age, has
a sound nervous system will notice the startling object
and then will accept it as though nothing at all had
happened.
To be able to recognize the stress level in a young
dog it an absolute MUST for good helper work during
the building phases of the protection work with a young
dog. Even now we can already determine how much stress
we can place on the young dog at this age. A soft dog
will appear quite sensitive and will cater to the whims
of his master quickly, and he is prone to ‘pout’;
a hard dog will retain his uninhibited and happy disposition
with the sane amount of stress being placed on him.
Around six months of age, sometimes sooner – sometimes
later, the dog will start to display his first protective
tendencies. These vary with the different working or
utility dog breeds. The first positive behaviour, a
display of over aggression, wanting to bite, hackles
up (these are mostly dogs who have a pronounce pack
instinct) is nothing other than a display of negative
traits in the course of his further development. Those
are the dogs that cover up their weaknesses by becoming
aggressive. May dog handlers in such a case falsely
believe that ‘they have a tiger by the tail’.
Having a fight back only covers up the dog’s unsureness.
The opposite is the case when we do not know how to
channel the dog’s behavior into the right direction
through constructive discipline and encouragement. Weaknesses
will surface again and again when the dog has been pushed
beyond his stress level.
Later on in
the dog’s further development the puberty age
will play an important part. We cannot say exactly at
what age this starts and when it ends. We should watch
our dog, and if we see him ‘act tough’ around
other dogs, when he starts to lift his leg to mark his
territory, that is usually an indicaton. If he displays
singns of unsureness that are brought about by this
puberty period, this should not give us a reason to
feel that there is ‘something wrong with him’.
Especially during the teething period and the puberty
period our dog needs our understanding and our patience,
and we must help him over that precarious period in
his life. Every dog throughout his lifetime is more
or less a product of his handle r – and there
is good reason for saying ‘like master, like dog;.
By playing with our dog – through the play instinct
– we encourage his self – survival instinct,
his prey instinct and his self – defenses instinct,
his instinct to fetch, we build his temperament and
his endurance - and it is also possible through; the
play instinct to eliminate certain insecurities. How
lucky is the dog with a pack leader who understands
his dog’s emotional needs as opposed to the dog
whose life is spent in a kennel with only his own kind!.
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