When breeders advertise..'natural suspicion", is this a good thing or a bad thing?
There is a common thread here on the forum of "my dog is reactive, my dog barks at people standing alone, my dog hackles at an unusual object, my dog is suspicious of strange people, my dog barks when someone knocks at the door, etc."
So, in looking a some websites of what I consider reputable breeders, I see in the description of their breeding dogs.."natural suspicion". I beleive they are promoting this as a good thing.
Would it be wrong to think that this is exactly the reason the above problems are existing? But, what would a GSD be without natural suspicion?...would it be a golden retreiver? Are the problems occuring because the natural suspicion is not balanced with strong nerves? Or is it training problems or lack there-of? I feel there must be a delicate balance to allow the dog to express this element of its DNA without making it a basket case by trying to mold it into a golden retriever.
If GSD's are supposed to have "natural suspicion" then it seems like many of these "problems" are normal behavior and the handling of the dog needs modified to help it succeed. Things you might do with a lab or golden would not be appropriate for a gsd, thus the problems.
So, that is my theorizing for the day..back to the question : do you think natural suspicion is what you look for in a good example of a gsd?
There is a common thread here on the forum of "my dog is reactive, my dog barks at people standing alone, my dog hackles at an unusual object, my dog is suspicious of strange people, my dog barks when someone knocks at the door, etc."
So, in looking a some websites of what I consider reputable breeders, I see in the description of their breeding dogs.."natural suspicion". I beleive they are promoting this as a good thing.
Would it be wrong to think that this is exactly the reason the above problems are existing? But, what would a GSD be without natural suspicion?...would it be a golden retreiver? Are the problems occuring because the natural suspicion is not balanced with strong nerves? Or is it training problems or lack there-of? I feel there must be a delicate balance to allow the dog to express this element of its DNA without making it a basket case by trying to mold it into a golden retriever.
If GSD's are supposed to have "natural suspicion" then it seems like many of these "problems" are normal behavior and the handling of the dog needs modified to help it succeed. Things you might do with a lab or golden would not be appropriate for a gsd, thus the problems.
So, that is my theorizing for the day..back to the question : do you think natural suspicion is what you look for in a good example of a gsd?