SCHUTZHUND - Schutzhund Training

Subject: social aggression and breeding

**** These are some interesting and, I would say

,generally accurate comments. There are some

implications of this general type of temperament that

are worth considering. (this is a temperament that I

personally like in a dog but feel it often is sought

out be people who shouldn't have such a dog because

other people make it out to be the ultimate in a dog

and there's often a lot of machismo associated with

desiring or owning such dogs on the part of many

people.)

I see social aggression as a desirable trait that is

> harder to find because some see it as a temperament

fault and breed

away

> from it.

**** This almost totally explains the weak temperament

in American show dogs of the working breeds. When

these dogs are encountered by people with neither

interest in nor understanding of working K9s they are

very much intimidated by this personality and tend to

breed away from the best (most dominant but stable) of

them. This relates very closely to the next

observation.

> A dog with social aggression requires a greater

degree of

> responsibility on the part of the handler. To me

social aggression in

a

> stable dog is aggression toward people outside of

the dog's pack

simply

> because they are not part of the pack. The dog has

lower

> approachability.

**** As you allude to in your next sentence, this

trait is often associated with more dominant

personality, however, it can exist in all levels of

natural dominance within the litter and can be there

whether the dog is naturally stable or not. In less

naturally dominant dogs or less stable dogs this can

lead to fear biting. (not an untrainable condition,

just a concern) That said I would say that not only

do these dogs require more responsibility on the part

of the owner but to a much higher degree on those

breeding them. It is vital to make sure that both the

naturally high alpha dogs as well as the naturally low

beta dogs go to particularly good homes, whether

working or not.

Also, when dogs from these types of bloodlines are

breed to dogs that come from naturally much weaker

temperament and nerves (like the poorest of the high

line dogs) the offspring can be real Frankenstein's,

having natural social aggression without an confidence

to go with it or nerves strong enough to withstand the

typical training responses that their poor behavior

will draw from many trainers and handlers. These dogs

tend to hackle intensely at young ages and bounce

between fight and flight behaviors. They also often

end up responding very aggressively to their handlers

when corrected physically for such behavior because

they are already emotionally overloaded and view the

correction as an attack from another quarter. This is

very different from the handler aggression that the

best of the f1 dogs may show to handler, that being

simply a fight for dominance (assuming the training is

good an understandable to the dog).

The point here being that one needs to be careful

when breeding socially aggressive dogs, even when they

are temperamentally excellent and very stable. These

dogs should generally be bred to dogs with similar

temperament, or at least very strong and stable

temperaments, and breeders should generally not use

these dogs to try to "improve" hardness in

significantly weaker dogs. It is a much better

strategy to try to improve those weak dogs by breeding

to lines with more hardness and stability but

relatively low suspicion levels or social aggression.

Perhaps if that gives good results one could consider

bringing in some level of social aggression in a later

generation, first the nerves and sociability should be

improved.

As with anything that is on the edge of normal

parameters one needs to be mindful of individuals that

may be to far outside the norm.

Usually this aggression is paired with a dominant

> attitude in the dog.

**** Yes, this is very common and is generally

considered a good thing by good handlers who like

strong dogs. Often such a puppy goes out to a home

which is not up to the task and becomes a bit of

terror but when passed on to a more appropriate home

becomes an almost instant superstar, at least in

bite work.

One should always keep in mind that not all dogs

from these types of lines will be a naturally dominant

dog and often the more middle dogs relative to pack

dominance can be really great dogs for handlers not up

for the most challenging dogs but who want a dog who

really brings a lot to the table.

Mark McCabe

Maryland Center for Canine Behavior

BTW, one other caution, especially when dealing with

malinois, don't assume that because a dog shows

handler aggression it is therefore either a great dog

or a naturally strong and dominant dog. This can often

actually be a sign of weak nerves or...BAD TRAINING!

When a dog is confused and feels he's being punished

no matter what he does he gets to a point where

there's really only one way out of the box...through

the handler.