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Date Posted: 20:10:38 10/26/10 Tue
Author: Dan G.
Subject: To clarify
In reply to: James Brennan 's message, "Re: Should Boerboels be led into the PP or Sport World?" on 00:19:40 10/26/10 Tue

I think people get lured into this breed and then caught up with the word "protector" and previously, the popular term of "natural protector". For those coming from sports and PP side, that word carries a lot of weight and means more than just a deterrent to a threat. They want to prove that (or at least they should want to) in their dogs. There are degrees as to how much pressure a dog can take and some of these sports or pp folks want to take it to extremes and test till their eyes turn blue or until the dog has shown it's limit. I am one of them and I've done it and will continue to do it simply because I immensely enjoy that aspect of the dogs mind.

But the reality is that 99% of the time, a deterrent is all you'll ever need. For that rare instance where you need something more.....well I guess if destiny is that desperate to kick you in the head, that it'll get a bad guy past a big dog with a strong bark, growl and some warning nips/bites, then I guess you're time was coming anyway.

For those professionals that are in harms way as a daily duty, such as soldiers or police officers, that is a completely different story. Their dogs have to be more than deterrents or "nip and runs". And they have to KNOW that the dog will go beyond it's natural behavior. They must get these dogs from breeders that breed for these unnatural traits and do so reliably, from lines that have been bred for many decades for these specific traits. This is where the sports and pp trainers come in. Watching and training with these dogs and people can be a ton of fun and the dogs can be amazing to watch (that's how I got hooked). The professionals are now heavily mixed with and even have to rely on the hobbyists from the general public to support the breeding programs and the sports. And this draws conflicts in those circles as well. These are not dogs that are really meant to be family fu fu dogs but yet, most of these same sports and pp people can't get past their human desire to tie them into their families. Can it be done? Sure, with a lot of care and the right person and dog, a hardcore protection dog can live amongst the family. In the same breath, you can also train a good BB for real protection work as well and get pretty good results. Should either of these be advocated? I personally don't think so.

If you need real security, get an alarm system and/or a gun. The dog, he should just be there to keep 99% of the would be bad guys from getting too close for comfort before meeting the alarm system or the gun. And I don't think dogs other than those used by professionals should be steered towards that specialty.

Good luck James. I think you're in the right frame of mind or on the right track and while I don't hold much hope for the BB crowds in agreeing to do anything (I speak from experience on this one), I don't think that there is that much that needs to be done anyway. It will evolve naturally into what it will.

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