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Date Posted: 11:28:23 08/18/07 Sat
Author: Dan G.
Subject: Re: Jessica works Akiva - 9mos old Boerboel
In reply to: Ed B 's message, "Re: Jessica works Akiva - 9mos old Boerboel" on 08:51:37 08/18/07 Sat

That being the case, she's doing fine. I'm not personally concerned with having a focused dog that stares intently at me or an excited dog that is itching for you to hand over the treat or toy after the command is finished. People interpret this as a "happy" dog because that's the visual interpretation that it puts forward. It's staring intently, so therefore it looks like it's just enamored with you, let alone obedient. It bounces at every step, well that looks like the dog is practically floating on air with it's head up high looking at it's master. A pretty picture no doubt. But so are showdogs.

IMO if anything the dog is anxious, not happy. It stares because it's waiting for the reward, it's prancing because it's being kept below the line of barely breaking the heel and going for the treat/toy that it wants. A happy dog is a dog that's relaxed. A dog that's relaxed has it's head down and will look around to see what's going on around him. That's what I personally want. And yes, when I say, "Get over here" I want him to get over here. Not with his head propped up and prancing over to me, just for him to......well......get over here. Your dog looks relaxed and calm. Clear headed calm is always my goal, no matter how drab it may look to a human. But if that dog goes for a cat out in public, then I'd much rather have a dog that can be shutdown than a dog that has been trained to focus at my eyes when I'm hiding it's toy.

Question is, can you have both? Sure, it's alot more work than choosing just one or the other, but if you want to make a pretty display for people or compete where that is a desired behavior and yet also have a dog that is reliable when it counts, then yes it can be done and it is often done. Do you need it for anything other than that? Not at all.

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