| I agree with Rottnvegas in that all you are doing by wanting Diesel to Protect you without the correct training is to confuse him and to place strangers, yourself and Diesel in a true position of danger. If Diesel is to protect you then he needs to understand who he is to protect you against. At the present you wont him to defend you and to make a decision as to who from. So then when he goes to protect you from this person standing to close to him he is told off. Of course over several repatitions he will learn not to do this. So then when a real life senario comes along he will be thinking "ugh uh, I ain't falling for that" and do nothing. For a dog to be a safe, sound member of society that can be trusted around strangers and be depended upon to defend its owner in a real life situation he must be trained so as to learn who is and who is not a threat and who he/she is to defend against. To rely on instinct is to run a very big risk of the dog getting it wrong and biting someone who is totally innocent. So I agree that you need to make a decision and train him or just train him to be a pet that at least you can rely on not to get it wrong.
As for the senarios your husband did, firstly I do not like them, secondly they show you nothing except that your dog does suffer the potential for weakness and going into avoidance in a real life situation. "How so" I can hear you asking? Well firslty let me tell you that your dog will be comfortable with your husband and will not feel the same stress he would feel under a real life senario. Having been involved in real life work before the atmosphere around these situations is full-on and really does test a dogs resolve. Further to this is that your husband did not need to go to the doctor or hospital. Your dog has not bitten with all his might otherwise there would be many holes in your husband right now and quite possably broken bones. This could be from many different reasons. Firslty is that Diesel was not commited to the fight due to conflict with the fact it was your husband and his master (you may be his number one but there would be some relationship with your husband). The other reason is that Diesel hesitated due to nerve and a lack of true commitment to the fight due to fear. I doubt that this is the case but it is possible. Either way the lack of commitment shows that the test is firstly useless and secondly only really shows a weakness within diesel. This does not mean he cannot be trained just that he is not reliable due to this test.
I do not like senarios on such a dog as yet as he has not been taught the combative skills to deal with such a threat. But with training, real life senarios certainly serve a purpose, but for me it is unrealistic for a dog to combat such a threat without the training necessary to do so. In our every day life we rightly teach our dogs not to bite people. This is just common sence. But then we expect them to turn around and fight one or more creatures that can be two or three times it's size with gusto and vigor. This is unrealisitic on many fronts. Firslty is the physicalness of it. Secondly is the metal strength necessary for such work. A dog that is to fight a human, who does not fear him/her, who is vastly stronger, who physically resembles a master who he is subordanate to (if you as a human are superior to him and he does not combat you then what is in his mind when this senario presents itself. Further to this is that in a dogs hierachial system the "Alpha" does the cambating if the pack is under threat. In this case that means you. This is why dogs often bite their owner in a fight situation as the dog wishes to be on the winning side of this dominance dispute which may mean he/she comes in to finish you off), must do so with a clear head and be totally commited to the fight. If in the back of the dogs mind is a thought of "mum says I cannot do this" then the dog will go in half hearted. Many, many police handlers will tell you about a dog that was not committed to the fight and how this did nothing more but put them and the other police officers in great risk. The dog must believe that he can beat anyone, anywhere, at anytime if he is going to be an effective guardian in real life. This in the vast majority of cases only comes with experience and training.
So for me if you want a dog for PP then it MUST be trained. If not then it is trained to be a pet. In saying all this above this does not in anyway mean a dog cannot be a pet and a protector. All my dogs are pets first and protectors second. They are all friendly, sociable dogs who enjoy the company of children (and who go to kindergartens to teach children how to interact with children), who behave in the show ring, etc etc etc. They are trained that the only time that they are to combat a person is on my say-so and if I am physically attacked and that they are to stop instantly once again on my say so. In these times they are totally commited to doing the job as this is what their training dictates. This way there is no grey area. Black and White. I am at no time relying on an animal with a very low interlect to dictate who is and who is not a threat.
I hope that this clear is up for you,
Mick.  |