[Mick Trainer]

This once again is another post I wrote a while ago, but with so many new people on the forum now there will probably be many that have not read it who will gain a better understanding of canine behavior from it. This is only a very basic look into nerve and how it influences canine behavior. Doing a search on the forum for Defensive drive will give you more info regards this topic. I hope in the not too distant future to post an advanced nerve threory. Enjoy.

Nerve Strength and Thresholds:

There has been much written recently about the dogs nerves and how this related to their behavior. I write this post to help clear some of this up, in the hope that it may be of help to those with behavioral problems, and for those with young dogs or those purchasing a dog in the future so as they may avoid such problems.

I feel at this point that I must define a few words so that there is no confusion as to their meaning.

Drive: "describes part of an inherited trait which serves to sustain life and species". It is where the dog is exibiting behavior where it has a sole focus to achieve a desired goal.

Thresehold: The point where a dog is said to go into drive or where a dog goes from one drive into another.

Defencive Drive: This is where the dog is defending life, territory, food, pack etc. The dog will show aggression towards the/an object with the sole purpose of putting that object into avoidance (moving away from the dog). The trigger stimulas for a dog going into defencive drive is threat or the perception of threat. Defencive behaviors can include True aggression, Staring, a widening of the stance, Hair up on the back/neck area. A dog reaction too and ability to deal with a threat depends largely on the strength of this drive.

Avoidance: Avoidance is where the dog wishes to avoid the confrontation. The most common example of this is running away from the object.(It may not always be as clear as this). In the end the dog is putting distance between him and the object.

When trainers talk about a dogs nerve strenght they are talking about the dogs ability to deal with and to recover from stress, and particularly stress caused through threat. Nerve strenghts are normally devided up into three main catagorise. Weak, mid strenght and strong.

A dog that is said to be of low or weak nerve strenght is a dog that is basically nervous in it's temperament. This dog will spook very easily and may take much time to recover. This dog will go into it's defencive drive with very low levels of stimulation and will also go in to avoidance behavior not long after. Common examples of these dogs are dogs that show large amounts of aggression towards people when these people have shown no real threat to either dog or handler. Dogs that work the gate or bark at even the slightest of noise without being trained to do so are doing this as they are nervous of what that noise may be.

Although to the uneducated these dogs may seem to be a good guard dog (most people that own this sort of dog believe they have tiger by the tail) the truth is that with any real pressure these dogs will go into avoidance behavior and back off. These dogs are also very likely to bite the wrong person and will often bite out of self defence (Fear biter).
Weak Nerve or low threshold dogs can be and should be helped by professional trainers. These dogs confidence must be lifted up so as they are not spooked into defencive aggression at such a low level.

Mid Strength nerved, dogs are those that make up the majority of dogs in the community. These dogs can be spooked and frightened but it is at level that is not seen almost every day as the weak nerved dogs are. These dogs will show signs of stress but will recover from it quite quickly. They will bark and alarm the pack (owner) to strange goings on but will not show full blown aggression (hair up, teeth out etc) until truly threatened. These dogs will happily greet new people and objects without fear but with the right training will defend their owner against real and direct threats. Without the direct threat no aggression will be shown.

These dogs make up the group of dogs that will suit the average family house hold, that want a friendly happy dog that is safe with strangers and their children but will make a fine watch dog.

Strong Nerve: A dog is said to be of high nerve strength or a high threshold dog when the level of stimulas needed for this dog to instigate it's defencive drive is at such a high level that it is rarely seen. These dog posses true self confidence and feel that there is very little in this world that is of true threat to them. These dogs rarely, if ever exibit defencive aggression as there is very little that is seen as a real threat (the stimulas for defence).

These dogs in the right hands can make excellent pets, but can in the wrong and if accompanied by a high rank drive, may produce very dominant/rank dogs that will happily challenge the owner. This is due to there high levels of confidence and thus the fact that they will back themselves in when confronted. These dogs can make the best police service or riot dogs. These dogs often posses Active Aggression where they see every challenge in their lives as a direct challenge to their athourity. With their true confidence they are unlikely to back down.

Nerve strength can be greatly affected by many outside influences. The most important being upbringing and in particular early socialisation. A dog that has had a hard or abused upbrining or a lack of socialisation will generally have a lower nerve threshold then when it was born. The opposite is also true.

Age is another aspect that can greatly affect nerve strength. It is widely believed that a dog will not be of full nerve strength until a minimum of 18 months and as late as 3 years of age.

I can hear people saying "How does this relate to me?" Simply take a look at your dog if you feel that it reacts to threat to easily then seek professional help and try to boost the dogs confidence. A dog that reacts like that of a low nerve threshold dog is a danger to all it meets and when pushed is unlikely to protect it's owner.

If you are buying a new dog then think about what you want the dog for. If you are after a family pet then pick a dog with good mid range nerve threshold (make sure the parents have the same) as this will help to ensure that the dog is not a fear biter. If you are after a dog for your personal protection then get a mid to high nerve dog as this will help for later work. Remember the sooner the dog goes into it's defencive drive the earlier it will show avoidance (as a general rule). If you expect the dog to protect you it must be able to access a clear and present danger and have the confidence to combat it.

What's happening in the breed now? Unfortunately in recent times the nerve strength of the Rottweiler has been reduced considerably. This is due to many factors such as poor breeding by money hungry breeders, a reduction in the number of working dogs, breeders breeding for titles without considering the temperament of the dogs, I could go on and on and on. This breed was originally breed to be a working dog and until recent times was extensively bred for their working abilities. Now however it is becoming ever more difficult to find dogs that could do personal protection or police service work. Some would say "So what. I don't want that any way". The reason these dogs cannot do this type of work is due to their confidence being wained. As their confidence goes the incidence of fear biting will continue to increase. I personally fell in love with this breed due to the incredible soundness, loyalty and stability of their temperament. It is this soundness etc that is being lost as the working ability deminishes. So it does not matter weather you want a police service dog or a couch potatoe, if you want a sound, calm temperament then confidence is a must.

I hope this helps in some way to clear up some misconceptions about nerve strenght. If it leaves you with any questions please feel free to remail or mail me directly.

Mick.