[Mick Trainer]

Mick - I was thinking about this...I think what I see more of are a large number of dogs who have been offering behaviors like mad all their young lives and had nothing but adverse reactions from their owners/handlers which resulted in the dog shutting down. It is my biggest frustration when watching folks train their dogs that most are completely incapable of recognizing their dog's attempts to do what they are being asked, even if they have no clue what it is that is wanted!, and seeing the owner/handler either not recognize and acknowledge the attempt or, worse yet, CORRECTING it!

I give the analogy of telling a 4 year old child to say the alphabet then popping them on the top of the head when it is wrong! How many times does one think they are going to TRY???? I think that not acknowledging an offered behavior/correcting it ends up in the attitude you describe; dog "withdraws" because he has offered his heart multiple times only to have it stomped on!

It is why I cannot abide giving lessons to the general public; they drive me MAD! There is absolutly no doubt a number of the dogs I see have been treated as such and act accordingly yet I still see a larger amount of such dogs now than I have in the past when the handling and training was much harder and more compulsive based than it is now days. I truly feel that breeders are using dogs that show such behavior more than they have in the past. Don't get me wrong it is not all Rotts etc but I see it alot. Now there is no doubt that due top what I do I see the ones with problems and my sample group would be considered small and so many of them come from the same few sires but there is no doubt to me that I see less truly directable, strong dogs than I have in the past. I feel that it is due to so many of the dogs being used to breed do nothing else but be in the show ring and sit in a run where directability is not needed nor to a degree desired. You used the word "versatility", I think this is what we may be loosing.

Mick.