[cally01]

Great post Iblax :)

I feel a majority of mauling attacks are due to predatory drift not guarding behavior. When you read about a mauling attack it is normally against someone who is weaker such as children, women etc.

I went through a horrible time with my Rottweiler Athena when I first rescued her. She had been left tied in a backyard with (to my knowledge) no socialization for her 1st year of life.

She is smart, sweet and wonderful, but, I learned a lot about predatory drives and how even wonderful sweet well trained dogs can go into predatory drift over certain actions or noises etc. I worked with an animal behaviorist who helped me a great deal to understand drives etc. Athena attacked me due to predatory drift twice when I first rescued her, these could have been much more serious had I not been a strong girl who could wrestle her to the ground. I have seen first hand a sweet, loving well trained smart dog go into predatory drift and I started learning what would trigger this...for example running towards her in a non confident manner, waving arms, high pitched screams or getting too excited etc. She still tries to herd the other dogs in the house hold and will display predatory drift towards them at times as well. It's neat to see how the other house hold dogs react, as soon as they see Athena go into predatory drift (slight drop of the head and standing stock still) the other dog stops moving and freezes. Athena will stare at them for quite awhile until they move then she will run after them and try to herd them. This is why children are taught to freeze and stand like a tree around a strange dog as for some reason they will not chase until the prey object moves it's a neat motor pattern eye stalk.

Athena is much adored by my Vet as you can do anything to her and she trusts me and the Vet (for example playing with porcupines I had to pull quills from her mouth, face etc she just sat there and held her mouth open). So she is not aggressive per say, but, some actions will put her into predatory drift which is dangerous. But, these drives would probably be a bonus if she were a working dog. I learned a lot about drives and behavioral conformation over the past few years. Even good dogs can be so called unpredictable at times, but, if you know your breed and the drives and the socialization they received they really are not unpredictable at all. It's all about learning to direct and channel these drives and realizing that this breed was at one time a working dog with enhanced drives to do their job. Sometimes dogs with intense drives can be horrible pets lol

I went through a lot with Athena, but, I love her so much more because she taught me so much. If I had just continued having perfect dogs all my life I wouldn't have understood how predatory drift can be so dangerous if the dog has not imprinted or been socialized properly. She is now 8 1/2 years old and my perfect little snuggle bun, but, I never kid myself about her drives and her lack of socialization with some species and especially small dogs.