Quote:
Originally Posted by durango11  Both of the dogs are female. And our chocolate lab is already fixed. Durango the older one is a beautiful dog and i have seen rotts that have longer noses. When i say longer i don't mean it is abnormal. Our dogs are checked on a regular basis and no vet has ever mentioned that either dog is not breeding material. Learning more everyday. We do not intend to breed dyna. I had hoped too but no longer. I believe she is timid because of the trauma she suffered when she was little. Durango i don't know what we will do for sure. I appreciate the advice but seems a little judgemental. I do not want to bring more animals into this world that will eventually end up in shelters or not cared for. There are enough already and i do not want to be a part of that. I just want to take care and love the ones that we have. If we do decide to breed "durango" it will be when we are "schooled" to do it right and responsibly. Thanks.... |
There's one thing I'd like to clarify for you in regards to temperament.
If a puppy with a good sound temperament has a traumatic occurance *granted, dyna's was very traumatic, given the injury sustained*, the puppy might have a problem for a bit, but it will be OK in the long run. I have a Yorkie pup in my class who's owner nearly killed him at 8 weeks by accidently stepping on his head. (OUCH) He is very confident despite his traumatic experience, although his owner learned in class that due to her guilt, she was babying him WAY too much, and at 12 weeks, he was the boss of her. Yorkie has a new sheriff in town this week. LOL This is a puppy with a good strong temperament.
If a puppy with a weaker temperament has a traumatic occurance, this bad stimuli has a way of maintaining a "hold" on the psyche. This puppy does not recover from what scares him very quickly, if at all.
Socialization, imprinting, etc... this is all done by consciencious breeders and owners who know that it's important to expose pups to external stimuli and assist the pups to recover from insecurities.
For the confident and sound pup, this is a breeze, and they will often never have much of a problem at all with the introduction of the world around them. If they do have a reluctant or fearful reaction, they RECOVER very quickly.
Again, for the pup who isn't quite as brave, and is of weaker temperament, he tends to react more dramatically, and recovers more slowly, if at all. It takes a lot of work, and consistent assistance to help this type of dog feel more at ease with the world around him.
This is hard wired temperament in a pup. Just as you and I have specific strengths and weaknesses that are inborn and hardwired (I'm sound sensitive, and was also a TERRIBLY shy child), we either overcome them during childhood with proper rearing, or we overcome them through understanding ourselves and working through these things (desensitizing), or we don't recover.
I've seen a pup who was a "woods pup", with very little human interaction until almost 12 weeks, no formal socialization, etc... grow up to be extremely sound environmentally, on the working field, etc... a very nice dog all around.
I've also owned a pup who was a "woods pup", and because of her weak inborn temperament, I could train her enough to build some confidence (mostly confidence in our relationship), but her fearful behavior was ALWAYS hiding under the surface, and it would pop out at the most inopportune times. After I realized I could not train away her dangerous behavior, I put her down... but it took 7 years for me to get that far in my knowledge and understanding of what was going on. I learned a LOT.
Why am I being long winded about this? Because it's important for you to be able to be honest about the dog you have sitting in your living room. Only then will you be able to offer her what she needs to be a reliable and "safe" dog. Hopefully this will spark an interest in you in regards to learning about dog behavior, genetics, and training. It's important for you to learn if you are reinforcing her shy behavior, or not. It's important for you to learn how to help Dyna learn that what does not kill her makes her stronger.
Hope this helps.