"If you have a dog which acts in a certain why, the point I was making is that you find undesirable you don't need to accept they are that way just because of the type or breed of dog you have."
As a general statement, this is just so wrong!
I very much agree! If you are going to make blanket statements about dogs it should be more of " Use positive dog training methods to help your dog become the best canine citizen he can be. Don't put up with annoying habits, when calm, fair training will help you and your dog."
You cant change basic genetics, and if someone has a hard temperment dog, all the socializing in the world is not going to change that. I think statements like yours leads to a false sense of security which will ultimately fail for newbie dog owners, leaving them with the short end of the stick, wondering what went wrong.
We have a member on here with a corso who does children's therapy work. FANTASTIC!!! I couldn't be prouder or more happy for them! However she is quick to point out not the norm for corsi. Having all people think that would be is false. I had a corso who was heavily socialized and I could take him anywhere safety. However, he would not have passed a test to do therapy work. LOTS of training and socializing made him acceptable in public, but being fawned over was not his thing. Most of that was my training skills and relationship with him. I knew to watch for signs he was meeting his threshold and took the necessary steps to make him more comfortable? Bad citizen? No Bad Dog? No Breed correct temperament? Yes You cant get a guardian dog and ever think you can relax and enjoy without being vigilant. It's irresponsible as your blanket statement of "turn them lab like" Controlled instincts are a far cry from happy-joy-love of a lab.
Same theory different instinct. I also own a cattle dog. Her instinct is to go all day at 100% or sleep. Her instinct is to herd, round, nip, chase. It is what makes her good at her job. It's why the breed was created. She was also trained, she is also socialized. What you are basically saying is with proper training she would love an apartment. Nope, it's why so many are in rescue across this country. You can't change it. She needs to go, she is not happy of she is not. She would turn neurotic if left alone in a kennel 8 hours a day. However, I can walk her around my farm or in public and she won't chase a thing. That is training. However she literally whines and vibrates and occasionally drools if there are people/animals running and I have her in heel or down/stay. That is genetics, and the most magical trainer in the world cant change that with fairy dust.
I have a central asian shepherd, fairly primitive breed. again all appropriate training and socialization has happened. He was even shown when he was younger. He is very true to breed standard in temperament. If no one touches him he is fine. He certainly is not aggressive. However random petting from strangers is not tolerated. The older he gets, the less he will take. No less training went into it, but nothing in this world is going to convince him someone should be touching him. Our in depth training taught him correct warning signals and to let me handle the situation. A tight lip most would not notice, to me means ENOUGH! His litter mate thinks people are there to fawn on him. He's never met a stranger. He is not a working dog temp, and is in fact a show dog (#3 breed this year).
I guess the point to my ramblings, is while you may have meant your dog needs to be well trained, you can not, in fact, change genetics. Yes there are individuals of all breeds that are more friendly than breed norm, or less active, or drivy-er. It happens. Just like every species, there are odd balls that don't fit in. But my concern is someone meeting your breed, thinking it's a great dog, they should get one. When they have no idea the amount of time and dedication it takes to make your dog like that, or maybe doesn't realize your dog isn't the norm but the exception. You mentioned you have (or had) NM. It is great that you can work with them and make them like they are. But what if the people reading this are not dog trainers? What if they only have 30 min -hr a day to train? What if they just don't have the timing and "knack" it takes to meet those high levels of training? Dog training takes practice and skill, just as anything else. It's a false sense of security to tell the average dog owner " You too can have a NM that loves general public". Nope, chances are they can't. (and IMO, shouldn't, but that's a different matter) And when it backfires, possibly with disastrous consequences, who's at fault?
. No matter what we did or what trainer we talked to, she would rather sit by the window and let us know when there was someone walking on her sidewalk or god forbid if there was a bird that landed on her bushes.
