Posted by Ron Ackerman While it is true that Schutzhund, French Ring, Mondio Ring, Protection Sports Association, American Street Ring and others are dominated by the herders breeds such as the Malinois, GSD and Dutch Shepherd and even though the police and military service dog programs almost exclusively use these breeds, are other breeds unsuitable for these venues and tasks. I believe the answer is a resounding, NO! The main reason why the herder breeds have attained the popularity they enjoy today as working dogs is purely economic. Basically, there are a lot of them available. But also, they mature faster, enabling them to begin and finish training at an earlier age. This saves money. They normally live longer therefore they have a longer working life than a larger Molosser breed. This saves money. Because of the high prey drives and high energy levels favored in these herder breeds they are easier to train and often may be trained by a less skillful and experienced trainer to the levels required of them. This saves money. So, saving time and money, along with a lack of expertise in training the big guys is my answer to why you don’t see them on dog sports winners’ podiums or widely used as PSDs or MWDs, not because the breeds are not capable. A Personal Protection Dog (PPD) should have three very important attributes. These I refer to as the three D’s. DETECT a possible threat, DETER that threat from becoming a reality and DEFEND its handler if the threat escalates into a confrontation. A PPD doesn’t need to track down a threat, let the police do that. A PPD shouldn’t need to scale a six foot wall or swim across a creek to protect its handler, if the threat is behind a wall or across the creek; you should be able to retreat to a safe position. A PPD should be a highly social animal, remember, it cannot protect its handler if it has to be kenneled, left in the vehicle or, even worse, chained to a tree in the backyard, because it believes all strangers are a threat. The Fila Brasileiro, and most guardian breeds, can characteristically DETECT a stranger’s intent and character better and quicker than its handler ever could. A Fila Brasileiro certainly would rate high in the DETER aspect, just from its physical appearance and size. The Fila Brasileiro’s DEFEND trait, while somewhat natural, needs to be taught, nurtured and proofed by a professional trainer. Patience, and a lot of it, is the quality most required by the owner/handler and also the trainer of Mastiff breeds. Small slow steps, always moving forward toward the goal, are much better than two big fast steps forward and then three steps backward. Remember the parable of the Tortoise and the Hare! Nothing could be truer in the training of a dog.
on September 12, 2007, 1:11 am
71.14.142.246
I just read a post and a series of replies on a well known, competition oriented, message board. The general consensus was that Dobermanns, Rottweilers and Bull Mastiffs have been genetically watered down by breeders so much that they are mostly failures as personal protection and/or “sport” dogs. Reading between the lines, they would also consider it a waste of their time attempting to train any of the Molosser breeds, Cane Corso, Presa Canario, Fila Brasileiro, etc. in protection disciplines. Their deduction, as well as those expressed in many other posts on different protection message boards, seems to be that the only suitable dog to train for “bite work” these days is the Belgium Malinois.
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