Performance Standards

Prey Drive

The degree to which a dog displays a prey drive is typically influenced by the breed of dog.

Prey drive is the innate desire to hunt, chase, catch, and kill prey. We typically observe this behavior when our dogs chase after anything that’s “running” away from them. There’s an instinctive response to catch and typically bite the object. The drive is transferable to nonfood items (balls, toys, tugs) and can often be accompanied by barking or excitability to “flush” the prey item and facilitate movement. This is a low stress drive where the dog is comfortable and unchallenged. Easily recognizable, prey drive is typically inherited, but one can argue that it can be built upon (conditioned) through training particularly from a very young age.

High prey drive is atypical of many mastiff types. A dog with low prey drive is likely to ignore a rabbit running by, where a high prey driven dog never could. By infusing mastiffs with bulldogs, terriers, and sighthounds, we greatly increase the inheritable prey drive.

Prey drive is useful in protection work as it is a low stress drive used towards bite development. By manipulating, rewarding, and conditioning the chase and bite instinct we begin to introduce and familiarize dogs with many of the fundamentals within protection and bite work.

Defense Drive

Mastiffs are well known for strong and intimidating defensive displays. What’s often failed to be understood is the biological significance of the drive in protection work.

Defense drive can arguably appear alongside other behaviors or drives (defense of prey, territory, pack members) or simply defense of self. Defensive drives manipulated during man work typically fall into the realm of self-preservation. The trigger stimulus for defensive drive is a threat or perception of a threat.

A dog typically only exhibits defensive behavior when they perceive a threat – they become worried or concerned that harm may come to them, so the true trigger of defensive behavior is the feeling of worry (stress) – this is a crucial point. The goal of defense drive is always the same – making what causes worry go away. This is achieved when a safe distance is reached between the dog and the perceived threat or when the perceived threat exhibits fear (avoidance).  

Territorial defense occurs when whatever the dog considers theirs (home, yard, car) displays this form of aggression over the potential loss of territory. The strength of their defensive response reflects age, confidence, training and nerve.

What it takes for your dog to exhibit defensive behavior ultimately speaks to their individual stimulus thresholds. Some dogs may require a high stimulus to prompt a defensive response, while others with a low stimulus may only need something such as subtle eye contact to illicit a defensive response.

Fight Drive

Fight drive is very controversial in the dog world, as not many people can agree upon its definition, let alone its presence. I consider fight drive to be a combination of both prey and defense. It cannot be trained into a dog but is instead an inheritable genetic trait that can be observed in mature dogs. Fight drive expresses itself through the willingness to go forward or stay in combat. It brings together a low prey drive threshold, and a high defensive threshold, which allows the dog to stay in the fight longer before flight (self-preservation) kicks in. The lower the dog’s defense threshold is, the faster flight kicks in.

 Whether or not there is a natural drive to “fight” is debatable (in game dogs it has been artificially selected for and is not a natural drive). Fight drive is a package consisting of a number of components which present themselves as individual drives, by products of training, and instinctual behaviors. How strong a dog’s fight drive is usually depends on how many of the components are useable in a dog’s training, how strongly the individual components are present in the dog, and how well promoted these components are when the dog is being assessed. These individual components that make up “fight drive” need to be conditioned, solidified and manipulated as to where a dog can easily switch between all the behaviors in its arsenal to deal with any situation they may encounter. Only then does the dog have strong “fight drive”.

What’s most important to our program is knowing not only recognizing breed specific behavior, but working with the unique individual components of each dog and designing the appropriate training and breeding program to suit our needs.

Stability/Nerve

When asked for what we find to be the most important trait, with no hesistation, we say stability. We demand a dog who is calm, confident and predictable, who can navigate obstacles, environments or situations without over reacting (submission, avoidance, fear aggression). When applied to serviceable dogs who work alongside/with man, we find this level of predictability to be of the utmost importance.

Instability, weak nerve, or excessive sharpness is typically expressed when dogs show an active defensive reaction (which can manifest itself in forward aggression) towards a real or perceived threat. What we do not stand for, is a dog who confronts insecurity with excessive forward aggression (or submission) without much provocation. These dogs can become massive liabilities – and in my opinion do not have the tools equipped to navigate the stresses of personal protection work, or a balanced life amongst modern society.

Unfortunately, many breeders are not trainers, and many trainers are not breeders. Aggressive pictures and videos, though flashy oftentimes do not decipher how/what has elicited such a response in the dog. These images are used as selling points, and often mislead potential clients on the dog’s actual temperament and overall stability.  We believe that weak nerved/insecure/unstable/sharpness found in dogs is genetic, and we do not tolerate these traits in our lines.

We want a confident dog with an on/off switch. Capable of engaging at the drop of a dime while being receptive to commands. We produce handler sensitive dogs who are clear headed, and highly responsive with fair and consistent training and communication with their handler.

Directabiltiy

One thing that frequently overlooked within the dog/handler relationship is directability; the willingness to follow the directions of a leader. This is not the same as a dog who works for a toy, a submissive dog, or one who requires a lot of coaxing. High-drive dogs that are eager to work and learn quickly are not necessarily examples of directable dogs. These dogs often figure things out quickly on their own accord in order to satisfy their drive, as if to say “I know, I know! Let me do it on my own!”

A directable dog welcomes guidance from the handler and does not see it as an interference in his quest to satisfy his drive. The directability of a dog shows in all phases of work; be it tracking, obedience, or protection. It allows the handler to forge a strong relationship with the dog. It does not mean the dog is dependent on the handler or that they lack confidence and need help. It simply means the dog can be shown what to do, and how, more easily.

By working to create unison with the dog, they work for, and with you. A working relationship built on trust and understanding is hard to beat.  By demanding more from your stock, you can demand more from your dog.

A note on Bitework*

For those interested in participating in Personal Protection or bite sports/bite work with select pairings from our dogs: Please understand the following:

Work bull breeds with the understanding of bull breed theory. Do not utilize decoys who apply herding dog behavior to dogs bred for combat when looking to excel in various dog sports. Failure to do so will typically result in the decoys saying your dog “doesn’t have it” due to the decoy failing to elicit the desired response, – or experiencing extremely slow progress. The problem isn’t the dog, it’s the approach. Where many decoys and trainers fail is their diagnosis and application. You must understand the (Breed) Principles before applying the Methods!

1. Herding dogs prey drive is based on not actually harming the flock they protected - making instinctive counters, or full mouth grips something one may have to condition. A combat dogs prey drive is based on baiting/fighting with another animal. Bull breeds prey drive is typically more offensive in nature and may be expressed through forward prey based aggression, instinctive counters, and consistently full grips.

2. Bull breeds thrive on conflict/pressure/contact. Pressure is not negative to them, they do not see it as a situation to be avoided. A herder will engage and enjoy the fight as well but may be more concerned with potential loss. A win or loss typically doesn’t occur to a bull breed until it happens. Apply appropriate pressure and watch your dog engage.

3. This speaks particularly to stimulus thresholds. The same stimulus threshold that may push a herder over the edge and into defense or survival mode, may just begin to scratch the surface of defense in a bull breed. Many do not perceive threats the same way a herder would and are typically less sharp. Present bull breeds with a challenge.

The Bull breed decoy must recognize what may appear to be defense is actually disguised as offensive/forward prey aggression. Offensive forward prey stimulated dogs may not engage defensively until adequate pressure is applied through contact – which may just begin to touch the surface of their defensive stimulus thresholds. One is not harder to train than the others. Herders have simply influenced and encouraged training standards with demonstrated success in many dog sports. Off breeds must be recognized and trained using techniques that cater to their strengths.