Temperament

This is mostly to elaborate on the temperament issues with my dog.

Most people who meet my dog would say she is friendly and she IS friendly, but she is also unconfident.  This is not typically exhibited when she is NOT being touched.  She will lay quietly while I talk to someone.  She will look calm and self composed. 

And she is.. until anyone goes to pet her.  Lay a hand on her, and the lack of confidence and weakness in nerve leaks out like a filled water bucket full of holes!

First she wiggles and spins.. which is often misinterpreted as being excited.  OK.. some of it IS being excited about getting attention but the spinning is very rapid and there is a level of avoiding any calm petting.  She ducks her head and avoids contact initiated by the person.. and insteads rubs on them.  She will vocalize, howling and and so forth and THAT is no longer excitement, but her unconfidence 'leaking.' 

At the same time she starts to flick her tongue and to lick the person petting her with an obsession.  If it stayed licking it would not be a problem, but she gets her teeth in there and pinches and she CAN break the skin.  Her eyes roll and you can see the whites of her eyes.. which is another indication of unconfidence.  Her ears are down and close to her head in a very submissive posture.  She almost looks like she is apologizing for being a dog. 

She is in total conflict.  She wants to be friendly and is driven to be friendly while at the same time she is really a good bit scared and unconfident.  If she was completely governed by fear she would not seek petting or contact and would either run away or try to and might bite if not allowed to move away.  It she was totally confident she would act excited for a little bit and then calmly allow herself to be handled and petted.

If she did this only with strangers it would seem somewhat reasonable, but she does this with me and she LIVES with me.  This conflict is genetic and it comes out in other ways as well. 

If you are playing tug of war with her, and you pull her in close, instead of growling (like most dogs), she whimpers.  Less with me than with others.. but again, her weak nerve shows up.  When she alert barks it is rarely a full deep bark.. most often it is a higher pitched bark. 

The problem with all this is that in some situations it means she is a bit unstable.  Unstable can lead to dog bites and that is what everyone wants to avoid.   

On the protection field, she cannot wait to get out there and work.. but once she is on the sleeve she whimpers and whines instead of growls.  She will yap and bark.. and her bites and work is variable.  Some of her strikes are solid... others not so much.  Some of her barking almost starts to be guarding but then she loses the rhythm and it becomes a bit crazy sounding and non rhythmic.  She wants the work but is afraid of the work at the same time.  Again, this is genetic. 

Only time will tell if she can over come this conflict enough to actually get a Title.  All we can do is try and we will, as long as she is having a good time and wants to work.