Don't think I was clear. Jake became growly because of the vet thing. Zak came to us like that, we didn't do it to him. Neither sibling was like the other so I believe Zak was born like it. He thinks things through far too much: you can practically see him thinking what his next move will be, whereas my others are far more happy go lucky types.

I'd never use them as studs, any of them, regardless of Brig's looks, temperament and pedigree, but particularly not Zak, because I'd hate a litter of hyper, wary dogs. It would be horrific.

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Transplanted Geordie
RIP Jake, my best dog. 10.8.10
RIP Boomerang, beautiful horse. 27.5.08

I suppose over many generations you may be able to predict it more.
So what about over confident, bossy dogs? Should they be bred from? Also - what if one pup in the litter showed fearfulness - shouldn't any of that litter be bred from then? If genetically this could be passed on?

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Check out my English Shepherds
http://www.edenvillage.co.uk

Breed for a useful dog and you often get a beautiful, useful dog... breed only for a beautiful dog and you are on your own in the useful department.

There's also the element (which seems to be inherited at least to some extent) about how negative events are interpreted and how that interpretation affects future responses. A very chilled dog (or person) can have the same bad experience, shrug it off and move on. The involvement/interaction of neurochemistry (inherited) and how the dog or person views the world - as a basically good and happy place, or as something to be feared - must play a part.

I would like to think they could be born bad and ime sure they can, depending on the parents temperament of known, i would have hated to think i was responsible for how our first cross turned out.

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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

confidence, too, is a spectrum; foolhardy dogs are usually male - nope, i'm not kidding.

the clearest examples i can think of are those dogs who go over a solid wall, or sail off a bridge,
with no consideration for What's On The Far Side?... ask yer local vet-tech or vet-assistant
if they've had any dogs come in who were hurt by a crazy blind-leap over a wall, or off a height.
can they think of any such dogs?

odds are good that most of them - like 8 of 10 or more - are male, intact, & 15 to 30-MO.

a dog who flies OVER a 4 to 5-ft Solid Wall in one leap, without stopping to scope the far side,
unfortunately does not have X-ray vision & often comes to grief; plummeting 20 or 30-ft down a cliff
is one outcome, falling to a rocky or sand-beach is another, & dogs don't have wings - the landing
is not dainty, it's like a burlap sack full of bones & meat hitting; things snap & burst open & tear.

leaping from a height they can see is another good indicator of a foolhardy dog; off a bridge, a cliff,
a high dune, a walkway... often when they see birds or game below, or their favorite person 40-ft down.

i don't suggest breeding foolhardy dogs; bold, yes - trying to fly, taking on a one-ton bull face-first instead
of driving him from behind, & other such death-defying feats are heedless - courage & insanity are not the same.

argumentative dogs who cannot defer to anyone, anywhere, anytime are another no-no, IMO -
& again, it's often a male thing. dogs who WILL take every toy, bone, pig's-ear, or other conceivable
nice thing & then hoard them on their bed?... growl at every passerby who so much as glances at the pile,
not even enjoy them, often just accumulate them; they're way-too blindly greedy & their social-skills
are stunted and puny, compared to their overweening feeling of entitlement & lack of boundaries.

deference is very important in dog-society, way-more IMO than 'dominance' - dogs who don't, won't or can't
defer are canine-sociopaths, careering thru happy dog-groups like cannonballs, not interacting so much
as intersecting with the other dogs, leaving chaos & unsettled ruffled feelings in their wake.
they may not get into fights as often as they set them off, like a canine-catalyst, uninvolved but they
start the chemical reaction that yields the quarrel in others.

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terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007