I would like to get a better definition of the different types of nerves dogs have. I hear term bad nerves and short nerves talked about in the forums and just wanted to know what to look for and what the differences are.

Eddy--

There's no cut-and-dried, simple way of answering this question, but I can give you a general idea.

A dog with "bad nerves" is generally understood to have serious issues with things that don't bother dogs with better nerves. Examples would be loud noises, sudden movement, the approach of strangers, etc. Dogs like this can feel threatened in situations where a normal dog would not, and so they can be dangerous.

"Short nerves" might be a synonym for "sharp." Sharp dogs do not necessarily have bad nerves. A "strong-sharp" dog is basically just quick to anger, but does not lack confidence. A "weak-sharp" dog shows aggression quickly to cover up the fact that it is afraid--i.e., has poor nerves.

The best thing to look for in a dog is a confident animal at ease in most situations. Kinda like humans, when you think about it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Pete

Here is my cut and dry definition.

Bad nerves - dog runs away, is a fraidy cat dog.

Good nerves - dog doesn't run and isn't afraid.

Great nerves - dog isn't phased by anything, and always moves forward to new things, threat or not.


<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the poetry, VC--I was hoping you'd weigh in. Now Eddy will be in the clear <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> .

Pete

A short nerves dog is a dog that stresses quicker. It is also a dog that requires more time to settle down and clear its nerves after being stressed.

In training this is a dog that may need to run more after the sleeve is slipped in protection work. In tracking short nerve dogs need food in every foot print or it’s a dog that requires the handler to work the trial routing in training vs never working the trail routing while training a clear-nerved dog.

A clear-nerved or clear-headed dog as some trainers call them is the opposite of a short-nerved dog. A clear-nerved 4dog is a calm dog that is not quick to get stressed. These dogs usually have genetically clam grips, they are dogs that don’t need to be run as far after the sleeve has been slipped in protection work, the work better with food drag in tracking rather than food in every foot step and they are dogs that in obedience should not be trained that often in the trial routine or they become bored and dull.

When I say that a dog has weak-nerves I mean this is a dog that is not a courageous dog. It’s a dog that’s quick to get nervous in strange situations. It’s quick to get his hair up and go into avoidance and spook from things .

Dogs with very weak nerves should not be trained in protection work, the stress that they feel during training will often cause their health to fail – usually causing the pancreous problems. Dogs with extremely weak nerves are fear biter.

A soft dog should not be confused with a weak nerve dog. A soft dog is a dog that does not recover quickly from a correction. Over correcting a soft dog will result in the dog loosing drive.

Just because a dog is soft to his handler does not mean that it cannot do very respectable protection work. I know a very soft police service dog that has had well over 200 street bites.

There are different types of softness in dogs. Some dogs are soft to their handlers voice correction yet can they take a normal leash correction and in some cases can take a hard correction, some dogs are soft to both voice and leash corrections. It’s the handlers job to determine the

A hard dog on the other hand is a dog that can take a firm correction without loosing drive. New trainers often have a little better results with a hard dog vs a soft dog. Soft dogs can be unforgiving towards handler errors.

Another very important point is that a dogs level of hardness or softness is directly related to the amount of drive that dog is in. It is entirely possible that your dog may require a level 4 correction in heeling but a level 8 or 9 correction in learning obedience work in front of a helper that has just stimulated him.

The best trainers know how to gauge the level of correction that is appropriate for the level of drive their dog is in.