Debbie,
Yep, it depends on the dog, however I think most people would say that a high drive dog is harder to live with.
I love working a high drive dog, but when the work is over.....I sometimes find myself wishing I had a cat instead.
Living with a high drive dog means making some sacrifices in your lifestyle. Like owning sturdy furniture and having no fragile items below eye level in your house. Even your relationships may be shaped by the drive of your animal ( ahh...the need for "durable" spouses or girlfriends...).
But I like the degree of safety that living with a good work dog brings. When I come home, I know my stereo will be there ( unless he got out of his crate and ate it while I was gone )

I have to say my experience is a different one. If you set limits on house activities and have good leadership skills having a high drive dog in the house is possible. Especially if you raise said dog from a pup. My dogs are house dogs. My bitch was previously a kennel dog and can not be left alone but is actually quite easy to have around supervised. Not a low drive dog. My pup is 6 months old and not what one would call low drive or soft(knucklehead!!) but is loose with me almost 24/7. When it comes time to work he is a firecracker. My recently deceased young dog was very laid back and usually could be found holding down the couch, yet anyone who saw him at training or at one of Ed's seminars could attest he had PLENTY of drive. All these dogs are "high drive" dogs, but they all have an off switch. I have only had the pleasure of having one dog come through me with no off switch and she was a bitch to live with, but I think it was more or less how she was raised. (she is a narcotics dog now, thanks to Josh Lewis) I really think it will come down to you and your style. For me, I can see the benefit of having a dog in the kennel, but it is not the way I want to have my dogs. There are pluses and minuses in both directions.

It is easier to be more consistant with a kennel dog. Less time together leaves less oppourtunity for inconsistancy.

If you don't have time to "work" your house dog on any given day, they are content to just hang out with you and play simple indoor games instead of not getting the time out of the kennel that they would have to have if they were outdoors, etc.

My dogs are partners, not posessions. A position many more dogs in the world could benefit from.

Dear Will,

Just wondering how could your dog protect your stereo if he is in a crate? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Just wondering <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Joyce M. Burrows

It's all in the bark, Joyce!
Besides....the killer Corgi is loose in the house....no criminal would risk their ankles to such a beast! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

 Quote:

Originally posted by Will Rambeau:
I sometimes find myself wishing I had a cat instead.

Hehe. Will wants a cat.

I can see it now...FiFi Von Der TeufelFluff, ScCIII, FC2
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

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

 Quote:

Originally posted by Will Rambeau:

I love working a high drive dog, but when the work is over.....I sometimes find myself wishing I had a cat instead.

WEEEEELLLLLL.............that's because you have never met MY cat, Will! He truly gives the Malinois (and every other dog I own) a run for their money in the drive department..I don't know if it's because he grew up with these dogs or what but you can ask anyone who has met him...

He is even crate trained like the dogs although now that he is almost 2 I don't crate him anymore. He would run down and get in his crate when I would leave for work in the mornings, I would give him a treat just like I do with puppies...Its kind of funny to see the Mal, the two GSD's and the cat all run down stairs to get in their respective crates!! hehe

He has retrieval drive and actually tests the temperament of dogs and people that visit here... You will see when you come to pick up 'Buttercup'... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Actually, I have *four* cats. Two came from the humane society, and two others were left for boarding at a local vets office and then the *MORONS* moved and left no forwarding addresses!! Ya'll be suprised at how often pets are abdoned that way by lame owners thinking..."ah, this way they won't be euthanized like at the local shelter" - peoples behavior amazes me sometimes.
Two of the cats make excellent drive items for the dogs however...... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Jerry C.,
You mentioned you like to see sound genetic defense from the get go. What is the earliest you have seen sound defense in a pup, and can you give some examples of defensive behavior at an early age that you find desirable?

Thanks Jerry, I do understand that all interactions with a dog that are repetitious can cause behaviour to be learned. A bad example I can think of is: calling a dog to you for running off and then reprimanding them when they do finally come back to you will teach them not to come back....
What I was wondering is if playing with a pup from birth to tug on a towel, etc, as opposed to not playing in that fashion at all, will have anything to do with the drives of the dog later in life. So I guess my queation is how much of a dogs drive is genetic and then enhanced or suppresed by this type of play(imprinting??), if at all?

I think a dog's drive is a determined by genetics, 100%. You then develop the dog to it's genetic potential, taking into account the work put into him and the environment they are raised in.

I've never seen anyone take a dog with zero drive and put something into the dog.

Sometimes drive has been extinguished and may be able to be brought back to life, but only to a point.

It is a use it or lose it thing.