I really hate to give Dave more ammunition, but Anna posted this on another list. It is very interesting http://clubs.akc.org/fcra/healthmanual/defects.html

There were some other interesting articles at the same site by the same author.

Thanks Richard. I also found this article about canine fear, genetics and police dog selection:

http://www.uspcak9.com/training/K9BehArticle.pdf

I particularly like the first and last paragraphs in the "Fear Behavior" section.

This has been a very worthwhile discussion - Can someone try to shed light on the following issue(s)? I'm using the term "skittish" to mean, dog easily affected (knocked off task, provoked to an unwanted bite, loss of response to command due to state of fear etc) by unexpected or unfamiliar things - not the normal and useful degree of fear.

In another thread, there was a lively of discussion about "skittishness" being found in a majority of dogs (certain breed) known for high energy fight and prey drive.

A: Any estimates on the percentage of dogs with strong fight and prey drives - Regardless of Breed - that ALSO have the "skittish" trait ? (To the degree that they would be unsuitable for civil service)

B: Is the tendency for prey/fight drive to correlate with "skittish" traits a breed spefic issue (is it more likely in some breeds, less likely in others)?

C: Are there commonly found "families" of tempermental traits - those which appear to show up concurrently in a majority of dogs?

Reason I'm asking, I have a big, strong, good natured bitch that is seldom EVER unsettled by anything, is happy, outgoing and VERY confident, has high pain tolderance, barks or shows agression only when there is a genuinely valid cause - though when moved to agression, she can be land shark lethal. This dog was mauled nearly to death by a kennel mate at 7 weeks. So I'd Guess (?) her unshakable stability is genetic. But, ::sigh:: this dog is also low in prey/play drive, has a ridiculously high 'fight threshold'... Her tendency to remain "un-excited" is such that she'd never be of any use in civil service.

Would it be a fair guess that Confidence and Stability are most often found concurently with Low prey/play/fight drive?

Thanks in advance
Bobbie

A dog is born with a number of genes who decide his mentality. You could by training increase this traits, but this could only be done in a trained situation, a weak dog will show fear if he is tested in a situation he never has trained for. Therefore a test of the dogs mentality and breedingvalue should firstly be done in a situation the dog hasn´t trained for. Development of testmethods who shows which dogs carry the genes for the traits we want to improve in a breed is therefore very important if we want to make progress in the battle against temperamental traits not wanted in workingdogs, like to much fear.

In Sweden experienced workingdog-people have worked together with geneticans for a long time know to create a test who shows which workingtraits are inborn in a dog despite any training. The result is very intressting, it shows that fear and many other mentality traits are strongly affected by genes, thus fear-reactions can be reduced by selective breeding. This test is unique in the world, and is probably the best tool we have today to see what a dog passes on to his puppies without previous training, which gives the breeder a good way to see if he need to do changes in his breedingprogramm, or if he´s on the right track. Here is the sientific report about this work, click on "workingdogs"
http://www.genetica.se/lashornan/genetik%20-%20avel/index.html