Dave:
Again I have no personal experience in this my knowledge is coming from what I have heard from experienced trainers of many young dogs. Can this be reversed? If I’ve heard this once, I have heard this a thousand times by my TD “Puppies that show promise are easier to find than adults. Why spend time fixing a problem when you don’t have to.”

Glenn:
A dog can get locked in prey when a high prey drive dog is continually worked in prey through its young adult life with no stimulation of his defensive drive. The dog’s mentality is that “Give me everything you got because I know this is a game and I get my prey in the end.” Some dogs must be stressed to the extreme before their defense is brought out if ever. If this interests you buy Ed’s video First Steps In Defense Training and you will see an all black dog who was locked in prey by a substitute helper at my club.

Richard and Ellen:
You are thinking of house puppies. Firstly if a puppy lives in the house he will get socialized by interaction of the family i.e. playing with toys and people. If you have 3 or 4 puppies kenneled and only have time to work 1 or 2 then why would you spend time on bringing the other 2 up to speed when you already have what you want in the others. Remember my example with Ed. Why would he spend an hour a day for several weeks to bring back a dog when he has new litters being born every day. He finds a loving home that needs a companion and starts fresh with another protection candidate.

Brendan:
I am not trained in the area of your comments but they sound very good to me.

AZ Trooper:
Bingo! You win. My old dog was successful at getting his prey by bearing with the pain of compulsion (protection obedience) until he got his prey. Only after continuous pressure with no prey reward did he learn that aggression leads to success. In this case success was not the prey but making the stress go away.

Vince,

Some of us don't have the luxury to switch out on dogs. When I get a dog it will be mine for around 15 years. I have to learn how to work with or around the dog.

The above post was not done by me - it is being done by a very sick disturbed and
pitiful individual who goes on lists like this and posts under other peoples names.

My member number on my own list is not 1061 as this persons is.

If anyone would like the name of this individual they can contact me on a private email.

The one thing I do not like about discussion boards is how easily a post can be twisted to make a point by the poster. A question was asked if it is possible for a genetically capable working dog to reduce in drive or working ability. My response was that from an article that Ed wrote he has over the years kept dogs back from his breeding program that for what ever reason he did not have the time to work properly. He noticed after some time that their drive had diminished. My point was to Leerburg customers that stimulating their pups prey drive is a very important step in their puppy training. Something that Ed stresses in dozens of articles any many videos I.E. Ball on a string work.

Good point Vince. Back to the original question," Is it really possible for a dog who has the genetics for high prey drive to lose this drive if not used? " If so can this affect both pups and adults? Can a dog having the genetics for fight drive, civil and or defensive aggression also lose these drives if not maintained through real life situations or training?

The old axiom, Use it or lose it, may apply. As far as prey drive goes, I think the reference that Raiser makes in his book, Der Schutzhund, regarding stimulus-specific exhaustion applies. The same principle does not apply to fight or aggression instincts depending on the dog. Which reminds me of another axiom, " The longer you work a strong dog the stronger it gets. The longer you work a weak dog the weaker it gets." So how high a prey drive does the dog really have and how good are the genetics?? The dog usually tells us.