My friend and I each have a GSD. His dog is very friendly with strangers, happy to be petted all day. However he has very low prey drive, and sudden very loud noises and movements will make him leave. He looks as if he just doesn't want to deal with it.
My dog has extreme amounts of prey drive,will rarely sniff a stranger if indoors, will completly ignore them outdoors, and will show aggression if aproached in an unatural manner. But not if you just walk past him. He is much more alert of everything.
Witch dog would be best characterized as more confident?

Not enough info for a question that vague, I think.

Which do YOU consider more confident, and why?

And by "confident," do you mean sure of himself and his abilities, sure of the nature of something, or bold?

Dog 1:
Raised in city, used to all sounds and sights.
When picked up at airport came barreling out of his crate.
More sensitive to corrections, more obedient. Not wary of strangers, if you bang something on floor loudly he seems not interested and will back up if it gets too loud. Only exhibits aggression when worked in defense.
Content to lay around and do nothing all day looks forward to sleep and food.
Dog 2: raised in a farm, not socialized very well, only saw people at schutzhund meets.
Took five minutes of patiently waiting to come out of his crate at airport. Took him a while to get used to all sights and sounds of city. Has unlimited amount of prey drive, very fast on commands in drive. Very alert, kinda stubborn and hard headed at times. Not trusting of strangers, will show aggression if approached slowly in an abnormal manner, or if he feels cornered indoors. If you ignore him he ignores you as well.
Opened umbrella infront of both dogs on seperate times.
Dog 1 retreated, Dog 2 tokk two steps back and lunged to grab umbrella.

I think dog 1 is overall more confident in his enviroiment, lacks some curiosity witch causes him to not want to investigate new things. But dog 2 is more confident while in prey drive. Is it possibble for a dogs self confidence to rise a lot when in drive, and outdoors?

Thanks.

I think Dog 1 sounds more confident too.

I also think confidence is confidence -------- either the dog is sure of him/herself and his/her role or s/he's not. (I'll say "he" now, but I don't mean to be sexist!)

But I think all-around confidence can be increased with a combination of techniques, primary among which is not to nurture or reward fearful aggression, nervous barking, whatever the owner sees as symptoms of lack of confidence. All-around confidence is enhanced too by the animal's total respect for his owner/handler. If the dog knows beyond any doubt that he has a pack leader who is always in control of every situation and who will always guide and lead the dog --- that the dog does not have to assume the role of pack leader --- then instilling confidence is completely do-able.

I don't want to sound vague about prey-drive; I just believe that if the dog lacks confidence in any area then the owner might have neglected to make crystal-clear the behavior wanted or might have inadvertently nurtured unwanted bahavior.

When the dog knows EXACTLY what the desired behavior is and EXACTLY what unwanted behavior is, then the dog is far more confident that he knows how to handle himself, in all the areas of his life. Is this too vague? I'm having trouble addressing prey-drive specifically when I see it as just one part of the dog's life. Instilling confidence is an all-around thing.