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Originally Posted by WinstonMom  Studying dog behavior is my thing, I read and learn everything I can get my hands on, so my comments here are strictly my opinion. In a wolf pack or wild dog pack, only a very select number of pups would be born that would be destined to be the "alpha" dog or "alpha" bitch. These would be the pups that just ooze confidence, are very calm under any circumstance, and the pup that is the boss in a litter without being bossy about it. In my mind this is the perfect show pup.
My little Jazz was a great little show dog, she is absolutely fearless, confident with all people and confident with any dog. She is the "alpha" in my house. If she wants something from one of the others, she just has to look at them, with that certain look and what ever she wants they just give it up to her. My other dogs just respect her position, she is never bossy with them. Right from the time she was a small pup, she used to do things like put all the toys in the toy box and then look at the others, like these are all my toys, if you want one, you have to ask me. Although I am a strong believer in the power of socialization, I do think that Jazz was just born that way. Jazz now has her own babies, and I am curious to know whether or not she will pass this attitude on to her children. I am looking forward to finding out whether her children will be treated with the respect that comes from being lucky enough to be born as the children of the "alpha". Of course, all this is just my opinion, as I know that a lot of people no longer believe in all this about dog social structure but I love to learn about every author's opinions and form my own based on my observations of my little "pack". |
I've been told by those that mentor me that a show dog is born with all the qualities, however, those qualities need to be nurtured.
I have a Champion boy that I never trained for the ring, I brought him out when he was 2, on a whim. The boy knew exactly what to do and from his first day in the ring he pointed. He was a joy to show, knew exactly what was expected of him. Walked in the ring like he owned it.