Things you think are 'wrong' with wolfy type crosses/new 'breeds'? Discussions

My NI got beaten up by a red cocker spaniel. It had him by the throat, and my boy came off worse. I can say NI are generally not aggressive. Mine even submitted to a goat.

Generally is a big word when you only have experience of one being submissive

Mine is the opposite and is dominant with other dogs to the point of actual aggression if they dont submit.

My Ni is very submissive and is scared of cats

Mine go in even harder if they do submit :-(

Ha! A scientist did you say? Last I heard, you were basing your assumptions on numbers of forum posts! I think a true pedant would be tirelessly conducting his own research and contacting experts to find more evidence.

I have responded (posts within quote in bold).

I have met a lot of NI and I would say they are no more aggressive than any other breed, probably less so on the whole.

What does less so on the whole actually mean? Do you mean that NIs are less aggressive than any other breed of dog?

I've met scores of NIs, none of which I would describe as aggressive. There was one stud dog I would say was dominant with other dogs, but he certainly wasn't aggressive IMO.

All (except 2) I have met have been aggressive....


I will now add...I work as a behaviourist so see the ones with problems.....What you see is entirely subjective and really doens't mean that much IMHO.

This is not having a go at the breed....a lot of dogs I see are aggressive because of what I do...I just wanted to point out that it does depend on your perspective

Not having a go either but one could argue that as you say you get to see 'ones with problems' in this case you say aggression, how can they be representative of the whole population? Can I ask how many you have actually met and 'treated'.

Can I also ask how successful you have been with these dogs? And would you say the aggression you have seen has been more to do with poor training or poor breeding?

Yes you can....I don;t think it is a representative of the breed as a whole at all...I was just trying to explain that a 'representative' of the breed depends on your perspective.

The 2 that are Ok are 1 x 17 week old pup in classes at the moment and one Ute (although she does have seperation related issues.)

Without going back through all my cases...I would hazard that I have been involved (working in Norfolk as well - I'm now in Cornwall) in working with 12 aggressive ones (I think). THey were all dog-dog aggression bar one which was a young bitch.

I think it is impossible to say whether it was bad breeding practices...I could see where the people had made mistakes occassionally, again - without recapping on every case I really couldn't be sure as to what was concluded.

All except one of the cases has been resloved to the point at which the owners can deal with the problems and take the dogs out and about - I'm not sure whether this is due to the dog/training methods or lack of incentive on the part of the owner .

(Pic of the Ute...
)

I will also add....these are dogs I have been involved with....I have seen various dogs of this type at the shows I have been to (like ADD), just not got to know them (does that make sense?)

Tassle..can I ask how the amount of NI you have worked with compares to other breeds??

For instance...have you dealt with more NI than Husky, More NI than Mals, etc etc

Haven't dealt with any Mals that I can recall (training or behaviour) and worked with about the same number of Sibes...maybe slightly more, (2 aggressive ones that really spring to mind but mainly seperation and destructive)....Only met 2 Utes...(one above - came into local rescue- and what turned out to be her littler sister - Sheep chasing Issues)

Most common breeds I work with....Collies/Spaniels and Labs.

Does that help?

Yes thanks..

I wonder if its the owners of the NI/UTe?Bi etc don't realise what they are getting and are led to beleive they are excellent and easy to train etc so just let them carry on..and don't put the work in early because they are supposed to be easy

I think I'm probably right and wrong

I was referring to the report, which was world-wide, not just UK, but re-reading it, it doesn't categorically state the bit about GSDs. What it does show is that you are half as likely to be bitten by a wolfy dog than a GSD.

I think I'm right about there not being any proof that the wolfy breeds are aggressive.

Not heard about the spaniel thing, doesn't sound nice.

Love the bit about humans biting, made me laugh.

Can I ask where you got your figures from? I'd like to read whatever report that is.

But I'm not trying to prove anything, only asking others to prove their statements.

I agree with you, this is a general statement, and an opinion.