How Important To You Is Your Breed's Original Purpose?

[espinay2]

1449989029[/url]' post='6771995']

Are you asking as a breeder or buyer, and what type of buyer.......pet or various field applications, hunting home, retrieving trail home, police sniffer dog etc.

SSM is asking about your views in relation to your own dogs and activities. For example, how important to you is it that your dog maintain and display the instincts it is bred for or would you be ok with your dogs displaying behaviours or competing with your dog(s) in events which emphasise traits which work agaist the breeds required temperament and purpose. For example lure coursing with a livestock guardian or retriever (requiring a much higher level of prey drive than the breed should typically have to perform its traditional function - and in some cases potentially showing it to be unsuited to its original function).

Edited December 17, 2015 by espinay2

[superminty]

Original purpose is everything to me with my kelpies. Sadly there seems to be a move towards breeding "pet" kelpies which I totally do not agree with - what's the point if they don't work or at least have the breeding to do so? Want a kelpie without herding instinct? Some of show kelpie lines might suit, or get another breed.

I would hate to see kelpies go the way of BCs with working, show and performance lines (that to be fair may or may not also be bred for working instinct) - to me, the working lines have all they need to be great performance dogs as well - breed for working ability and temperament and they are a super versatile dog that retain their natural instinct and that is what makes them kelpies!

eta: my dogs are pets but work a few times a week, I plan to do agility with my young one and some Rally, I use their natural instincts to my advantage where I can and work on impulse control in situations where it might work against me.

Edited December 17, 2015 by superminty

[Agility Dogs]

I would hate to see kelpies go the way of BCs with working, show and performance lines

I'd be hesitant to suggest that Kelpie's aren't also on this slope - there is already a massive difference between working Kelpies and bench Kelpies. They just haven't become popular with performance people......not to say they aren't great agility dogs, just that they aren't as popular as BC's seem to have become.

[superminty]

I would hate to see kelpies go the way of BCs with working, show and performance lines

I'd be hesitant to suggest that Kelpie's aren't also on this slope - there is already a massive difference between working Kelpies and bench Kelpies. They just haven't become popular with performance people......not to say they aren't great agility dogs, just that they aren't as popular as BC's seem to have become.

Oh, I think they are on the slope but I am hoping it's a very shallow one - there is something about their temperaments I think that doesn't click with performance people quite as much as the BCS - bit less biddable perhaps? They can be quite independent thinkers and not so interested in what the handler thinks! But performance people aren't trying to breed their own performance strain, they just choose from what is already available in the working strain. And I hope that continues.

Edited December 18, 2015 by superminty

[moosmum]

Very important to me. And much harder to find than it was.

[BlaznHotAussies]

Hehe, superminty I think you're onto something there, I know a BC person with a Kelpie pup (nearly a year old maybe?) who thinks she "doesn't want to work" even though I find her very keen & biddable & smart. Then again, maybe she doesn't respond well to being yelled at

Whereas the BCs are so biddable they still want to work even if they're yelled at

[Kavik]

I would hate to see kelpies go the way of BCs with working, show and performance lines

I'd be hesitant to suggest that Kelpie's aren't also on this slope - there is already a massive difference between working Kelpies and bench Kelpies. They just haven't become popular with performance people......not to say they aren't great agility dogs, just that they aren't as popular as BC's seem to have become.

Oh, I think they are on the slope but I am hoping it's a very shallow one - there is something about their temperaments I think that doesn't click with performance people quite as much as the BCS - bit less biddable perhaps? They can be quite independent thinkers and not so interested in what the handler thinks! But performance people aren't trying to breed their own performance strain, they just choose from what is already available in the working strain. And I hope that continues.

I can see why the BCs are more popular! Met a friend's BC puppy yesterday - so much more biddable and longer training attention span than my Kelpies! :laugh:

[superminty]

Double post

Edited December 18, 2015 by superminty

[superminty]

I can see why the BCs are more popular! Met a friend's BC puppy yesterday - so much more biddable and longer training attention span than my Kelpies! :laugh:

I see people doing things with young BCs that just blow me away! Granted I didn't raise my girl as a performance puppy but her attention was all over the shop prior to 12 months of age. She's a workaholic now but if its not sheep work, she still has a pretty strong opinion of when she should work and what she should be doing, lol.

Edited December 18, 2015 by superminty

[Kavik]

I can see why the BCs are more popular! Met a friend's BC puppy yesterday - so much more biddable and longer training attention span than my Kelpies! :laugh:

I see people doing things with young BCs that just blow me away! Granted I didn't raise my girl as a performance puppy but her attention was all over the shop prior to 12 months of age. She's a workaholic now but if its not sheep work, she still has a pretty strong opinion of when she should work and what she should be doing, lol.

I follow Susan Garrett and really enjoyed Puppy Peaks and watching her raise Swagger, and tried a lot of the stuff with Nitro, but not all of it worked, and some just by watching the videos I would say, nup my puppy won't react like that, if I tried that he'd just give me the finger! (or bark, or bite me, or do zoomies!)