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Reply With QuoteDSM: What about the dog that is sharp and tough towards its handler?
Pinksten: This dog has a very high pack drive and sees himself as the pack leader. When given force he hits back. A dog has to accept being second in command to be a good performance dog. He accepts his master but still feels he is second in command
DSM: Is handler dominance good or bad?
Pinksten: It depends on the personality of the handler. Some handlers prefer this because they can still control such a dog. Also the handler's personality influences whether or not the dog will be handler dominant. The dog is a master of body language as well as an opportunist; if the handler does not command respect, he will not get it. This is a problem when hard dogs are purchased as adults. The older dog, the more difficult the training can be. When a dog is mature and has had training, he knows that he is a warrior and has a lot of dignity and resents being handled by another pack leader. Therefore, the handler must have the skills to mentally and physically dominate the dog without using unnecessary harshness. He must be able to understand and respect the feelings of the dog and handle him in a businesslike manner, not an emotional one. Often the new handler will be inconsistent and the dog will read this as unsureness and question the handler's authority. The handler cannot make himself vulnerable and must handle the dog in a cool, calculated manner and only apply compulsion for the benefit of training. The handler must also be careful to place himself in a strategic position so the dog cannot dominate him. If the handler loses his cool, he will appear weak to the dog.
DSM: How do you combine all the components in working dogs to produce a good performance dog?
Pinksten: First, you have to be able to evaluate the components properly. I like to use the East German character evaluation system because it is easily understood. We have adapted this system for our own breeding program and have obtained excellent results.
DSM: Would you explain the system?
Pinksten: A dog that is rated as a zero is like a small, nervous terrier that is always barking with a hair trigger and also shy with a pronounced flight drive. A 10 would be like a Newfoundland, very calm and passive without sharpness. Dogs that fall between 3 and 7 can be worked. A 3 would be a dog that is suspicious, reserved, sharp and with high energy, somewhat like a Doberman. A 7 would be good natured, calm, without sharpness and little sensitivity, somewhat like a Rottweiler.
The ideal dog under this system is a 5 - a dog which is basically good natured and lively but very hard. Most dogs which are good for Schutzhund and police work would fall between 4 and 6. A 4 is lively, hard and sharp. A 6 is lively, hard but good natured. The 4 is more defensive and the 6 is more prey orientated. The goal of the performance breeder is to produce dogs between 4 and 6 and place them according to their rating in a job for which they are suitable. For example, a prison or military dog on perimeter guard should be a 4. A 6 dog is a good Schutzhund dog and is what most Schutzhund handlers have. A 5 is what we all want. A 5 makes the best police patrol dog, the top Schutzhund competition dog and the best stud dog.
DSM: How do you breed to produce a 4, 5, or 6?
Pinksten: When you breed, you compensate. Continuously breeding a 4 to a 4 produces 4s, 3s and 2s because you decrease the nerve strength. Conversely, continuously breeding 6s together produces 6s, 7s and 8s, dogs that are too calm and lack the necessary drive. You should breed a 4 to a 5 or 6, and a 6 should be bred to a 5 or a 4. You also have to know what the grandparents of the litter were like as well as the parents. This affects your evaluation of the breeding.
For all rules there are exceptions because each puppy in the litter inherits the components of temperament in different amounts. Not all the puppies will be balanced. Also, there are many more genetic traits like prey, defense and pack drive which have to be considered when breeding, but we don't have time to go into all of them.
DSM: Perhaps we can do another interview. Could you talk about some of the dogs which were bred extensively in Germany in the past?
Pinksten: Yes, and I can illustrate some of these breeding principles. A good example of not breeding to balance the scale towards a 5 was the use of the 1974 Bundessieger Enno v Antrefftal. "Enno" was a sharp dog and produced this. Many show-line breeders bred to him to try to improve courage and hardness in their lines. The problem was that these show lines often had weaker nerves. Enno produced like a 4, and when bred to the show lines that were 4s and 3s, the progeny only became sharper and more unbalanced. They made the common mistake of breeding to a title without considering what made the dog great. When Enno was bred to lines representing strong nerves and high prey drive, 6s, the compensation was correct and produced good temperament. A good example of this would be Enno's son, the 1976 Bundessieger Drigon v Fuhrmannshof. Drigon's mother's lines represented the 6 type of the graph.
DSM: How would you classify the character of Canto and Quanto Wienerau which are revered as great producers of good conformation?
Pinksten: "Canto" and "Quanto", being great show dogs, were lively in character. This liveliness and high energy gives them animation in the show ring. However, their courage and hardness in combination with overall nerve strength classifies them a 3 on the graph. Conversely, the VA dog Bernd Lierberg was a true 5, lively, very outgoing and bold and yet very strong. He and his brother, "Bodo" were famous for their dynamic protection work at the Sieger Show and produced this in their progeny.
The dogs from Canto and Quanto are most successful at the Sieger Show where structure and beauty take precedence over working ability. The Lierberg, BuseckerSchloss and Bungalow lines are strongly represented at the Bundessiegerprufung where working ability is paramount. However, good working dogs can arise from any line, but the percentage of good working dogs will be higher from the working lines.
DSM: What about the famous VA Mutz von der Pelztierfarm, who appears in many pedigrees today?
Pinksten: "Mutz was a dog that was second at the Sieger Show and also produced excellent working ability. When combined with the Canto and Quanto lines he often produced excellent looking dogs with strong character. His influence is still strong today in working and show lines.
Marko vom Cellerland was another top dog who was used extensively for breeding. Unlike Canto and Quanto, he is no longer in main line breeding, but he did produce a number of quality all-round dogs in his time.
All four of these dogs were used in main line show breeding, and they also produced many fine dogs of solid character and working ability. This is because these dogs with good character were bred by breeders who showed excellent judgment in matching individual dogs together and looked beyond the pedigree and titles to see the true character of the dogs they were using for breeding. They recognised the importance of the influence of the parents and grandparents in a breeding, and combined their character traits to produce offspring with the temperament they wanted.
DSM: What would you consider the best modern bloodlines for working performance?
Pinksten: There are many secondary bloodlines in Germany today, meaning smaller lines and small breeders who are true working enthusiasts who produce dogs with excellent working character and good nerves. Examples of working lines would be dogs descended from Greif zum Lahntal who was a grandson of Mike v Bungalow and produces very well through his sons Drechsler v Warnautal, the 1982 Bundessieger, and Sagus v Busecker Schloss, dogs from Racker v Itzal through Dax v Kesmaker Tranke and Wicko v Meran, and from Drigon v Fuhrmannshof through Uwe v Kirschental. Other dogs known to produce working ability are Enno v Beilstein, Ignaz v Oberscholvener Weg, Basko v Flughafenrand, Boris v Trogenbach, Umsa v
Bungalow, Urs v Hopfenstrasse, and dogs from the Korbelbach kennel.
These are some of the better known performance bloodlines, but this is not an exclusive list as there are many other worthy lines. There are also many good working dogs in East Germany which are descendants of Bodo and Bernd Lierberg.
Originally Posted by Ben Fairclough
