I have one. I rescued ours at 1yr old from a car breakers yard.
Here's my opinion of the breed.
I have 2 working dogs, for sheep/cattle, that i have trained, i have 7 challenge certificates in obedience , i have ran obedience classes and agility in my twenties. I am not a novice dog trainer/owner. And ive never trained a dog like it.
Sure, this was a dog with one or two issues. For instance, he had to be trained to walk on grass, as he had never seen it before, and was overly cautious of stepping on this weird green stuff that smelt funny.
He wont work for food. So you cannot lure or reward him with it.
He wont work for praise when in a stubborn mood.
He wont work for a toy, he has no prey drive
He will work for pack drive, to be with me and the other dogs.
He will work with aversion methods. Usually needed once or twice and that's it. He doesnt do what x was he was corrected for again. So so stubborn sometimes, and so flexible at others.
I had him temperament assessed by my animal behaviourist. When he is being stubborn, aversives are the only thing he will listen to.
Saying all that. My very first post was about how to get a 'town' dog, to live rurally with livestock and more ducks and geese than you can shake a stick at? 6 months on, and he's happier gaurding the livestock, than chasing it.
Gaurding usually involves, laying in the sun, or sitting in the sun, near something you might gaurd, say a duck, a baby, or myself. And when anyone approaches, he will move between me, and the approaching person. Watching them, looking all intimidating. "leave" command, and he's more than happy to follow my lead of, stand down, ive got this thanks.
His dog family is a working GSD and Rottie. They are high prey drive, dog sports dogs. They are lightening fast, strong, play rough, and softly together. This apparently lazy bastard, can keep up with them, beating them to the prize on occasion. The really are, suprisingly agile.
and suprisingly dumb stupid too. So Brian lays under our dining table at meal times, as he'll move to be at my feet. For six months now, he's been standing up, and banging his head on the same spot, day in, day out, for 6 months? no learning going on here, at all.
He can track my son accross fields, and find him.
He took 6 months, to join in fully with us all id say.
He is extreemly friendly to dogs/ puppies / mice invasion recently - he just watched them run past him and went back to sleep.
amazing dogs. nothing like GSD's or Rotties for sure. Ive had a hard time adjusting to the new type of dog, and everything i thought i knew about how to train a dog, did not work on this one.
I needed to examine my methods, in a way that challenged me. Now 6 months on, this dog has made an amazing recovery, from reactive to all things, to reactive to few, 100% recall off leash. type.
