Posted by Butch Cappel
on October 22, 2009, 11:50 am
99.174.201.23
Bad genetics, weak nerves and dog trainers excuses, that is what the two percent rule is about. If you visit the internet you will see it written about how few dogs can work today. If you go to many "training clubs" you will see the director turn away many dogs because they have "bad nerves" or some other genetically limiting problem.
Ever wonder what the percentage of dogs are that actually CAN'T do protection work?
Here is a little comparison that might answer that for you.
Each year in the U.S. there are about ten thousand thoroughbreds born. We all know that a Thoroughbred's primary job is to run. It is also its' first line of defense if threatened. If a Thoroughbred can't run it can't protect. So how many TB's can run? We've been breeding them almost as long as we have dogs, have we ruined them as well?
It turns out 2% of the TB's born each year reach the track. So are the rest of them ruined? If their job is to run and jump then no. If you got a horse from the middle of the breeding material and the fort was two miles, and you had a bunch of POed Apaches after you, chances are you would make it to the fort with room to spare, cause their horses just couldn't keep up with what would be a middle of the road TB.
In fact if you got a TB from the bottom twenty five percent and put it in the wild, wild, west, could a Mountain Lion catch it on the open prairie, probably not.
In fact if you took the horses in the Bottom 2% of Thoroughbreds I still bet they'd outrun me and most of those dog trainers that said your breed was ruined.
You see a Thoroughbreds survival weapon is to run. After centuries they still run, even the worst of them. But the best of them, as natural as it is to run, still need a trainer to get them to the track and especially to win.
I bet the same numbers apply to our dogs. The best prospects for improving the breed, are those that make it to the winners circles. But I'd also bet that almost all of them can protect their pack if it is threatened. With a little training even that bottom 2% can bite hard enough to discourage any of the h8umans I know.
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