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Date Posted: 09:46:40 05/05/09 Tue
Author: Jenny W
Subject: Re: Can someone explain?
In reply to: JB 's message, "Re: Can someone explain?" on 08:51:01 05/05/09 Tue

Thanks John,

So how would anyone select a dog that could do the job in a real life situation? Maybe I should explain myself. I live on a farm in SA with 7 Boerboels, 5 running as a pack, none of them titled of course! I read the American message boards with some interest but have always been confused by the term "work" being used in conjunction with "sport". I'm now even more confused to see that titled dogs can be considered unsuitable for "real work". I had assumed that hard won titles (and I have every admiration for those that put in the time and effort to achieve these awards) were at least some benchmark test for working ability even if they were not particularly breed specific. I'm surprised and saddened to find that dogs can have quite serious ability flaws that in my situation would be life threatening, but still reach these elevated heights. OB titles tell me the dog is capable of learning and obeying instructions, CGC (or TD I think you have) tells me it probably isn't going to eat passers by indiscriminately, but which competition award tells me this dog will keep me safe from intruders, nutcases or hijackers while not eating the gardener or the mother in law (well ok maybe I can make an exception there!). Tracking is not something I see as particularly relevant to this breed and herding, although part of the breed history, is not necessary for me personally as we farm sugar cane, not livestock. If a dog is not actually doing the job on a daily basis, then how can one distinguish between those that can and those that can't, but have the ability put on a stylised display? As I said, things are different here and unfortunately our dogs can be tested in real life situations more than we care for and if they fail someone gets hurt, but for other perhaps less dangerous countries where people still want to breed dogs with the original breed traits, how can they do it? By the way, before anyone wants to blame me for all the ills of the breed for a being South African, I'm not, I just live here!

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