# What is "good temperament"?



## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

Just curious what the actual definition of good temperament is?

Lots of breeders promote their dogs as being bred for good temperament. 

How would you describe it?


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Sound nerves, alertness, self-confidence, trainability, watchfulness, loyalty and incorruptibility, as well as courage, fighting drive and hardness, are the outstanding characteristics of a purebred German Shepherd Dog. They make his suitable to be a superior working dog in general, and in particular to be a guard, companion, protection and herding dog.
- OR -
The breed has a distinct personality marked by direct and fearless, but not hostile, expression, self-confidence and a certain aloofness that does not lend itself to immediate and indiscriminate friendships. The dog must be approachable, quietly standing its ground and showing confidence and willingness to meet overtures without itself making them. It is poised, but when the occasion demands, eager and alert; both fit and willing to serve in its capacity as companion, watchdog, blind leader, herding dog, or guardian, whichever the circumstances may demand. The dog must not be timid, shrinking behind its master or handler; it should not be nervous, looking about or upward with anxious expression or showing nervous reactions, such as tucking of tail, to strange sounds or sights. Lack of confidence under any surroundings is not typical of good character. The ideal dog is a working animal with an incorruptible character suitable for the arduous work that constitutes its primary purpose.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

For me...a dog that is aloof and discerning yet remains neutral, medium to high threshold, will be proactive in the face of a perceived threat, protective of handler and property, able to settle in the house/car/kennel, active but not hyper-active. Medium to high drives but not so high that the dog can't settle or the drives interfere with self-preservation (I don't really want a dog that would chase a ball straight off a cliff). The dog should be sensitive and attentive to the handler yet able to work through external pressures and some pressure from the handler.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Something breeders say when they don't know what else to say? I mean really, who's gonna say they breed for lousy temperament?


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

An excellent read about temperament, clear examples and non-nonsense explanations. Should be required reading for all breeders and owners alike. 
Well worth the time, and well worth several re-reads:
Elem. of Temperament


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

A dog of excellent temperament is pretty darned hard to mess up. I have seen some of these dogs raised in a kennel with virutally no socialization handle the world with joy and confidence.

A dog of poor temperament can do ok in the right hands and be a disaster in the wrong hands. Must be extensively socialized to everything but is still cautious and worried about new experiences. Not what the GSD should be which is bold and confident. 

There is of course more and.......

The Joy Tiz article is EXCELLENT JMO and I agree it should be required reading.


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## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

PaddyD said:


> Sound nerves, alertness, self-confidence, trainability, watchfulness, loyalty and incorruptibility, as well as courage, fighting drive and hardness, are the outstanding characteristics of a purebred German Shepherd Dog. They make his suitable to be a superior working dog in general, and in particular to be a guard, companion, protection and herding dog.
> - OR -
> The breed has a distinct personality marked by direct and fearless, but not hostile, expression, self-confidence and a certain aloofness that does not lend itself to immediate and indiscriminate friendships. The dog must be approachable, quietly standing its ground and showing confidence and willingness to meet overtures without itself making them. It is poised, but when the occasion demands, eager and alert; both fit and willing to serve in its capacity as companion, watchdog, blind leader, herding dog, or guardian, whichever the circumstances may demand. The dog must not be timid, shrinking behind its master or handler; it should not be nervous, looking about or upward with anxious expression or showing nervous reactions, such as tucking of tail, to strange sounds or sights. Lack of confidence under any surroundings is not typical of good character. The ideal dog is a working animal with an incorruptible character suitable for the arduous work that constitutes its primary purpose.


 
You just described one heck of a dog 



Liesje said:


> For me...a dog that is aloof and discerning yet remains neutral, medium to high threshold, will be proactive in the face of a perceived threat, protective of handler and property, able to settle in the house/car/kennel, active but not hyper-active. Medium to high drives but not so high that the dog can't settle or the drives interfere with self-preservation (I don't really want a dog that would chase a ball straight off a cliff). The dog should be sensitive and attentive to the handler yet able to work through external pressures and some pressure from the handler.


This is probably close to what most experienced GDS owners would have in their household.



Emoore said:


> Something breeders say when they don't know what else to say? I mean really, who's gonna say they breed for lousy temperament?


This is probably the most truthful explaination. 



Castlemaid said:


> An excellent read about temperament, clear examples and non-nonsense explanations. Should be required reading for all breeders and owners alike.
> Well worth the time, and well worth several re-reads:
> Elem. of Temperament


This is excellent, I'll read it.



jocoyn said:


> A dog of excellent temperament is pretty darned hard to mess up. I have seen some of these dogs raised in a kennel with virutally no socialization handle the world with joy and confidence.
> 
> A dog of poor temperament can do ok in the right hands and be a disaster in the wrong hands. Must be extensively socialized to everything but is still cautious and worried about new experiences. Not what the GSD should be which is bold and confident.
> 
> ...


This is interesting, and contradicts much of what I've learned in my brief expereince with Kira.

To add to the thread.....

How about the breeder that claims to breed "perfect for house pets".

How is this accomplished?


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Anthony8858 said:


> To add to the thread.....
> 
> How about the breeder that claims to breed "perfect for house pets".
> 
> How is this accomplished?


Seems like a different topic.
However
The good temperaments as described above would be perfect for house pets.


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

Anthony8858 said:


> To add to the thread.....
> 
> How about the breeder that claims to breed "perfect for house pets".
> 
> How is this accomplished?


There is this brand that makes mountain gear, their boots used to be great for mountaineering. Then years ago when you saw someone using that brand of boots you knew that person was a mountain climber.

That until the outdoor sports style came into fashion and everybody wanted to dress that way and they didn't care to spend the price of good mountain boots only to take a walk into the shopping center. That brand discovered a new market and started producing boots for them, same style (same price!), but different quality. Right now I wouldn't buy that brand of gear to do mountain climbing, because I'd never be sure about the quality of them and in the mountain, boots can be the difference between life and death.

All shoes, even mountain boots, are "perfect for a walk around the block", but not all shoes are good for mountaineering.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

@ Catu.....I hear what you are not saying!!!!....and i agree 100%.


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

You know I think I bought those boots-


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Anthony8858 said:


> This is interesting, and contradicts much of what I've learned in my brief expereince with Kira.


Can you expound on what you mean by this?


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## Anthony8858 (Sep 18, 2011)

> I have seen some of these dogs raised in a kennel with virutally no socialization handle the world with joy and confidence.
> 
> 
> > I was referring to my understanding that dogs need socialization with the human element.
> ...


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## sparra (Jun 27, 2011)

I understand what she meant by that as my GSD has had no where near the socialization of the dogs on this forum. We live remotely so do not have the opportunities for extensive socialization with him. We are on a farm in the middle of nowhere and I guess he only sees strange people, dogs, traffic etc on limited occasions.......having said all of that we can take him anywhere if we have to and he is rock solid......great with new people, dogs and the hustle and bustle of the town when he goes there......not because he is used to it and has been extensively socialized but because he has a sound mind and can handle it all in his stride with confidence because that is just the way he is.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Liesje said:


> For me...a dog that is aloof and discerning yet remains neutral, medium to high threshold, will be proactive in the face of a perceived threat, protective of handler and property, able to settle in the house/car/kennel, active but not hyper-active. Medium to high drives but not so high that the dog can't settle or the drives interfere with self-preservation (I don't really want a dog that would chase a ball straight off a cliff). The dog should be sensitive and attentive to the handler yet able to work through external pressures and some pressure from the handler.


This^^ describes my boy to a T...if only he had the handler to make him shine!


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

About socialization - and of course it is something we should all do and a lot of it but -

I was at a cadaver seminar where another handler had brought along a young rescued GSD - about a year old. Had some deformation (they were talking about ways to strenghthen the limbs weak from lack of excercise) and had been raised virtually its entire life in pen in a basement. With a few months with the handler the dog was outgoing and social and inquisitive about new enviroments and he had very nice working drives. He had the right stuff.

I have seen other dogs (My Toby was one of these) who had to be acclimatized to every darned thing and I spent an extensive amount of time socializing him as a puppy. He "got over" new things quickly (for example Halloween decorations, strange new objects, etc.) but it always took time .....sometimes he would bark or approach, hackle, back up....once he KNEW the item he was just fine with it. But I washed him from SAR early in his training the day we were doing a simple problem and a big chunk of styrofoam was in the woods....And he had to be coaxed past it. He was liveable as a pet but could never be a true working dog where the unexpected is the norm.

Take Grim. The first time he swam was when someone with me threw a ball in the lake. What the heck is THIS stuff? Oh there is a BALL out there - ok - he got the ball and learned to swim the first time. Now he is my pointy eared lab. It took me several tries to get Toby to swim! Had to do it with a shallow beach and keep tossing the ball just a little bit furthur. New things. people, animals, just don't really matter to him like they did to Toby.

Now really this is just talking about nerve strength and I know temperament is much more complex than that.....but weak nerves and fear based reactivity have been the biggest temperament issues I have seen in GSDs I have met.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

Emoore said:


> Something breeders say when they don't know what else to say? I mean really, who's gonna say they breed for lousy temperament?



loool so true!! IF the breeding isnt saying exactly what kind of temperment they are breeding for i wouldnt just make one up in your head. It is exactly what emoore says it is.

a lot of breeders these days are trying to breed gsds with temperment like a lab really friendly wallmart greeter personality they think that is the ultimate temperment. For this breed i consider that horrible temperment could be great for a poodle maybe? GOOd Temperment is whatever the breeder says it is.


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## Ocean (May 3, 2004)




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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Castlemaid said:


> An excellent read about temperament, clear examples and non-nonsense explanations. Should be required reading for all breeders and owners alike.
> Well worth the time, and well worth several re-reads:
> Elem. of Temperament


We learned about the pack/prey/etc. drives in my ACO classes. They said GSDs have a perfect blend of all the drives which makes them outstanding at just about anything they do


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## Whiteshepherds (Aug 21, 2010)

Lots of dogs have good temperaments. Easy to live with, easy to train, no problems with aggression or fear, but that doesn't mean they have the correct temperament for a GSD. 
So IMHO, correct = good, but good doesn't necessarily = correct.


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## Ocean (May 3, 2004)

*What is good temperament?*


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

Whiteshepherds said:


> Lots of dogs have good temperaments. Easy to live with, easy to train, no problems with aggression or fear, but that doesn't mean they have the correct temperament for a GSD.
> So IMHO, correct = good, but good doesn't necessarily = correct.


:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Bump!!!


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## trudy (Aug 25, 2008)

see each of us has an idea of what is right, but maybe correct temperment is what we want because the dog pleases us. I take Ty everywhere he is aloof, never poking his nose at anyone, but totally accepting of any and all pats if people approach and ask, he stands or sits and allows any. I am very approachable. This weekend we tried dock diving, we failed, they showed him the ramp and as far as he was concerned that was the way into the water, not off the dock, BUT he was calm NO dog aggression, even with lots of barking excitable dogs. The event was in a fair and a midway was right beside, there was a ride with a siren every minute or so, there was static speakers, but of course he reacted to none of this. Would he allow a threat to harm me?? NO way..He is fearless, calm and easy to take everywhere. 

Many people stop and ask about him and the people there raising $$ for dogs for the autistic, stopped and said the reason they don't use this breed is because they are too hyper and dog aggressive...The wanted to know where he came from and if he was the norm as often a larger dog would work better...HOW sad, the breed has deteriorated to not be suitable as a service dog when they were the first service dogs..

SO to me great temperment is that, the ability to do anything I want him to do at any time and in any circumstance..To just be there for me


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Very nice Trudy, although i will say there is a difference between great personal temperament and great Breed temperament. Just like everyone thinks their dog is pretty or beautiful....to them....but all GS are not beautiful by breed standard....that's why there are faults identified; that may not hamper the dog from being loved....but should not be encouraged to replicate.


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## trudy (Aug 25, 2008)

I agree Cliff, but since so much is subjective I will stick with my personal ideal, and since I don't breed and only do activities that I find interesting and rarely get titles, I will remain very happy with this description...Do I think every dog should be bred?? NO WAY...and I think too many mediocre and very poor dogs are bred, and it is up to the rest of us to show what the breed could and should be.

Healthy, stable, confident dogs that look like the breed is meant to look


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## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

stable, rock solid.

Confident, but alert.

My Jack has a wonderful temperament. Trustworthy with children, nothing fazes him. You could shoot a firecracker a foot away and he'd be alert but not afraid. But he's alert but discerning. Protective but not fearful. He's "reserved."

I've looked and tried to learn about other breeds, but nothing seems to have the versatility the of the GSD.

They are, IMHO, the whole package.


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