Chimera Kennels

Age old question: genetics vs. training.

But, I would like to specifically ask this question of the Swinford Bandogs:

Why all of the protection training if the dogs are expected to come out of the box as a PP dog?

There are a few conflicting items of information in my mind that I hope Lee (or others) may help clear up.

Here are some assumptions I have which may be causing the problem.

1. These dogs' sole purpose is as a family guardian (not sport dog) and as such are expected to live in regular family homes (not experienced sport dog handler homes)

2. A large part of the Chimera website is devoted to protection training and how to use training equipment (e.g. flirt pole). Some of this training may be beyond the capabilities of most "joe public" handlers.

Basically what I am rambling on about is how much protection training would you suggest these dogs have and how often (throughout their life or just enough to give them the confidence and understanding of the work when they are young)?

Or, is it very specific to the individual?  I would imagine that the F1 crossed dogs would be pretty similar, but once you go beyond that there would be some large variation of drives/personalities within the same litter?  If this is the case some would take on much more APBT traits and some would take on much more mastiff traits....and as such, should not be expected to act the same.

Another conflict I have is:

Number 1 rule is "don't hurt family" but does this also encompass the family's other dogs? I know this is a very stereotypical statement, but there is a lot of concern around a dog with a large proportion of APBT being safe around other family dogs (what about dogs with high drive like hunting dogs?)

Sorry for the ramble but your website really got me interested in this....but I am lacking a lot of knowledge in this area

I don't have time to go into detail right now, but I will get back with you later to be more complete.

However, in general, training allows the dog/handler team to communicate better for control. The dogs should have a natural tendency for the work...as instincts (drives) are used in training as well as in real life. David Ishee wrote a good comment on training some time ago on this board...one that I liked a great deal, but I don't have time to search for that right now.

As far as getting along with other dogs, I never recommend putting to intact males together or two intact females together. Dogs of opposite sex however typically get along fine. Good judgement is always beneficial as well.