Jeff D Bogarts's Follies: DOESN'T IT MAKE MORE SENSE THAT MOST APBT THAT END UP AT THE SHELTER BECAUSE THEY WON'T FIGHT?

HONESTLY DBO AND CO ENOUGH WITH THE OLD GENETC "POINTING" AND "HERDING" THINGS,

Pit Bull Einstein

December 23 at 2:44pm · Edited ·

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Terry Holt

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Chris Balduc Pure Gold!

3 · December 24 at 12:51am
Why Does My Dog... Point?

BY LINDA FIORELLA | MAY 8, 2013
Thinkstock

En Español
The act of pointing — a dog becoming motionless with his snout toward an object — is normally associated with dogs who are bred and trained for hunting. Hundreds of years ago, the first of these dogs were bred in Europe to sniff out birds and then “freeze.” Holding the pointing position told hunters where to throw their nets and capture the prey. Because most dogs chasebirds, a dog with the ability to stop in the presence of a plump partridge still proves invaluable to hunters today. But hunting breeds aren’t the only ones who will point, so don’t be surprised if you see this behavior in your pup.

A Good Point

What does a “point” look like? “The classical point is a dog very intense, standing motionless, with the nose thrust forward at the strongest scent, with one front foot bent up and tail (if it has one) directed toward the sky,” says Dr. Lesley Birmingham, DVM, a retired private practitioner in Maine with 40 years of experience with hunting dogs.

While the point of a well-trained dog is graceful in its precision and control, it takes months of training to look that effortless and regular practice to maintain the skill. Certain breeds lend themselves to learning how to point like a pro, and within the pointers, some breeds’ talents lend themselves to specific hunts, explains Dr. Birmingham. “If you hunt game such as Hungarian Partridge or Sharptail Grouse in big open spaces, you need a ‘big-going’ dog that can physically handle running long distances, such as the English Pointer or Setter,” he says. “If you are hunting Grouse in thick woods, on the other hand, you might choose a Brittany,German Shorthaired Pointer or Wirehair.”

Even if your dog isn’t a hunting breed, you might see him pointing. Dr. Ellen M. Vindell, VMD of Veterinary Behavior Consultations in Pleasant Valley, N.Y., says that dogs by their very nature and biology are capable of spontaneously exhibiting many of the behaviors prized by breeders. After all, “dogs are just dogs, and there are certain behaviors that probably any dog that’s a dog can do,” says Dr. Lindell. “They’re anatomically equipped to [act that way].” Even dogs bred and trained for one trait can often exhibit other talents. “You’ll see a sporting dog who circles like a herding dog, and you’ll get some herding dogs who point,” she adds.

So, while their stances may be amateurish compared to trained pointers, it’s definitely not unusual for a dog who is not from a breed associated with pointing to point, either because this may be a behavior that just naturally appears in dogs or because somewhere in the dog’s heritage there was a pointing breed like aBrittany Spaniel or an English Pointer.

Getting to the Point

If you’re interested in teaching your pup to point, any behavior can be taught and reinforced with enough time and effort, even with dogs who don’t show an aptitude — although in that case, the teaching could be more tedious. “It’s just a question of if you want to,” Dr. Lindell says.

Dr. Birmingham agrees. He has personal experience with his own Golden Retriever, Marley, who points when she sees squirrels. “Any dog could be trained to point (freeze) with the right trainer and unlimited time,” he says. “It is just a lot easier and quicker if a dog has been bred for this trait.”

Even within pointing breeds, all pointers are not created equal. “The instinct from breeding varies from dog to dog, and training can improve those abilities with time,” Dr. Birmingham says. The main thing that sets a goodpointer apart for hunters is the dog’s ability to hold the position as long as the hunter needs him to. “You want a dog that will hold the point until the hunter gets in position to shoot and flushes the bird,” says Dr. Birmingham, who stresses that ideally the dog should remain on point, even after the shot, to follow the birdvisually and prepare to fetch when given that command.

While a hunting pointer’s activities are at least intended to lead to a beneficial and feathery conclusion, with a pet dog who practices pointing, the value of the behavior for the dog and owner could be limited, says Dr. Lindell. “Unlike running and chasing, I don’t recall having ever seen a dog in my practice and thought, My gosh! He never gets to point!”
http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/why-does-my-dog-point
Do herding dogs automatically know how to herd?

Do herding dogs automatically know how to herd?

Nick Koudis/Getty Images

For dogs, being mankind's best friend may be their happiest job, but one of the most traditional canine careers is that of herding. The herding dog, also known as the stock or cattle dog, was developed to help control and direct herds of cows or sheep out to pasture or back to the barn. These dogs have a natural ability to control the movement of other, larger animals, whether by nipping at them, barking or circling around them. Their special talent, high energy and work ethic make them a shepherd or farmer's invaluable ally in letting livestock know who's the boss.

The American Kennel Club (AKC) currently recognizes 25 breeds in its Herding Group designation, which was created in 1983. Varying in size, appearance and country of origin, and ranging from the Australian cattle dog to the Swedish Vallhund, these breeds all share the trait of being able to successfully shepherd other critters, much larger than or very different from themselves.

Herding breeds are born with an instinctive tendency to herd. But because most contemporary herding dogs live as companion animals, not workers, they may never come in contact with a flock of sheep or cattle to be driven
In a In a genetics book, Burns and Fraser (Burns and Fraser, 1966) cite previously unpublished work where crosses were done using the same Border Collie sire for both another Border Collie bitch and a Pointer bitch. Pups from both litters were observed at two week intervals from six weeks until six months for the development of herding ability and eye. By five months all the purebred Border Collie pups were showing herding ability and eye whereas none of the crosses did. Interestingly, although purebred Pointers have been known to "point" sheep, none of the Pointer crosses demonstrated any of the characteristic pointing behaviors at the livestock. This study would suggest that herding ability and eye are inherited as recessive traits. In contrast, other studies done by Burns crossing Border Collies lacking eye with Border Collies showing eye yielded pups that all had some degree of eye. The differences in results between the two Burns studies may indicate that determining heritability of herding patterns by crossing different breeds with Border Collies may prove futile.
http://www.stilhope.com/writings/heritability.html
DOESN'T IT MAKE MORE SENSE THAT MOST APBT THAT END UP AT THE SHELTER BECAUSE THEY WON'T FIGHT?