On this page Instincts and Drives
The Hovawart is gifted with instincts
The hovawart's personality and temperament is shaped by a closely interwoven combination of genetics and socialisation. Their personality is made up from behaviour, feelings, and thoughts, and is heavily influenced by (training/education) socialization and life experiences. As such it is considered to be acquired, over and above their inherited temperament.
Temperament is really just how they express the various aspects of personality, such as introversion or extroversion in humans. Some characteristics of a hovawart's temperament might include how they move about (busy - relaxed), how they initialy react to things (withdraw - approach), how they adapt to change and their sensitivity to stimuli and how intense their reactions are; also their mood (happy - sad), how distractible they are (concentration), and how persistent they are (loss of interest in particular activities). Temperament is considered to be inherited, instinctual, not learnt.
Extremes of the hovawart's inherited instinctual temperament are undesirable, a balanced even temperament is desirable. Hovawart character tests and assessments are designed to give an indication of the “mental health” of the individual dog.
"Drive" is to do with how strongly he applies a particular instinct. It is how the Hovawart uses and responds to those instincts that is crucial, and gives the hovawart true strength and value. Socialisation plays a significantly big role in how the hovawart uses his instincts.
Think about your Hovawart's ability to generally accept all the “buzz”of his environment without showing signs of nervousness, fear, or flight. Consider too his ability to recover from unpleasant experiences. A well socialised dog is friendly and confident, and will recover quickly from a startling experience. His responses can give an indication of how he utilises his instincts.
How Hovawart's deal with loud or sudden sounds, and how they deal with different environments is important. A nervous Hovawart might show signs of nervousness when exposed to loud sounds such as gunfire or thunderstorms, or perhaps show nervousness or fear in a strange environment, or in a crowded room. By contrast, the Hovawart that is not nervous will accept all and any changes in his environment without negative effects.
Hovawarts that respond strongly to the unfamiliar, and go into “fight or flight” mode when they encounter the unfamiliar, will find security within the familiarity of a routine; so they are best trained through repetition and repeated routines together with extensive socialisation.
Hovawarts that are self confident, trust people and new places, are best trained by being mentally challenged, or they get bored. Challenge them by altering your patterns of training, never allowing them to anticipate the next exercise or command, and insist that they listen to you. They also require thorough socialisation for different reasons.
- Socialisation checklist.
- Contact with people; including children of different ages, adults, the elderly and people of various ethnic backgrounds
- Contact with dogs; of different sizes, ages and breeds; dominant, submissive and playful dogs - take care not to expose puppies to stressful encounters with over-aggressive dogs
- Contact and experience with different environmental things; moving objects, noises and activities
- socialise, train and establish a proper relationship with your dog.
About instincts and drives
A moderate degree of Fight drive makes for a confident Hovawart.
Fight instinct or drive is all to do with offensive and defensive aggression and indicates a dog's self-confidence in stressful situations. The hovawart with a strong fight drive maintains his self-confidence in stressful situations and will not back down when approached by other animals. He will guard and protect his territory, food and family, he may guard his toys and will enjoy tugging games. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that a protective dog shouldn’t be allowed to meet people. Teach your dog to be friendly, so he can recognise the difference between a friendly approach and a real threat.
Hovawarts with a great deal of fight drive can be difficult to handle and merely tolerate petting and grooming, not really enjoying them. They must be very well socialised in order for them to learn to control their nature. Socialisation helps them to learn to properly assess situations.
Hovawarts with a low fight drive (and therefore a higher flight drive) are far more sensitive and can respond poorly to threatening body language, they also require extensive socialisation.
The Defense drive or instinct is difficult to evaluate
Being one of the least understood aspects of a Hovawart's temperament it should be balanced because it consists of elements of both the Fight and Flight. The amount of mental strain a hovawart can withstand when in self-defense mode before showing signs of stress or flight behaviour is an indicator of where he is on the Fight or Flight continuum.
The defense instinct or drive is to do with how the Hovawart deals with stressful situations, and there is a crossover stage, a threshold, between Fight and Flight behaviour. Typically when in Defence Fight mode the dog will “stand his ground,” show protective behaviours, move towards unfamiliar things, and guard territory. It is usually seen more in mature Hovawarts.
Defence Flight is where the dog is uncertain in the face of a perceived threat. Common signs of what is an inner conflict include the raising the hackles, a low tail carriage, an obvious high pitch tone of bark indicating stress, and signs of withdrawal or retreat.
Social aggression is almost exclusively a male trait.
It is all to do with the Hovawart's desire to establish a pack hierarchy, to become the alpha or leader. It is typically characterized by the Hovawart with a deep grumbling bark, the dog who expresses and conducts himself in a very dominant way. A degree of social aggression is positive because it does not have the potential disadvantage of Flight behaviour. On the other hand excessive amounts of social aggression may lead to a continual struggle for authority with the owner, and can also be a hindrance when training.
The Hovawarts prey or hunting drive should be balanced.
It is the desire to chase and take moving objects. It involves searching, eye-stalking, chasing, grabbing, and killing. Prey drive is evident in specialised tasks, such as herding, tracking, pointing, setting, and retrieving.
Hovawarts with a high prey drive focus intensely on the object he is pursuing. They will hunt and kill their toys, items of clothing, pillows, chase anything that moves, steal food, even stalk the cat, and pounce on toys or other animals. They are easy motivate but also easily distracted. Hovawarts with an extremely high prey drive may not make suitable pets, as they can easily become bored and destructive if that instinct is not regularly fulfilled. Fetch and Tug games are excellent ways to help develop an apparent lack of hunting or prey drive in hovawarts , though they are not so easily simulated by treats or toys and are often single minded. Keep them happy and balanced through play and socialisation.
The Pack Instinct or drive can enhance the natural working spirit of the Hovawart.
It is to do with the need for the dog to co-operate and fit in with the social life of the pack. Social interaction, bonding to owner and family, physical contact, playing and licking are all pack behaviours. Hovawarts with high pack instincts respond well to praise and touch, and are easily motivated with social rewards. A hovie with low pack instinct is not so easily stimulated, and can also be independent, so in training you may need to rely on his prey instincts to help motivate him.
The instincts and drives in the Hovawart should always be balanced, and how the individual Hovawart utilises his instincts and drives should be carefully thought about before breeding.
