BusyDog

Temperaments 101: Biddability, Drive and Instinct

When searching for a performance prospect, there are many factors that go into what makes a dog a good candidate. However, I think that these factors can be grouped into three distinct qualities.

1. Instinct
2. Drive
3. Biddability

They are three distinct characteristics (but are all interconnected) and they contribute to how easy/difficult a dog will be to train. For people who are looking for their next performance partner, these three characteristics need to be considered.

Instinct is the desire AND ability to control the livestock. A dog with good instinct will know to watch the heads of the stock. He knows that where the heads are pointing, the bodies will follow. So therefore, he watches the heads. A dog with very good instinct will have a sense of rate. He will be able to tell where the edge of the flight zone is and will not bust up the middle as readily as a dog with less instinct. A dog with good instinct will have a natural circle and will want to keep the stock bunched up together. A dog with better instinct will bring the stock to you.

If you are working stock, you want a dog that has instinct to control the stock, but not prey drive to kill/slash it. A lot of people confuse prey drive with instinct. The dog may show intense interest, however, once you insist that a dog with a lot of prey drive fetch the sheep your way, the dog with prey drive (not instinct) will usually quit on you. At best he loses a lot of his intensity. Since he can’t get what he wants (roughing up the stock), he isn’t interested in working with you.

Drive is the desire to control the livestock, or to have the motivation to sit through a lesson (whether it’s stock, obedience or agility lesson). Drive can sometimes be thought of as ‘heart’. Drive keeps the dog going when you aren’t sure why he’s still out there. A dog with a lot of drive will keep working for you, even when you aren’t doing the right thing. A dog with little drive will need lots of motivation work and often will quit when you are being ambiguous or have worked too long.

A dog with a lot of drive, is one who finds something rewarding. What that something is, depends on the dog. Tennis balls, cookies, biting sheep, running agility courses are all things that high drive dogs find valuable. If you have a low drive dog, it requires work to motivate him to do anything. Since Aussies are smart, they may have drive, but may not see the need to use it. Often people inadvertently train their Aussies to run slow. How often do you see an Aussie walk across the dog walk? The handler is cheering wildly in a high squeaky voice. The smart dog thinks “Momma loves it when I walk slow. Why else would she praise me so much?” There are many high drive Aussies who have been trained to go slow. Their drive has not been developed. They have not been rewarded for going fast and showing intensity. So being the smart dogs that they are, they just plod along and get a cookie.

You can have a very biddable dog with what appears to be low drive. However, it’s the trainer’s job to develop the drive in the dog. Biddable dogs want to do what makes you happy. It’s your job to figure out how to motivate the dog. Once you do, the dog usually gets faster. I have noticed that people who complain that their dogs are low drive are usually a bit boring themselves. They are ‘ho-hum’ and the dog reflects that. Once they get animated in their demeanor and interactions, the dog perks up.

In addition, trainers need to do exercises that isolate speed and reward appropriately for it. There are many creative exercises to ‘trick’ an Aussie into gong fast or showing intensity and then you have your opportunity to reward. After a few sessions, most Aussies figure out what you want.

Biddability is the amount of ‘forgiveness’ or ‘bend’ a dog has. Biddability is a harder quality to describe and quantify. It could be described as ‘heart’. An example is the agility dog who is sent off course by a not-so-good handler. Then the handler yells “Come!” at the last second and the dog rolls his eyes and keeps trying to please. He never quits. He’s a saint. He knows it and the handler might not. It’s the dog who knows his job at the center chute and puts the sheep through it even though the handler is yelling the wrong flank. It’s the dog who doesn’t have a lot of instinct on stock but keeps trying anyways…hoping he will eventually get it right and make the handler happy.

Biddability coupled with drive and instinct makes a fantastic dog. However, improper training methods can ruin all of that.

There is a trend these days in agility to have high drive dogs. Unfortunately, biddability is getting left out sometimes. So there are very cranked up dogs (really fast) who are very unforgiving. As soon as the handler is a fraction of a second late, the dog gets mad and the run is over because the dog barks at the handler and can not forgive the handler for being late.

There are some dogs you can put a ton of pressure on. They are biddable AND have a lot of drive. Then there are some dogs that don’t like that much pressure. However, they may be extremely talented anyways (they have high drive and instinct but moderate, or conditional biddability). So it’s your job to figure out how to set up the lesson so the dog is successful and then reward him for it. (This works well for all types of dogs.) Once you show this type of dog what you want, they will keep doing it to make you happy.

Finding the perfect balance between these three traits in your next prospect will make your job of training easier. If your dog is deficient in one or more areas, it’s not impossible to succeed with him, but it will probably require more training. Even if you find the perfect ‘clean slate’, you will still need to train your dog and address all these issues. Finding a pedigree that is strong in all three areas will help. Finding parents that have these qualities are a good starting point as well. Good dogs are born, and then through proper training and work, great dogs are created.

As a trainer, it’s your job to figure out what kind of dog you have, and then how to tailor the lesson to exploit your dog’s talents and strengthen his weaknesses without him noticing.