Training vs. What Comes Naturally

Before I go into the thoughts about this header I want to talk about what a gorgeous weekend it was. Talked to my daughter on Saturday and for the first time she sounded good. Baby Ella is stable and "cooking" nicely. Of course things can change and quickly but for now I'm very grateful all is well. We had a cold, bitter winter but it's making Spring all the more enjoyable. Gorgeous weather this weekend! I trained Moto yesterday and was thrilled with him. Blitz is feeling good so I took both pups to the fun match on Sunday. With absolutely no training Blitz wowed the crowd with his flashy heeling style. It's amazing he can do so well with no priming. If I were a judge I would have given him about a 192 - pretty good for no practice. Moto was entered in both Open and Novice. Open was first. I could see he was nervous when we went to warm up so we played touch games which brought a smile to his face and started his tail wagging. That was a good decision as he turned in a fairly nice Open performance. By Novice time the building was very warm and Moto was not motivated. He was OK but not great but he has a much better attitude than previous times in the past. So much to work on but it's coming along. I'm encouraged. Here's a pic - taken yesterday - of the pups I'm looking at. They've graduated from looking like baby rats to baby guinea pics. I also got to meet a pick puppy kept from the sire's previous litter. She is amazing and has a personality very much like Blitz. Which brings me to the discussion we had - how much of this innate flashiness and work ethic is bred in and how much comes from conditioning? This is a conformation line with virtually no performance titles, yet Blitz, had he been well enough to perform, would have been a spectacular obedience dog. And, all their dogs have temperaments to die for. These breeders work extensively with their dogs, socializing them and training them. Kathy's amazing dog Buoy was worked with a lot when he was with the breeder before coming home with her at 8 weeks. Yes, Kathy's a fantastic trainer and I'm sure Buoy would have done amazing things regardless. But how much of that is conditioned in those early weeks? It will be fun to watch this litter develop. I'm lucky to live just 45 minutes away to check in frequently. Right now these tiny babies are very wiggly and active. Can't wait until it's temperament test time. The debate will continue and it's a fun discussion about temperament vs. training. And meanwhile, I continue to watch and see what developes in these puppies.....