I guess I am now "officially" one of those weird competitors who likes to try to "work" with my dog.
Obedience and tracking anyways, and now we also are training in some other scent detection work - as a diabetic alert dog. I would hardly consider myself an advanced trainer. A beginner, really!
1. My male Bongo is a certified therapy dog. (Not to be confused with a service dog). His "work" is to visit and be obedient for emotionally disturbed adolescents. Very obedient. He is not social like a Golden Retriever - but he warms up quickly to trust new people, and I can trust him in all situations - parades, running loose with other dogs and animals - more than I could trust many other dogs. We have a good relationship...but mostly he is obedient.
2. Last week, I attended my first AKC obedience competition with my female, Anthea. The competition was indoors, in a huge, loud, metal convention center - thousands of people, hundreds of dogs, bright lights, vendors, ladders. I don't generally like much attention to myself, so I was quite nervous with "stage fright"...but Anthea stayed, for the most part, very focused. She has some female dominance aggression, but she always leaves this behind when she knows we have a task. We took first place last weekend, by a minimum of 17 points - over golden retrievers, labs, terriers...
3. I have a female in Florida that I bred, who at 1.5 years, is being trained as a mobility assistance dog. I know she has had unique challenges with her...but as I understand, she is still doing well.
4. I track and trail (sport) with my dogs. I have had the opportunity now to train with many different breeds...I would trade none for my wolfdogs. Their drive, their endurance, their focus (and ability to refocus) is beautiful to watch. When they are "deep" with their nose in tracking, and they come to a tricky place - they freeze, sometimes with one leg in the air even, and don't move a leg until they know just where they are going. But the trick is to always challenge them - too many short/straight tracks - and they look back like "really? - why? Don't YOU see the sock down there? but c'mon, we will go...in a leisurely fashion." I have trained some protection work with my dogs, but got kind of the same reaction after a bite or two. They got bored with the "game".The real protective instinct has shown itself at more important times, such as strange drunk men approaching me at dark on the beach.
I don't think all CSVs are all cut out for all "work", or even some "work". But to cut them out of being "top dogs" completely, and say it can never be...I don't know if it's right either (though I surely don't want a GSD personality either). I think the biggest thing to own one is to have and open, flexible, FORGIVING!!!! mind - and be willing to work towards greatness at what their strengths are. Mixed breeding, especially with a AWD or Saarloos, or any other mix....surely only adds more variability - and thus unpredictability for untold generations.