We will have to disagree. I agree with the 'window' analogy. No doubts there. I do not believe you can ruin potential because potential is something that can't be physically touched, nor mentally. Buck was pre-dispositioned to be Buck no matter who owned him or how they owned. Nothing can change what he was meant to be. Is it up to the owner to make the decisions to get him to where his potential was destined? Absolutely. I also believe there are tons of dogs that would have been good dogs, possibly great dogs, if they had ended up in different hands. But those dogs had to have the potential to be good 1st and foremost, then bad decisions prevent that potential from being realized. Nothing changed the potential.
Maybe I should have used the phrase 'original potential'. Michael Jordan had the potential to be the greatest ever, and for a while he was, but then the birthday disease slipped up on him. But getting old never changed what he was meant to be. Was there another kid out there along the same time that could have taken his lunch money on the court? Possibly. Did that kid get cut down in a gang shooting? Did he get involved in drugs? Car accident? None of these things changed his potential just altered his path, like good owners and bad owners alter the paths of dogs. EWO




Quote Originally Posted by CA Jack View Post
Actually, your opening line was, "I doubt you can ruin gameness but you can get the dog to a point he never gets a chance to show it," and I totally disagree with that statement.

Absolutely *any* genetic potential can be ruined with enough repeated stupidity. This is why dogs that have shown exceptional gameness once, in good hands, can be ruined and not show anything like that again in the wrong hands.

For example, Einstein's genetic intelligence could have been ruined by blunt trauma or repeated exposure to the wrong drugs ... and in the same fashion Buck's genetic gameness could have been ruined by repeated owner stupidity, being forced to endure too much, too often, etc., etc., until it wore out.

Absolutely everything has its limits.
Absolutely NO creature is capable of duplicating its best performance, every day of its life, from birth till death. Everything fades with time.

The truth is, the absolute summit of athletic performance can only be achieved once, or possibly a handful of times during a brief performance window (if it is ever able to be achieved at all). That kind of performance window is not open forever ... it has a point where it doesn't exist yet ... it has a point where it does ... and it has a point where it is gone forever. And, you bet, it can be irreparably closed by mishandling the athlete badly enough.

Jack