Why would we want to breed out a guarding instinct in a guarding dog? Rio is a very good guard and would defend her home and family I've no doubt, as I've seen it. She isn't aggresswive though and only reacts when she feels there is a genuine threat. Too many people feel that guarding equals aggression. A good guard assesses the danger and reacts accordingly. Nobody would want to breed out guarding and waryness in Estrelas, or they wouldn't be Estrelas. Especially as many Estrelas today are still worked, and any line you will find will have working dogs in it. There is no differntial between working and show/pet lines. It is what it is. This means that some are unsuitable for showing due to their waryness. Dan is one of these. He's a better behaved dog than many of the more modern/popular breeds though.

Main lines in our boys are:

Marbleton, Faerdorn, Santonoaks and Norwilbeck... obviously some big names in there...

There are the obvious (Robbie Redcoat) and then some from the same lines/kennels.

There are more CH on their father's side of their pedigree.

If you google them (except Santonoaks who has no website), you can see where Max's dark brindle comes from.

Oz and Snoop are Faerdorn..

Do you define Dan as wary, or nervous?

He is wary bordering on nervous. His nervousness is not genuine as sometimes he 'forgets' to be scared, lol! It is a learned response which he is unlearning. In real life he is wary in some situations although certain things such as loud bangs and people running towards him can make him genuinely nervous, but he has gained a lot of confidence and is pretty comfortable in most situations, especially if he has been exercised beforehand. In shows, however, he is not relaxed or comfortable, which is why I am not showing him for the moment.

So to answer you question, I would consider him wary, and a bit of a spanner tbh. From the outside he seems nervous, but he's really not that bad.