Controlled Aggression

Notice of Copyright © 2005, 2007, 2008 Girard W. Bradshaw. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of this work should be made in writing and mailed to the following address: G.W. Bradshaw, Tarheel Canine Training Inc, 230 W. Seawell Street, Sanford, NC 27332. www.tarheelcanine.com

Notice of Disclaimer The training of police canines and protection dogs is inherently dangerous. Any of the theory or techniques described in this book is to be used or applied at your own risk. Neither Girard Bradshaw nor Tarheel Canine Training Inc., its officers, directors, employees or agents shall be held responsible for any damages to person or property resulting from the use or application of the techniques and information described herein. All protection training should be done in the context of recognized and organized sport clubs or police canine training groups under the direct supervision of certified expert or experienced trainers with proper equipment and safety protocols in place.

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About the Author

Jerry Bradshaw is Training Director & President of Tarheel Canine Training Inc in Sanford, North Carolina. Jerry has been training dogs for competitive protection sports since 1991, and has competed in National Championship trials in both schutzhund and PSA, winning the PSA National Championships in 2003 with his dog Ricardo v.d. Natuurzicht PSA 3. Jerry has trained many Belgian Malinois to the highest titles in the sports in which he competed including Arrow of Tigerpaws SchH 3, BH, Ben von Lowenfels, SchH 2, BH, Rocky de la Maison Des Lions PSA 3, and Ricardo v.d. Natuurzicht PH 1, PSA 3. Tarheel Canine Training Inc. is a nationally renowned training facility for police service dogs, and has placed trained police dogs at federal, state and local law enforcement agencies nationally and internationally since 1993. Complete biographies and references for Jerry Bradshaw and the staff of trainers at Tarheel Canine Training Inc. are available at www.tarheelcanine.com .

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Seminars Jerry Bradshaw and the staff of Tarheel Canine Training Inc. are available to give seminars to sport clubs and police agencies on the topics covered in this book. In addition seminars are available for advanced narcotics detection & explosives detection, tactical building searches, area searches & felony vehicle stops, proper application of the e-collar for sport or police dogs, and competition preparation for PSA. Upcoming seminars through Tarheel Canine Training Inc. can be found on the website on the Upcoming Seminars page at www.tarheelcanine.com

Equipment A full range of equipment for police canines and protection dogs is available through the Tarheel Canine Training Inc. Equipment Store at www.tarheelcanine.com All payment types are accepted including government purchase orders by calling Tarheel Canine Training Inc. at 1- 800-766-9032.

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To my dogs: Penny, Ben, Arrow, Rocky, Ricardo and Diego. You have been, and continue to be, my inspiration. You are my teachers, my companions and my brothers and sister, and my life has been enriched beyond measure for your having been in it.

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Table of Contents

Forward ………………………………………………………………………………7 Chapter 1: Introduction ………………………………………………………………8 Foundation Training Chapter 2: Evaluating K9 Candidates ……………………………………………….14 Chapter 3: Prey Training Basics ……………………………………………………..29 Chapter 4: Defense Training Basics …………………………………………………39 Chapter 5: Drive Channeling in the Prey Dominant Dog ……………………………50 Chapter 6: Drive Channeling in the Defense Dominant Dog ………………………..57 Chapter 7: Working in the Bite Suit …………………………………………………66 Chapter 8: Fundamental Human Orientation Exercises ……………………………..77 Skills Training Chapter 9: Guarding: Sit, Down, and the Hold & Bark ……………………………80 Chapter 10: Out on Command ………………………………………………………85 Chapter 11: Redirects and the Out & Return ………………………………………..93 Chapter 12: The Call-Off ……………………………………………………………97 Appendices Appendix 1: The Dog Sports of Europe …………………………………………….105 Appendix 2: Suggested Equipment ………………………………………………....107 Appendix 3: Basic Attention Training & Heeling …………………………………..108 Appendix 4: Off Leash Training & Using the E-Collar …………………………….115 References……………………………………………………………………………122

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Forward This book is intended provide a roadmap for protection training and the development of police patrol canines. One of the biggest issues that I have encountered in teaching seminars for PSA and police canine training is a lack of understanding of not only how to train specific exercises, but an appreciation for the entire training progression. There must be an appreciation for the whole forest as well as for the individual trees in a complicated endeavor such as training a dog for controlled aggression. This book is not a comprehensive treatment of training protection dogs, but it is pretty close. There are issues in advanced training which must be addressed, and shall be addressed in a later volume that deals with specialized skills, especially for police dogs. Building searches, felony vehicle stops, area searches, and so forth include tactical elements for handlers that must also be addressed in detail. Advanced work in protection sports, especially where protection scenarios are of a surprise nature, requires explanations of how to break down these scenarios and train the elements, as well as how to handle the dog through these risk-reward situations. This book is going out in its first printing as a training manual. It is my intention to get the information out there and then in a revision, provide photographs to illustrate some of the points and techniques. I would be pleased to have comments on the material, its organization, and how well it communicates the ideas intended. Please feel free to send comments to [email protected]

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Chapter 1: Introduction This book was written for police K9 trainers, and protection dog trainers, who want to understand a unified approach to training dogs for protection and police patrol operations. The literature on protection training abounds with books that target Schutzhund training, personal protection training, or police training. Much has been written on the subject of controlled aggression, why dogs express it, and how to manipulate it for training purposes in various disciplines. In this book I will attempt to provide an outline of foundation training theory and applications that apply across the board from protection sport training and police K9 patrol training, to personal protection training for the street as well as surprise scenario sport work. This is a difficult undertaking because years of differences between sport trainers and police dog trainers have driven a wedge between the two. One of the basic premises of this book is that foundation work, whether for dogs in protection sports, or police dogs is the same. Drive development, confidence building, and skills training share more commonalities than differences. For the last 25 years, Schutzhund has been the predominant protection dog sport in the United States. Schutzhund training alone, however, is clearly neither sufficient preparation for a street police dog, nor a street worthy personal protection dog. This is neither a secret to Schutzhund sport enthusiasts nor to police dog trainers. I think police dog trainers in the US have made a determination about what their dogs must do on the street, and what they see in Schutzhund trials appears to fall short. They therefore lump all sport training together and deem it insufficient for what they need. This is understandable, but not necessarily correct. There is now a lot more to protection sport training in America than just Schutzhund training. American sport trainers are flocking to new sports that provide significantly more challenging programs, such as the Ring sports and PSA. PSA in particular is a surprise scenario sport, where the trainer must prepare the dog for scenarios that are explained to them on the day of the trial. This forces these trainers to train many behavioral components separately, and put them together on trial day, not unlike what a police dog is required to do. From my experience, as both a police dog trainer and sport dog trainer, I can see there is a need to unify the approach to developing and training protection dogs. I believe the concept behind surprise scenario competitions for civilians as well as surprise scenario police dog certifications will revolutionize training. No police dog goes into a situation knowing the rules perfectly. Performing a rehearsed set of tasks, as in most police dog certifications, is not a real indication of how the dog and his handler will perform in a street situation. The same is true of a personal protection dog. Therefore, this book is written with the idea in mind that the dogs must be trained to perform their functions in a surprise scenario setting, rather than be trained on exercises that are known fully ahead of time. The basic developmental training, then, must set a firm foundation for this advanced work. The developmental work we do in controlled aggression must provide a foundation for the scenario work that comes later, and that is what this book is all about.

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In this book I will explain the concepts of foundation bite work training for all disciplines, with an emphasis on developing police patrol K9s as well as basic preparation for surprise scenario obedience and protection trials. I will also address some important skills common to both police dogs and surprise scenario sport dogs. The skill training is not an exhaustive treatment, and will require another volume to deal with all the nuances of police skills training or the skills for particular sports (e.g. tactical searching, or Schutzhund blind searching, for instance). The skill topics I have included here, however, are broadly applicable to both sport and police trainers: Release on command, out & guard, hold & bark, re-directed bites, out and return, and the call-off. Developing a protection dog, regardless of the discipline, comes in two stages. First, the foundation must be laid in which we develop the basic drives that impel the dog to bite, and the interaction among these drives. Further, in the foundation work, we must introduce the dog to the various kinds of equipment we will use to maintain his training, including sleeves, bite suits, and muzzles. The dog must learn how to properly target an attacker with courage, intensity, and decisiveness. Thus, foundation training includes teaching the targeting of the vital grip areas. How we use both civil agitation as well as equipment to teach the dog to be man-oriented is also a significant issue that will receive treatment in this volume. This is critical for police dogs and personal protection dogs. Further, we need to develop the dog’s reactions to all manner of distractions during bite work that may frighten him off the grip and render him, at best, ineffective in a street situation, or, at worst, a liability to the handler deploying his dog. Second, the dog’s skills must be developed. These skills begin with the out on command, guarding, hold and bark, redirects & returns, and the call off. These are explained in detail in this volume. Further skills, such as area searching, tactical building searches, felony vehicle stops, passive bites, and some others, (depending on the discipline in which the dog will compete or be deployed) will have to be treated in another more complete book devoted to advanced protection skills. Because this book deals primarily with protection training, we make some assumptions about the readers. First, much of what is in the book can be applied to young dogs (less than 8 months, or even puppies), but the majority of information will be most useful to trainers of “green” dogs – those whose dogs are preferably over 12 months. I further make the assumption that the reader has the ability to train the obedience necessary for the skills that will be discussed in the later chapters. I make some explicit references to using the e-collar in training skills, and I have included an appendix at the end of the book on basic use of the e-collar in training, as well as a program for integrating it into protection training. I encourage readers to look at the appendix before reading the sections on skills training. The rest of this introduction will deal with basic canine learning, which is at the heart of all training. Chapter 2 will deal with canine selection and some behavioral traits that are critical in selecting the right dog for the work. Chapter 3 introduces prey drive development, and chapter 4 introduces defense drive development. Drive interaction is discussed in chapters 5 & 6. Chapter 7 discusses working in the bite suit, including selecting an appropriate bite suit, and how to target the dog to proper grip areas. Chapter 8 introduces training to eliminate equipment orientation.

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The chapters that follow discuss skills training, including training the guarding behavior appropriate for the dog’s deployment (Chapter 9), the out on command (Chapter 10), re-directed (multiple suspects) bites (Chapter 11), and the call off (Chapter 12). In the appendices that follow there are introductions to the Dog Sports of Europe (App. 1), Required Equipment List (App. 2), discussions of attention training & heeling (App. 3), and proper use of the electronic collar in protection training (App. 4). Basic Canine Learning In order to properly train a dog, we must understand some basics about canine learning. Too few trainers have a command of the theory behind canine learning. Many trainers are intuitive, meaning they have learned through experience what affects canine learning in practice, but cannot explain the theory behind what they do. I think it is critical that instructors of K9 classes and training directors in protection clubs (not to mention decoys) have a command of the theory and vocabulary of canine learning in addition to an appreciation of the sports of Europe in which all imported dogs used for police work have some foundation. In my travels around the country doing seminars for training clubs and police K9 units, I find it easier to get across ideas if I can explain the theory behind my practical instructions. There is so much conflict among trainers today because they cannot converse about different training methodologies. They take opposition to their practical instruction personally, because they cannot explain why they are suggesting certain kinds of training progressions or corrections to training plans. Instead of having open discussions based on well-accepted theory, conflicts tend to deteriorate into wars of authority. Imagine how much easier it would be to answer someone questioning your methods by explaining why you are suggesting a course of action, and being able to explain why an opposing viewpoint is flawed, theoretically. I find it much less difficult to listen to objections or answer questions when I know I can formulate a logically consistent argument based on learning theory to explain why my training progression is what it is. I can also point out flawed criticism quite easily. In the end, training is no longer about who’s method is better, who has been training dog for more years (bad training for 20 years is still bad training) but about who knows his stuff and further who can explain it logically. Instructors will waste far less time getting into arguments if this approach is taken. Remember the old adage “the only thing two dog trainers can agree on is what a third trainer is doing wrong?” If we could all speak the language of theory, these types of conflicts would be greatly reduced. Types of Canine Learning

There are two basic types of canine learning or conditioning. They are operant conditioning and classical conditioning. Operant conditioning gets its name from the process of learning it represents. In operant conditioning, the dog learns his behavior has consequences provided by his environment (including the trainer). The dog learns to adapt his behavior to these consequences. The dog learns to “operate” the environment to get what he wants. The second kind of learning is called classical learning or conditioning. In classical conditioning the dog learns that life is made up of associations.

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Sometimes this leads to the dog behaving inappropriately (anticipation) because of context. Sometimes it speeds up learning because of context. The dog is best described in one phrase as an opportunistic predator. Although the dog is clearly a social animal with a highly developed social instinct, often times the idea that the dog is a pack animal overshadows his innate individuality. In fact, we cannot ignore the dog’s nature as an individual when we think about training. Dogs will clearly do something we want, not because they are looking to please us, but rather because they get something in return. Dogs are masters at manipulating their environment. This is a highly developed survival instinct. When we characterize a dog as "opportunistic," we inherently recognize as most prominent his overriding survival instinct. Therefore when we take on the task of training, we must ask, “what does the dog get out of the training?” It once was the case that training a dog first involved establishing our physical dominance by use of physical force. This is commonly referred to as establishing the role of the "alpha." Many trainers still instruct their students to physically dominate their dogs by rolling them over, holding them down, and forcing them to accept their dominance, sometimes on the first day of K9 School, as if the dog was given a memo by the department to respect the guy holding the leash just because he is the new handler. Obedience is then achieved mainly through physical threat from the handler. Thankfully, we have come to understand more about what motivates animals in general and dogs in particular. If we take as our premise that the dog will do something if he gets something out of it, we can construct a continuum along the following lines: Compulsive----------------------------------------------------------------------- Motivational Training Training (Pure Force Training) (Pure Reward Training) On the left side of the continuum, we have classical force training. In this type of training, the dog is called on to execute commands in order to remove the discomfort applied by the trainer, prior to giving the command. This kind of classical force training is often referred to as "escape" training. The dog escapes the force by doing the command. The dog gets something out of this kind of training: relief from the discomfort caused by the trainer. An example is teaching the dog to sit by pulling tight on the choke collar in the upward direction, and when the dog sits the choking is relieved. On the right side of the continuum, we have pure reward-based training. The dog is lured into position, or the trainer waits for the behavior to occur naturally, using the promise of a reward (toy, a bite, a jump) and is rewarded when he executes the command. The only punishment is to withhold the reward if the dog does not do the command. In training dogs, as in life, there is something to be learned from both extremes of this continuum. Forcing a dog to do something without first taking the time to teach him in a non-threatening environment is cruel, at worst, and unproductive, at best. With a police dog that has a well developed drive to protect himself, you are likely to produce a dog that comes up the leash to fight you when you put him in this kind of conflict. Using only the threat of a withheld reward to enforce obedience shows a lack of experience on the part of many of the trainers trumpeting these methods as the be-all and end-all of

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training. In my experience with police dogs, we must have control of our dogs under competing motivations. When training a dog in protection work, for example, the overriding motivation for the dog is to bite the decoy, and the trainer cannot produce a motivation that can compete with the dogs desire to bite. Therefore, I cannot just withhold the reward. Now, I can withhold the dog from obtaining the bite through physical restraint, but how do I get him focused on me? In these cases, some form of thoughtful compulsion is necessary. A simple example: I can make the dog sit before sending him for his bite (reward). The dog learns to give me what I want to get what he wants, thus obedience becomes his avenue to get his reward, and it becomes less of a conflict and struggle over dominance. But in order to get the sit, initially, I may have to use a form of punishment, such as a collar correction, to induce the dog to sit. Therefore, training involves coming to terms with a balanced approach to motivation and compulsion The Consequences of Behavior

The probability of a behavior recurring is affected by the consequences of the behavior itself. We speak of two consequences: Reinforcement (a reinforcing consequence is one that will increase the frequency of a behavior) and Punishment (a punishing consequence is one that will decrease the frequency of a behavior). Now, both reinforcement and punishment can be either positive or negative, thus we have four consequences we must define: Positive Reinforcement: A particular behavior is strengthened due to a desirable consequence. For example a dog barks aggressively, and receives a grip as a reward, increasing the likelihood he will bark when we alert him. Negative Reinforcement: Eliminating some undesirable consequence strengthens a particular behavior. For example, in training the out with a difficult dog, we pull tight on the pinch collar, applying pressure, the dog outs, and we relieve the pressure the instant he lets go. Negative Punishment: Withholding the reinforcing consequence weakens a particular behavior. For example, the dog stops barking prior to the grip, and the decoy walks away from the confrontation (withholding the grip) until he starts barking again. Positive Punishment: A particular behavior is weakened by the presentation of an unpleasant consequence. For example, the dog wants to run out of a down command to the bite before we give the send command, so we apply a correction for the down, and send him only when he is holding the down properly. If some aversive (a negative experience like a collar correction) teaches the dogs to understand more clearly, and does not interfere with either the learning process, or run counter to their temperament, then it is a useful tool. As you will see, our method will make use of some negative reinforcement and positive punishment, and, as a result, you will be able to use voice reprimands to communicate with your dog. You will see, however, that when it is necessary we will use thoughtful compulsion, but our 12

presumption will be to always teach the dog using positive reinforcement. In most cases, only when a dog already understands what a command requires, will we use compulsion. As I describe the theory behind the training program, please keep in mind the following: Our job is to always make the dog successful. Training is never a competition between the dog and the trainer. This is especially good to keep in mind when we are training a dog with a dominant personality, such as a working police dog. These dogs can seem to want to challenge the trainer and test his or her patience. But remember, dogs are manipulators, and if their resistance is a success, they have in turn controlled the training situation and turned events to their favor. Think of this not as a challenge, but as the dog simply living up to is nature. Your job is to out-think him and show him that compliance is in is best interest. Avoid getting into competitions with your dog; often they seem to have much more patience and persistence than we do. Keep these four consequences of behavior in mind as we move through all of our training scenarios. You will see where each of the techniques we describe is a combination of these consequences of behavior.

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Chapter 2: Evaluating K9 Candidates This book is written primarily for trainers who are beginning with an adolescent or young adult dog commonly referred to as a “green” dog. These chapters can also be applied to puppy work, though some minor changes must be made regarding equipment appropriate for puppies, versus older dogs, and techniques appropriate for puppies that are not fully mentally and physically mature. In this section I will discuss canine temperament and the evaluation process for choosing suitable K9 candidates, assuming we will be starting with a green dog whose age is roughly between 10 months (if precocious) to about 2.5 years old. This is a typical acceptable age range for most police department purchasing green dogs. Sometimes dogs up to 3 years old will be accepted. Once past 3, most green dogs become very difficult to sell. From police departments that select dogs for police service work, to competitors who are searching for the dog to put them on the winner’s podium, an evaluation must be performed to discern the suitability of the dog for police K9 or surprise scenario work. Therefore, we must understand the dog’s temperament and how it relates to K9 protection training. Temperament Traits In this section I will discuss important temperament characteristics that both singly and in combination have important consequences for the training of police K9s. Temperament itself cannot be observed, yet traits or characteristics of temperament can be observed. As trainers we are schooled to “read” the dogs we are working with, both for their inherent characteristics of temperament, and their behavior during training, so that proper choices and adjustments in method can be made. What follows are descriptions of key traits that we must look for to either pass or fail a particular candidate. This process is imperfect, but we must start somewhere in order to rule out likely problem dogs. Public Sociability

I wish to differentiate the general outward sociability of the dog from the social drives and behavior toward pack members and those with a training relationship to the dog. A protest biter can be exceptionally social in general, but show aggression when corrected. This is a manifestation of social aggression towards someone with whom the dog may already have a relationship. When evaluating a dog we look for whether the dog is overtly social, neutral, or unsocial. In social dogs, the greeting is usually immediate and forceful, though no prior relationship may have ever been established. Usually we see such behavior in very confident young dogs that have been provided good formative social experiences. Some others, however, who behave this way may be more submissive in temperament and wish to make a ritual display of submission to forestall an aggressive dominant display by the

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human greeter. For the police or protection dog in general, it is not necessary to eliminate the social dog from consideration if his sociability is a result of his confidence.1 In the neutral dog, no fear is registered, and the dog simply ignores a stranger. This may be a sign of a more defensively motivated dog or an overly handler dependent dog. In the more defensive temperament, on neutral territory, there is no perceived threat if the dog doesn’t confront the individual during the greeting. The dog may have learned to avoid conflict by ignoring the presence of others. He may also be demonstrating a willingness to see the new person as a threat if commanded to do so, or if training has taught him that circumstances may change from a calm situation to a threatening situation. This same dog at home may be very territorially defensive, as intruders cannot be ignored on the home turf. The more handler dependent dog also avoids fear or confrontation by ignoring anyone but the handler. Both these types of dogs have learned that their neutral approach to greeting forestalls the question of possible conflict.2 The unsocial dog does not approach, nor will allow anyone to approach. The unsociability can be manifest as a defensive aggressive display or through flight and hiding, or a combination of both. The aggressive display is a learned behavior. The dog learns that aggression successfully relieves the fear that has become a conditioned response to greeting situations. Clearly, sociability is a very important issue for the trainer. The more social and gregarious the dog, the easier he is to work with in general. The more social he is, the more he responds to voice, and tactile stimulation, and the easier he will be to transition to a new handler. For police work, then, we want to see either a socially neutral dog that is confident, or a social dog. Unsocial dogs, whether by nature, or by a lack of socialization by design or error, should be dismissed as useful candidates. The result of starting with an unsocial dog is low confidence and handler over-dependency. Nerves

Dog trainers use this term as a general descriptive of a dog’s adaptability to change. Change, of course, can come in many ways. It may be a change in the dog’s environment or a change in the dog’s social situation (e.g., a new handler). Change can come in more specific ways. A new surface the dog has to negotiate like slick floors, steeper stairs, dark rooms, or tight spaces, can cause problems as well. The dog’s adaptability to change can be classified as follows: (1) Fluid, (2) Studied, (3) Cautious, (4) Incomplete, (5) Halted, and (6) Accelerating Anxiety. I characterize the adaptability as fluid if the dog makes no hesitation at all, and accepts new situations immediately and confidently. Studied adaptability means that the dog may initially show concern at the change, but has the ability to investigate using his senses, and enough confidence to negotiate the changes with little pause or lingering

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The old wives tale of not allowing your protection dog to socialize or interact with people when young is still being peddled by some trainers. This is a very dangerous and unproductive way to develop any dog. Protection drives and skills are not at odds with sociability. 2 In my experience, the overly handler dependent dog may pay an inordinate amount of attention to the handler rather than greet a stranger, and this may be a manifestation of displacement behavior. Some dogs will sniff around inordinately, and keep their back to the stranger, if the handler is not present.

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concern. Cautious adaptability means the dog adapts, but it takes significantly more time and effort on the part of the trainer to shepherd the dog through the changes.3 Incomplete adaptability means that the dog is functional at a moderate level in the new environment, however, doesn’t ever recover the same activity level and comfort level that he has in his familiar circumstances. However, the dog takes an inordinately long time to register even this limited functional level. Halted adaptability refers to a dog that cannot function at more that a minimum level of his normal behaviors when faced with a change in environment, and never improves from this minimum level, no matter how much time is devoted to de-conditioning. Accelerated anxiety refers to the dog who cannot function at all (shuts down completely) and through continued exposure in a systematic de-conditioning program becomes increasingly fearful, beyond the level initially experienced, and portrays anticipatory anxiety despite trainer’s efforts to desensitize the dog. Clearly this is not the most scientific classification of adaptability to change, however, as a trainer, the important issue is whether the dog shows adaptability in a useful sense. Does it require a lot or a little effort to get the dog to his normal state of confidence? Clearly, dogs that are better socialized in their formative periods learn how to process change and adapt more quickly. The important thing to remember is that the dog with better nerves can take to the changes in situations that training requires, both more easily and more quickly. Many working dog trainers refer to the dog that is at the lower end of the scale as “strong” nerved, and those at the higher end of the scale as “weak” nerved. The clear implication being that the former is a better candidate for work that requires high adaptability like police dog training or competitive training which involves traveling or unpredictable trial circumstances or exercises. For our purposes, only the first two classifications will be acceptable. Dog vendors will often attempt to explain away poor nerves as a lack of training. In most cases, poor nerves are a genetic issue, and no amount of training will ever change how the dog adapts to change. Drives

In this characteristic we find the basis for motivation. Recognize also that these drives go hand in hand with the dog’s nerves. By this I mean that the weaker the nerves, the less the drives will rule the dog’s temperament, and vice versa. A dog with high retrieving and hunting drive can easily adapt to situations that are new and involve the opportunity to play. As the dog develops more experience doing this, the dog is classically conditioned to adapt to and even like new situations. I have tested numerous police dog prospects that I know have never seen the inside of a building with slick floors (like a school). However, for a retrieve object, the dog would go on these floors, slipping and flailing, with only the goal of reaching the object thrown time and again. The following drives are the important ones for protection or police dog training: Prey (including retrieving and hunting drive), Social (Pack), and Defense.4 3

In these cases, usually we will see the dog’s drives eventually overcome the problem. For example, a dog with high retrieval drive will get over his anxieties as he turns his attention to the prey object. 4 Food drive is an obvious one to some. If we are going to train motivationally, food is an easy motivator that we can control (deprivation increases this drive fairly easily), in the early stages of training. However, most police K9s in the later stages of training are not trained with food to reduce the likelihood of poisoning. For competition dogs, however, high prey drive is usually indicative of high food drive anyway,

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Prey drive can be used as a mechanism for delivering rewards. Kongs and balls can be thrown for the prey driven dog, or tug toys can be offered, and the dog releases his drive and finds pleasure in it.5 Defense drive is important in the following sense: When the dog has a low threshold for defense, the dog can perceive a threat from a new or existing trainer through a correction or through body posture. A dog with this characteristic is a poor candidate for compulsive methods, at least early on in training before a bond is established. Social drive is the basis for praise as a reward. There are dogs that are so socially responsive that all the handler needs to offer is verbal praise or tactile stimulation to reward this dog. This is an important characteristic for competition dogs. Consider also the dog’s dominance profile. The more dominant the dog the more he will react to being controlled through compulsion in a negative way. This dog is also better approached motivationally, at least for a time, until he can be conditioned to accept correction properly.6 Much has been written recently about the “big two” drives: prey and defense. We used to talk only about “prey” and “defense” drives in dogs. Other trainers and writers have begun to speak of “fight” drive, also as a genetic trait. I don’t pretend to know exactly what is going on in the mind of a dog. I am a trainer. I know what I see. Through experimentation, I know how to develop behaviors I can see consistently exhibited by certain types of stimulation. In my experience we can create the desire to fight through proper use of the instinct to chase prey and the instinct to defend (which includes defense of prey, defense of territory, and defense of the self) coupled with a high degree of selfconfidence, which comes from genetically sound nerves and with experience. As a side note, I find it silly to talk about a young dog having a “fight drive.” In any young dog you can extinguish his desire to fight with one foolish action, whereas with a confident and experienced dog you are much less likely to do so. To me the desire to fight a decoy or suspect is developed through proper foundation training. What trainers call fight drive is rather a combination of characteristics that are present when we properly stimulate both prey and defensive instincts over time in a dog with a high capacity for self-confidence. In other words, a dog wants to fight if he knows he is going to win! He only knows he is going to win if he has done so many times in many different places and situations, with many different opponents - that is the definition of experience. The more successes under his belt, the less likely some bad experience will extinguish his desire to do it again. On the other side of the coin, if we make winning too easy, the dog gets a false sense of security. I have seen dogs work well on a particular field with a single helper, but the handler fails to give the dog wide-ranging experiences with other decoys and training areas such as inside buildings, on slick floors, or different fields. Suddenly, a stick hit from a stranger, or a clatter stick, or a jug with rocks in it drives the dog off the bite.7 The dog is not necessarily weak. Rather, he has not been trained to properly build and is not usually directly tested in the evaluation process, though you may do so if you wish. It is possible to teach the dog using food, yet still teach the dog food-refusal from strangers. 5 Prey drive can be increased in intensity through frustration. 6 The “No Free Lunch Program”, known to most all trainers allows a dominant dog to be conditioned to accept discipline over time, and to become deferential. This works not only for pet dogs but working dogs as well. 7 I have trained my dog to bite when a decoy is holding a leaf blower, shooting water in his face from a hose or super-soaker as he makes his entry, with hula-hoops and jugs draped with caution tape, decoys

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his self-confidence through a variety of experiences. As the dog matures the level of the fight must escalate variably in intensity and duration, always ending with the result that the dog wins. The dog learns that the harder he is fought by the decoy, the harder he must fight back. Through his experience the dog learns that this is always the road to victory. This is not to say that each fight in succession must be longer and more intense than the last. The dog must not be tested to his limits each time out. I have seen some great decoys fight a dog to the edge of what he can handle, and then upon the very next attack the initial impact of the dog drives the decoy on his back to the ground. The decoy teaches the dog that he can win right away, too. This is a simple principle of motivation. Hardfought battles followed by quick successes are a variable reward, which builds desire and motivation. I cannot see “fight” drive as a separate drive for another reason. I don’t believe it can be present when the drives of prey and defense are functionally absent. We have all seen dogs exhibit primarily prey drive, or primarily defensive instinct. Show me a dog with only fight drive. In my experience, dogs with very dominant prey instinct or very dominant defense instinct can be balanced through proper training, to some degree. For example, a highly defensive dog can learn over time to carry the sleeve and calm down, and can gain confidence. The prey-locked dog can learn to bark more fiercely when threatened, and will, through experience, exhibit more characteristically defensive behaviors because he is successful when he exhibits them. But we cannot only start with “fight drive”, devoid of the drives that first impel the dog to want to fight. Today, many trainers are afraid of the defensive instinct. They fear training through it because in the beginning, when it is present, there exists the possibility of pushing the dog into avoidance. I read an article in a major sport publication that went so far as to say defense has no place in the training of a protection dog! This is utter nonsense. We must teach the dog to be successful when exhibiting defensive behaviors, because it is defensive instinct that provides the violence and strength in the grip, and the serious tone of the bark, and indeed is a major component in the level of focus exhibited in the dog’s work. There is no question that overstressing the defensive instinct can ruin a dog in a hurry. Prey training is safer and easier, but is incomplete for the picture we want. In Schutzhund, you may see dogs that are primarily prey trained, and the handler later wonders why the dog “yips” in the hold and bark. We want the dog angry, not scared, but angry with the helper. In police dog training we want the dog to respond when his defensive instinct is pressed into service by some surprise or situation. The key is stimulating the defensive instinct and teaching the dog that showing aggression brings success. This is done is small steps. We can also stimulate the prey instinct without stimulating defense at the same time. Work each side of the coin and then bring them together slowly. We will discuss this in much more depth in later chapters concerned with drive channeling.

wrapped in plastic tarps, boxes full of plastic soda bottles tossed at the dog during the entry, and anything else I can dream up!

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Hardness

This is a term that is quoted often among trainers, but is seldom understood. Hardness refers to the dog’s ability to bounce back from adversity, usually, in reference to how a dog deals with corrections or a bad experience, usually in reference to social correction from the handler. If a dog can take a fairly stout correction, he is said to be “hard”, and conversely, a dog that becomes upset or overly submissive after a fairly mild correction would be characterized as “soft”. This issue is a very important one, as different dogs, like different people, have differing levels of pain tolerance. For some dogs a fairly hard correction on a pinch collar causes them to take little notice. For others, a verbal correction or a hard look into the eyes can cause the dog to display ritual submission8. There exist some extreme cases on both ends of the spectrum. For the very hard dog, compulsion or positive punishment does not make an impression on him initially nor does the effect last very long in his memory as a reason not to engage in a certain behavior. Thus compulsion may not be an option, as he may choose to take the correction in order to engage in a behavior he values more highly than he wishes to avoid the correction. This situation is often seen with highly prey driven working dogs. For this kind of dog, withholding reward and building a motivational foundation that is very strong is important. It is important not to allow the dog many choices among competing motivations. The process is slow, and in many cases training will always be incomplete, as the dog may choose what he wants to, as he fears no correction in the face of his attractions. On the other end of the spectrum is the extremely soft dog. This dog can get caught up in a loop of submissive ritual at the anticipation of correction. Thus compulsion must be used carefully. The interesting thing to note is that the dog does respond to the compulsion, i.e., it makes an impression on him, but can cause him to feel that the way to escape the effect is to show submission rather than engage in the proper behavior. Laying a foundation in motivation is very critical here as well to instill a pattern of proper response before any limits to misbehavior are set. Here is where compulsion introduced through mild collar corrections, and then the e-collar on very low levels can have a tremendous positive impact. It takes the pack element out of the correction if done properly. The human stays the good guy, and it is not necessary for the dog to display ritually submissive behavior, since the human is not displaying aggressive postures (which are inherent in verbal and physical reprimands through a leash and collar). If the trainer can concentrate on providing big rewards for compliance after successful corrections, the trainer is seen as a source of reward and pleasure and no longer associated with as the source of compulsion. For our work, we want a dog that is soft enough to respond properly to correction, but not so hard that we will have to abandon positive punishment altogether as a means for correcting behaviors. 8

It has become vogue for some who espouse pure motivation only to decry any tool of compulsion, even verbal corrections, because of the “painful” effect. However, these ideologues fail to recognize that a hard dog doesn’t process physical correction in the same way that a soft dog does. I have done exercises with willing human participants where we used an e-collar starting from level zero and gradually moved up the scale (1-60 levels) and different people felt the first static electricity-like buzz at different levels. Some felt it first at level 5 and some not until level 30! This corroborates 10 years of experience with the e-collar as a tool for correction with dogs, as some dogs require higher levels, just to feel the aversive, than do others.

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When do you use force? Every behavior must have a consequence, either a reinforcing consequence or a punishing consequence. “Punishment” here refers to punishment in the behavioral sense. Punishment is any consequence of a behavior that reduces the likelihood of that behavior. Reinforcement is any consequence of a behavior that increases the likelihood of that behavior. Both reinforcement and punishment come in two varieties, positive and negative: Positive in the sense of providing a consequence, and negative in the sense of withholding a consequence. This gives us the following four consequences: • • • •

Positive punishment means delivering an undesirable consequence that reduces the likelihood of a given behavior. Negative punishment means withholding a desirable consequence to reduce the likelihood of a given behavior. Positive reinforcement means providing a desirable consequence to increase the likelihood of a behavior. Negative reinforcement means removing an undesirable consequence to increase the likelihood of a behavior.

Training proceeds through three phases: acquisition, fluency, and generalization. Training is a process through which we introduce and vary the consequences of behavior to teach the dog associations (acquisition), and then teach limits to behavior when employing these associations (fluency). Finally, training involves requiring these associations to be performed in all different situations and contexts (generalization). This is commonly referred to as proceeding through the learning stage, to the correction stage, and then the proofing stage. Note that I do not usually find any use for force or compulsion in the acquisition phase of training. Providing a foundation of proper behavior, and never allowing behaviors you don’t want to see, can be accomplished in this phase of training, because the trainer can exercise complete control over the training environment. In other words, we can set the dog up for success. However, in order to proof responses, we must present the dog with situations that may induce non-compliance, anticipate the dog’s non-compliance, and positively punish him (corrections) for disobedience. In my opinion, it is virtually impossible to de-condition a dog to every possible distraction using only negative punishment. Limits must be set in a general way with compulsion, and this is done in the fluency and generalization phases of training. In the fluency stage we introduce the concept of corrections or positive punishment, and apply those corrections (as well as apply positive reinforcement) in the generalization or proofing stage of training. Force or compulsion is applied to the dog through the use of devices intended to cause discomfort to the dog. This discomfort should be minimal, and just enough to get the point across. This minimum force rule should always be applied when using compulsion. At the end of this book there is a guide to introducing the e-collar in

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obedience, with some applications to protection training. Most people who criticize ecollars know little about their proper use. Those trainers, who employ their use properly, know how the relationship with their partners grows tremendously through these described effects. The trainer is the center of all good things, and offers relief from any punishment that is applied, through the use of positive positive reinforcement. Thus we concentrate on rewarding good behavior that is shown, once limits are set. Correction becomes unemotional when the physical component of it is removed. Focus and Attention Span

Focus and attention span are two different issues. Focus refers to how the dog relates to the trainer versus his environment. The outwardly-focused dog seems to respond to distractions more than the attractions of the handler. This can be because the dog is lacking in social skills, and is overly concerned with threats to himself or his handler (low threshold defense), or because he is highly prey driven and anything that moves gains his attention. I see these often in underdeveloped relationships to the handler, or in dogs with a high level of protection experience. He might also be very dominant in nature, and thus doesn’t look for leadership, but rather exercises his independence. The inwardly-focused dog is always looking to the trainer. The dog is unconcerned, to a large extent, with his environment (usually because of good socialization) or perhaps he may be a little over-dependent on his owner. This dog is a follower, in general, rather than a leader – which is good in a training relationship. Attention span is similar to focus, but usually refers to younger dogs who may have a high capacity for attentiveness, but who are still experiencing their environment, and are distracted but will return focus. The concern here is building attentiveness to the handler, through systematic and variable training sessions aimed at capturing the dog’s attention and building his drive for the reward the trainer has to offer, and in the process de-conditioning him to distractions, and when the time is correct, correcting his lapses in attention. Conclusion

In this chapter I have attempted to bring attention to some of the major temperament characteristics that affect the training of working protection dogs. Many of these temperament characteristics combine with one another to either facilitate or complicate the process of conditioning a dog. For example, a dog that is low in retrieve drive, soft to corrections, and outwardly focused may be a difficult dog to work with in obedience. He gets distracted easily, is difficult to motivate, and crumbles in the face of corrections. Another example might be a socially aggressive dog that is not food or prey motivated at all. These combined traits make de-conditioning all the more difficult. Noticing these characteristics and how they impact training will help you choose the methods that best suit the individual dog, rather than choosing a method based on ideology or tradition.

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A Test for K9 Candidates Every police K9 trainer or experienced competitor in protection sports has a basic test for the suitability of a green dog candidate. In this chapter I will lay out a test for patrol and protection dog candidates that results from the analysis of temperament and drives we have already discussed. Being successful in testing a candidate requires many prerequisites. You must be impartial. That may be a curious thing to say, but many times in my career, a dog comes out for testing, and I immediately like the dog’s reaction to me, before I have even done the first bit of testing. In the back of your mind, you want him to pass! You cannot let this sway you. You have to stick to a reasoned set of criteria. Another thing you must be careful of, if you are evaluating dogs for contracts you already have, is to need a dog so badly, you accept marginal candidates. This may solve a problem right away, but in all likelihood, you will later have to replace the dog. Do not be afraid to test the dog to his limits (given his age and experience). You are considering buying the dog, so discuss your testing procedure first with the vendor, and if he refuses to allow you to perform some portion of your test, walk away. He may be trying to hide a weakness in the dog. Never test a dog without first discussing what you will do with the vendor. He has money in this animal, and he may, in his opinion, think you will ruin the dog with your test. Don’t compromise your testing criteria. If you use the test in this chapter, you will be performing a fair and objective test on a green dog that has been used thousands of times before. It is a fair test (I am a vendor as well) and a test that will establish a high level of quality. Bring your testing equipment with you. If you do the gun-sureness test, have a gun or establish ahead of time that the vendor has a gun of the proper caliber, and has blanks for you to use. Vendors will conveniently lose their blank gun if they don’t want you to see the dog under gunfire, or they will conveniently have lent their bite suit to a friend just before you have arrived to test the dog.9 The test I am going to describe is a test that has been around in some form or another for a long time. Keep in mind that I am interested in describing the patrol test here; however, I test every dog I buy for retrieve and hunting instincts before doing any defense or prey drive evaluations for apprehension work. I will not go into much detail here with regard to the hunting and retrieving testing. In brief, I begin with a 1” by 12” long PVC pipe first, but I will further test on a Kong or hard rubber ball if the dog doesn’t react well to the PVC. Some agencies require the dog to retrieve and hunt a towel only (U.S. Customs for example). I want to see the dog retrieve and hunt multiple times and not lose interest or intensity. I look for a fast dog, with a fast pick up. I like dogs that will retrieve and hunt with eager intensity, and stay focused. It makes all areas of apprehension and protection training that much easier. Patrol dogs that are required to track and or trail should be rewarded with toys sometimes and not just bites. It is also especially important for sports like PSA and Ring, where

9

Look for strange situations. For example: the vendor has an indoor training facility, and asks you to go outside to test the dog. He may be hiding a weakness on slick floors.

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there are especially difficult retrieve exercises, though you may train a compulsive retrieve if the dog does not retrieve naturally.10 The Patrol Test The patrol test begins with evaluating the dog’s demeanor as he comes into the testing area. It is preferable to choose a neutral testing area that is unfamiliar to the dog. Try to avoid doing all the testing on the dog’s home field. Remember you are testing his nerves in addition to testing his drives. We are looking for his pack sociability (how he relates to his handler including the bond in evidence, or possibly any negative attributes like hand shyness) and his public sociability (how he relates to you and anyone else unknown to the dog in the testing area). Is the dog is social or neutral, or worse, decidedly unsocial. If the dog is very civil, and that is something you value highly, he should be alert to the people around him but confident. There is a difference between a sharp dog and a fear biter – the difference being confidence. Once you are happy with the dog’s public sociability the dog is ready to be tested. Defense Evaluation

The testing begins on the back tie. If it is a young dog in early adolescence, the dog can be held by the handler on leash. However, I prefer to see the dog work independently and as such I want the dog’s handler completely out of the picture. We begin by testing the dog’s defensive instincts. From a hiding place, the decoy (dressed in street clothes, he may have a hidden sleeve on) comes out slowly and makes defensive contact with the dog by staring in his eyes and moving very slowly toward the dog, from a distance of about 30-50 feet. This is not training. We are evaluating how he deals with the stress of a confrontation with a stranger, without any hint that this will be fun or familiar. There should be no protection equipment in the testing area, and no warm up bites for the dog. No prey items at all should be in evidence. The slow approach allows the dog time to think about what is happening, the posture of the decoy is to be threatening, forward, always engaged with his eyes on the dog, and the decoy must, in his mind, pretend he is going to hurt the dog when he gets close enough. You must watch the dog for his response. If he growls a low growl, and puffs air, that is a good start. But, you are looking for how the dog handles the stress of the approach, when his aggression doesn’t immediately scare off the threat. There should be an aggressive and confident response. Look at the body language of the dog. You will likely see a mix of signals. Maybe some hackles up, snarling (short mouth), ears up or flat, tail up, out or slightly tucked. A dog in defense is posturing to look scary. Once he looks scary you then continue to apply the pressure. It is critical that you do not reward this with prey (quick movements, side to side or in and out) in any way, but keep pressing.

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For competition, I train compulsive retrieving anyway, no matter how much retrieve drive the dog has instinctively. There are too many points at stake to allow the dog’s motivation to decide if he will retrieve that day, having had no consequences for failing to retrieve in training.

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As you come further in, look for changes in behavior: does the tail tuck further, up ears flatten back, does the dog quit and look around as if looking for an escape? Does he back up or stay hard into the collar, his entire body coming forward? As you come forward match his reactions. Make your shoulders rise, bend forward more, lower your head and stare hard. Harden your facial expression into a human snarl. Look for how he deals with your aggression. A dog in a defensive mood can do three things: He can fight, flee, or displace. In reality he can show a mixture of behaviors, as the pressure builds, maybe first trying to be aggressive to bluff you into retreating, and then choose displacement.11 He might choose to flee, and run away hard into the back tie line. What we are looking for is a dog that meets threat with threat, and comes forward into the collar with confident aggression. When you are close enough to step into the circle described by the back tie line, you can swing the hidden sleeve in for a bite or make a movement as if you are delivering a grip, and see if he bites the hidden sleeve or he clacks his jaws at your arm passing just out of his reach. You want him to turn that frustration and defensive energy into biting. Aggression must be met with more aggression, for this dog to be capable to fight in a street situation. Granted, there will be much more training to come to develop his drives, but we want a solid aggressive response to work with. We don’t want the dog to think about a way out of the confrontation.12 If you use the hidden sleeve, work him hard and see how he deals with the fight after the confrontation. Look for weakness in the grip, and other signs that show he is not fully committed. Use lots of vocalizing, and sound real. After a short fight, weaken your fighting, and see if he wants to thrash you and punish you. Look for his confidence to rise.13 Prey Evaluation

If you are satisfied with his defensive reactions, now change gears and do a prey drive test. Go to a visible sleeve, or bite suit depending on the dog’s level of development. Use a lot of movement, use a whip and stick to stimulate the dog with familiar noises. Do a couple of pass-by moves, and then deliver the grip. Now you are evaluating his behavior in the prey mood. Evaluate the quality of the grip. Look for any stress that remains from the earlier defensive encounter. The dog can become “stuck in defense,” and therefore unwilling to chase you around. If you didn’t give him a hidden sleeve bite after the defense test, he may not want to even bite the sleeve if the stress has caused him to be too concerned with the possibility of more threat to come, regardless of the decoy’s posture.

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Displacement occurs when a dog chooses an incongruous behavior in the context of the threat against him, such as suddenly sniffing the ground, or jumping up on the handler. Some behaviorists call these behaviors calming signals. The dog is looking for a way to halt your aggressive behavior. If he chooses to meet your threat with displacement, he is looking for a way out. 12 Younger dogs, who may not have developed their defense drive, or who are genetically very high threshold in defense drive, may need to be tested in an unfamiliar place, on slick floors, in a quiet area in the dark. Put the needed pressure into the situation if your threat is met with confident indifference. 13 This is a peek into how he will channel from defense into prey. We want him to go into some prey behaviors when he thinks he is beating you up. Thrashing, countering, feet on you, and other signs of preylike confidence are ideal.

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The ideal response is a change in attitude from a defensive posture, to a more relaxed prey posture. The ideal posture should be forward, with maybe a change in the pitch of the bark to a higher pitch, or perhaps silent, but straining to get the prey. The classical prey postures include the dog pulling forward into the line, front feet off the ground. The dog’s ears will be forward, and if he barks, the dog will do so with a big wide open mouth. The pitch of the bark may be a little higher than when he is in a defensive mood. He may still carry a bit of the seriousness from the initial defensive confrontation, and that is fine, as long as you are getting the response you desire. We seek a confident picture, one of a dog that wants to follow your movement, and lunge to catch the sleeve on the pass-by misses. Once on the sleeve, look at the grip. We want a nice full grip. On one of your pass-by bites, intentionally deliver a half grip to the dog, and see if he will counter in when you offer him the opportunity. We want to be sure he is confident to press forward into the grip when the opportunity presents itself. Test him with the stick over his head, petting him with it, and give a few hits to the line on the back tie, finishing with a hit on the side while on the grip. Look for any changes in the grip with the pressure. Further we are looking to see if the dog targets the sleeve well, coming in the middle and not to the hands or elbow. Coming low to the hand can signal a lack of commitment to the grip, by coming to an area on the sleeve that is farthest away from the body of the helper. Further, basic sleeve targeting is not something you want to have to teach a good green dog. Finally, check him with the bite suit as well. Make sure he will engage the suit. If he has never been on the suit, start by offering him a prey bite on the back of the arm, and then offer him the inside front shoulder. For some dogs, this will cause them to avoid the grip altogether. Look to see how his grip changes, if at all, when biting in the front.14 The bite suit itself adds a lot of defensive stress to a prey encounter by virtue of the fact that the dog must come into the helper’s body much more than an outside forearm bite on a sleeve. This will tell you a lot about the dog’s nerves in general, and if he will look later to avoid more stressful encounters. Remember that we are not asking to see perfect targeting in the front inside shoulder, just a willingness to take the grip there, and be in the grip confidently. We will add more pressure to these inside bites later in training, but the dog should at a minimum be willing to take the grip there with at least a ¾ grip. Courage Test

Once the evaluation is concluded in prey and defense, and you have tested his desire to bite the sleeve, the hidden sleeve, and the bite suit, you can do some tests of his desire to come in for a grip under environmental distractions. You can go back to sleeve bites here if you wish, or if the dog is strong take him in a prey position on the bite suit. This would be the outside of the forearm or the triceps area in the back of the suit. Good environmental distractions can include: a clatter stick barrage, a jug with rocks in it, or a 14

You can also use a sleeve for this. Some of the Belgian made sleeves can be turned around so that the triceps protection is in front of the biceps and you can offer a grip and work the dog in the front. If the grip stays strong and committed, the dog is a good prospect. Many dogs will drop back into a defensive mood when offered a bite in the front. This can be worked through, but I prefer a dog that can take a prey bite in the front and not be shaken by the frontal position.

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hula-hoop with caution tape streamers. These are all good choices due to their unfamiliarity. Further, be sure to test the dog on slick surfaces, preferably in a large building. Large buildings that are open, like warehouses, are a much different test than seeing if the dog will work on a slick floor in a small house or clubhouse. The openness of the warehouse can be disorienting, and the echoes can unnerve weaker dogs. Test him also in a tight space or a dark room if you can. Test the dog going up open stairs. Remember you are buying the dog. It is better to test thoroughly, than to have to come back and plead your case after you tested and bought the dog. The key question is this: will the dog’s drive carry him through any unfamiliarity. Test the dog to his limits of his age and training, without throwing the dog into any kind of avoidance. If you see him avoid something, immediately help him. This goes for any portion of the test. But remember, if you push him into avoidance, you are not going to buy him, and you should help the vendor give the dog a positive training session at a minimum. Otherwise you may not be welcome back for another buying opportunity. Once all these phases of the test are complete, you can make your determination as to whether the dog is suitable for your training program. In every dog there will be strengths and weaknesses. What you want to determine is that the weaknesses are minor and the strengths abundant. Accept only weaknesses you know that you can work through. Keep in mind most nerve issues are genetic in nature, unless the dog is simply young and inexperienced. For example, suppose the dog is biting nicely, did a nice defensive test, and you raise the jug of rocks over his head, and he pops off then comes right back on. You try again, applying a de-conditioning technique and the dog shows only moderate concern over the jug the second time, stressing a little but not coming off the grip. The third time, he pretty much works through it. That is a dog you can work with. He bounced back. An Example: The Great Dog That Wasn’t On one of my buying trips to Europe I was at a KNPV club in the south of Holland meeting with a well known police dog vendor to test some dogs. A man with two German shepherds drove up to show off his dogs. As I mentioned before, when I do a test for dual purpose or even patrol dogs, I like to look at the dog’s retrieving and hunting instinct first. In this case I needed a German shepherd for a narcotics detection dog. The dog came out fired up in drive. I threw the PVC pipe for him on the open field, and he blasted into it picking it up forcefully. Two more times I threw the PVC pipe into the bushes, and the dog quickly pursued, and hunted with his nose until he located it, giving some nice head turns, and showing a well developed hunting instinct. I then tapped the pipe around on some objects lying about the field and hid the pipe in a large metal drum lying on its side, just at the mouth of the drum. The dog hunted and hunted and found the pipe. It seemed as though my next detection candidate was here. Then I asked to toss the pipe inside the KNPV clubhouse. This structure was brick building about 20’ wide and maybe 30’ deep, and inside is an open area with a little club bar, a few tables and chairs, and a restroom in the back. The floors were made of polished tile, and were pretty slick. I walked ahead of the dog into the clubhouse, and the man with the dog walked up to the threshold and the dog stopped dead in his tracks at the doorway.

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The dog refused to come over the threshold of the door into the building. The man tried at first to encourage the dog with his voice, and then I tried to draw his interest with the pipe he had been so energetically retrieving. The dog refused to take a step inside the room. The handler then pulled the dog on his flat collar to bring him inside, and now the dog started to scream as if he were being brought to slaughter! The man pulled him over the threshold, and the dog went flat on the ground, head down, and refused to move frightened to death of being inside. I was dejected. But here is a good example of how testing the dog must be thorough. Outside he was a champion, but to try and move him inside changed the dog entirely. His drives would not overcome his fear of this unknown situation. I had to pass on the dog, but better I pass on the dog before I get him home and realize he wouldn’t work in a building. I want to make a note here on man-orientation in green dogs. Over the years I have sold a lot of green dogs, and one of the complaints I here most often is that the dog is equipment oriented. In order to teach biting behavior, we use equipment. We have no choice. As a result, equipment orientation usually follows in high prey dogs. This is not a deficiency, but rather a by-product of the training progression in confident, high prey dogs. In a later chapter we will discuss how to eliminate this by-product before going on to teach the police dog his necessary skills. My advice is this: don’t pass on an otherwise good dog because he is equipment oriented. Conclusions Finally, you will have to make some conclusions for your training program. The ultimate goals of the test are to see the presence of as well as the intensity of the dog’s drives. You will look at the dog’s nerves, and how his drives carry the dog through the test. From this, you will determine which drive is the dog’s strongest drive. For the dog that is balanced, one that confidently and easily stimulates in either prey or defense, it won’t matter much if you start training with prey development or defensive development. But if the dog is clearly defensive, with weaker prey drive, you will begin the dog’s training in defense. If the dog is stronger in prey, you will begin in prey drive. In the coming chapters, we will discuss development of prey instincts, and the development of defensive instincts, and their interaction with one another. These are the basic building blocks of foundation work. Conclusions of the Test: • • • • •

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Presence & intensity of prey drive Presence & intensity of defense drive Relative intensity of prey & defense drives Nerves and how the dog reacts to and recovers from both environmental stress, and pressure from the decoy (courage test). Begin drive development in the drive that is relatively stronger.

If we identify the young dog’s dominant drive to be the defense drive, then we must first address the strength of that dog. Developing defense drive will be covered in chapter 4. I explained that in some dogs, where the defense drive dominates and there is a relatively weak prey response, trying to do prey training will only teach the dog to work at a low level of intensity in prey. If the dog is in the majority of dogs tested, and exhibits a stronger prey response, then we must begin the dog’s development in prey first. In many cases, young dogs do not have a defense drive that is developed enough to work with. If these dogs show prey to be their dominant drive, then we will want to address this strength in our early training, and bring in defense work as the dog matures and this drive begins to show itself.

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Chapter 3: Prey Training Basics This chapter will address how to begin prey training and later how to begin to bring defense work into prey training, through the mechanism of drive channeling. Most of us are aware that “prey drive” or the instinct to chase and catch and kill prey is a key part of protection training. Prey drive provides the speed, the pursuit, and above all the confidence to fight a man. How we begin this training, and how we develop this drive fully in the green dog is the subject of what is to follow. Training Set-Up I begin all of the developmental work with the dog back-tied. I prefer to begin prey training by staking the dog out on a 2” flat leather collar, or agitation harness, and letting him watch the older dogs work. In a dog with nice prey drive, over the course of a few sessions, you should see the dog watching and following the action on the field. Our first few sessions are done without any direct work with the dog, letting him acclimate to the pole, and frustrating him somewhat. The back-tie set up is important because it allows us many freedoms in working the dog. Foremost, it allows the decoy to work without worrying about the quality of the handler. The decoy knows exactly how far the dog can come out to the end of the backtie line, so that he can give him the type of grip opportunity he wants, whether it is full, or a partial grip, depending on the purpose of the exercise. The line on the pole should be about 4-6 feet long, and no more. Be sure the snaps are strong, brass snaps, and the line is 1” tubular nylon, or a light metal chain. Affix the line to the dog’s harness or collar. Harness or Agitation Collar I prefer to use a 2” leather agitation collar, rather than a harness, because the dog’s forward movement is clearly restricted by the collar and less so by a harness which has much more give to it. However, if the dog pulls too hard, the collar may choke him out, and you will not get the quality barking you would like to develop. If you have to use a harness, experiment with putting the dog back on an agitation collar occasionally to see if the dog can bark while working, once the behaviors are established. If you begin the out training on the harness you will likely encounter accidental grips because of the extra give in the harness. Also, if you use a harness, be sure to use a proper protection harness. Tracking harnesses and pulling harnesses are not designed for use in protection, and the dog will either break the harness, or can spin out of it. The harness should affix with metal buckles, not plastic clips, and be made of double ply leather, and not of nylon.

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Prey Training Puppies This book is written primarily for the training of green dog candidates. However, many readers may be working either puppies or young dogs (4-11 months) that have not had much development or foundation. So I will explain some of the key foundation exercises of prey work beginning with training young puppies. What the dog bites in prey is rather irrelevant to a point. Whether the dog learns to grip a towel, tug, leather rag or a sleeve, the mechanics of it all are pretty much the same. My training instrument of choice for the beginning of prey work with a pup or very young adolescent dog is the flirt pole. For those of you who are not familiar with this piece of equipment, it is a 0.5” PVC pole (broom handles are too stiff) about 4 feet in length, with a 4 or 5 foot length of parachute cord tied to the end, like a make-shift fishing pole. I then tie a piece of soft leather, or a jute rag, to the cord. The reason we do this, rather than work with a rag in hand, is to keep the agitator out away from the dog. This keeps the dog from becoming concerned with the proximity of the agitator (this is especially key when working with the defensive dog to begin prey channeling). More importantly the PVC pole allows us to incite fast, jerky movements in the rag. Prey movements should be side to side, you can also shoot the rag tangential to the circle described by the length of the dog’s leash when posted on a back-tie or held by the handler. These movements should be fast and frustrating, but not too frustrating. Make the dog miss the rag a few times, then swing the rag above the ground and present the dog the opportunity to grip the rag, at about his mouth level. Be sure to remember the mouth-eye coordination is not well developed in some young dogs, and if you smack him in the head, he may not want to play anymore. Present the rag softly, and let it float into his mouth. If the dog grabs at it weakly, pull it from his jaws, and begin agitating again. Some dogs, however, need to have the rag dropped in the circle first, so they can identify it and put their mouth on it, before they will make a commitment to bite it when offered. Once the dog grasps the rag, begin teaching him to pull to win the prize. If he has a good grip, pull him to the end of the line, and then release the pressure. Do this a couple of times and most dogs will get the idea to pull back. As soon as he pulls back a little bit, allow him to pull the flirt pole out of your hands. I usually let the pole slip through my hands, as he learns to pull harder and harder, so each tug is rewarded by my weakness. At this point, we do not worry about teaching the dog to adjust, or counter into the rag from a less than full bite. It is your job as the agitator to present the rag to the dog’s mouth, so that he can get the majority of the rag in his mouth to begin with. This takes some practice. Once the dog is grabbing and pulling well, we begin to make our way down the cord to put hands on the rag. Some dogs have no problem with this; some dogs get nervous as you intrude closer on them. The best technique is to turn your back to the dog as you back in closer and closer. Move in and retreat, in and retreat, and feel the dog’s grip and commitment as you move, reading his response to your body coming closer. You may need to take many sessions to get close enough to touch then grab the rag. Be patient with this process. Do not rush it. This is the beginning of channeling prey into defense. Your body’s proximity to the dog may bring up a defensive mood in some dogs.

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Some dogs could care less that you are close and putting your hands on the rag. If this is the case, you can begin working the grip. Otherwise, take your time, until he is comfortable with you being close to him. So far, I haven’t said anything about the handler’s role. This is because I believe that the handler should be completely out of the picture during most of the initial prey work. This may be a controversial point. Many trainers, especially police dog trainers, are of the opinion that the handler should be constantly praising and encouraging the dog. The result is often that the handler is constantly chattering at the dog. In my opinion, the dog must learn that he can work independently, and not become reliant on the handler for support. This avoids creating a dependency on the handler. Further, with constant chatter, the dog will learn the irrelevance of the handler’s voice. When verbal praise is constant and without specific association, the dog is likely to learn that the handler’s voice is mostly irrelevant. Once the dog is biting confidently, he must become accustomed to multiple people being around him yelling instructions at the suspect, like “get on the ground,” or “stop fighting the dog,” so he can learn the irrelevance of this type of behavior during apprehension work. The dog must not think he is being corrected when the situation gets crowded, noisy and confusing. This comes later in training. For now, praise should be specific and meaningful, and not constant and irrelevant. The handler’s role is to alert the dog initially, sporadically praise the dog, and then come back into the picture on the disengage. The handler comes back in to remove the bite object from the dog, and kick it back to the agitator. The handler then steps back to an inconspicuous place where he is watching but not influencing the dog. No verbal praise is offered during the work, just the occasional stroking of the dog’s body while he is biting. Verbal praise is too distracting. In prey work, the biting is the dog’s reward; this focuses the dog into his work, not to the handler. Now, having said this, some dogs require the presence of the handler, initially, to give support to the dog’s work. But I caution handlers to work their way out of the picture as soon as the dog feels enough confidence to work independently. Working the Grip & Countering Once you can work down to the rag, you can begin moving around the outside of the circle, offering views of your side and back to the dog as you go. Begin slowly offering more frontal views, then go back to a side or back view. This is channeling the dog from prey to defense, as your frontal picture may produce defensive feelings in the dog. Always remember, in the beginning, the dog feels vulnerable while on the bite. Obviously, if he is holding the rag, he cannot simultaneously escape and bite the rag! We slowly show him that he wins, when we give frontal views. We can let him win the rag, or go back to a side view as he pulls us around the circle in prey. This is his reward for hanging in the fight. When the dog is neutral (shows no change in response) to your frontal view, and you can hold the rag in both hands while he is biting, you can begin to work the grip fuller. Remember, up to now, your delivery of the rag is supposed to be giving an opportunity for a full grip. If you need to work the grip, you can stop moving, hold the rag parallel, relax your arms, and give slack to the line, so he can come in fuller. Your body should be in side view, not frontal, as many dogs will not adjust if they are feeling

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the least bit defensive. When he re-adjusts to a fuller bite, called countering, pull the rag toward you. This takes the slack out of the back tie line and sets the grip full using opposition reflex. Once the grip is set the decoy can release the bite object to the dog. This is called setting the bite. We use the dog’s opposition reflex to make him bite down hard. Many trainers make the mistake of not setting the bite after a counter, and before slipping the rag to the dog. This makes for a weak mouth after a counter, and is an undesirable behavior. During the counter, whether it is with a young dog on the rag or with an intermediate dog on a sleeve, the key to the re-adjust is relaxing your arms or sleeve arm at just the right moment. In my experience, new helpers have a hard time relaxing their arm during bite work, and dogs that are learning to counter won’t readjust on them. Put an experienced helper in the sleeve and they will counter time and time again. I believe this is the case because an experienced helper knows how to show the dog weakness, by relaxing the arm. The dog perceives this momentary weakness to “counter-punch” and drive in deeper on the bite. In the wild, the feral dog or wolf will bite deeper, not when the deer he is catching is fighting, but when he becomes instantly still; the animal sees this opportunity to get a better grip to continue the killing process. Countering Techniques There are many techniques available for inducing the readjustment, or counter. Whether you are working the dog on the rag or a barrel sleeve, or a bite suit, the mechanics described below are the same:

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•

Opposition Technique: The decoy can pull tight against the back-tie, first inciting opposition reflex, and then quickly put slack into the line and set the dog down on all fours while turning his body away from the dog. The dog does not want to lose the grip, so he should take this opportunity to bite in deeper and get a better position on the grip. In inducing countering off of the back-tie, counter pressure from a long line held by the handler, or by lifting the dog up by the sleeve, allowing gravity to provide the opposition, can also be very productive.

•

Pushing the Head: Another technique to induce the counter involves the handler coming behind the dog and placing his hand behind the dog’s ears on the back of the neck, and pushing into the sleeve at the moment the decoy puts slack into the line and relaxes his arm. This should also induce the dog to counter. The pressure from the handler on the back of the neck induces a momentary gag reflex, so the dog will open his mouth. The handler then releases the pressure immediately, as the dog comes deeper into the grip.

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Jaw Manipulation: Some Schutzhund and ring trainers, primarily in Belgium, use a jaw manipulation technique to induce the counter. This technique can be done from underneath the sleeve by holding the dog’s bottom jaw and putting pressure on the skin overlying the dog’s back teeth, with the thumb and forefinger. Pushing the skin against the teeth to cause discomfort will open the dog’s jaws, and the dog will often attempt to re-grip to a better position, or the

helper will pull the jaw into the sleeve and at the instant that the dog improves his grip position, the pressure is relieved. This technique employs negative reinforcement. Discomfort is experienced in weak grip positions, and comfort in strong grip positions. Be careful with this technique, however. The decoys that do it must be very skilled. In inexperienced dogs, they may associate pain with gripping, and decide to come off the bite altogether in avoidance. With civil aggressive dogs, they may displace the biting behavior to the hand of the decoy that is causing the discomfort. The dog will probably get the full grip, but on your bare hand! Timing is critical in this technique, as the discomfort must disappear instantly when the dog acquires the fuller grip position. •

Hard Fight and Still: For more experienced dogs, another trigger to counter is a violent but quick fight with the helper followed by an instantaneous stillness to both signal the dog he is winning the fight, and present him with an opportunity to get a fuller grip. Sometimes going down on one knee at the instant of stillness, or laying with your chest on the ground, can give the dog a feeling of power at just the right time so that he will take a fuller grip. This technique in particular, if done properly, will teach your dog to counter in during the pressure of a fight. The dog is conditioned to put an end to the decoy’s hostility with a hard counter. As the defensive pressure is the antecedent to the counter, by classical conditioning, he will anticipate the counter and adjust upon presentation of the pressure itself, no longer waiting for the stillness after the fight.

In rewarding good grips, the decoy must allow the dog quick wins sometimes, but don’t forget to set the bite on young dogs before slipping the sleeve or leather to him. As the dog becomes experienced, and the grip is hard after the counter, the decoy can slip immediately after the counter. This teaches the dog to neutralize aggression with commitment to the bite. It is a beautiful thing to watch a dog adjust into a bite during defense work. It speaks volumes about the dogs desire to fight and win through aggression. Hard Grips: The Leather Strap An intermediate step between the soft leather rag/burlap flirt-pole and a sleeve can be a chrome leather strap, like a belt. It is important that the strap be slick, so the dog will really have to develop a hard grip to keep his grip on the object. This works extremely well when you try to snatch the strap from his jaws as you work him in prey around the circle. Give the dog many opportunities to readjust fuller if the grip is solid but not quite full. If you can snatch it from his jaws, make a big deal of agitating him after he loses the strap, then run into a hiding place like a blind, frustrating him. These sessions should be short and fast paced. Only two or three grips should be allowed when working on countering. By its nature, countering work stresses the dog’s jaw muscles, and like a weight lifter, it is the rest after the stressing of the muscles that builds power. Overworking the jaw muscles will reduce, rather than increase, jaw power.

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The techniques described above are similar when the dog is biting on a sleeve. Once we introduce the sleeve we continue working under the same plan. We have only changed the object on which the dog takes out his aggression. Since we have started the dog using a flirt pole, it makes sense to go back to his comfort by attaching the sleeve to a leash and using the same manner of inciting his prey drive to develop his interest in the sleeve. Again, some dogs will require an opportunity to “check out” the object with their noses before they will bite it. Also, be aware to retreat if he shows apprehension or avoidance to the object. Some dogs may transition immediately onto a sleeve, and if they will, there is no need to take these baby-step measures. Typical Workout Structure: Selection Tested Green Dogs We should define our goals in prey drive development so we are sure to work on all aspects of these goals during these prey sessions. The overriding issue is not that the dog just bites, but the quality of his behavior when biting. Thus, the goals we are trying to reach are as follows: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Alert on command. Barking makes the decoy move. The dog experiences frustration in trying to obtain the sleeve. The dog Strikes the sleeve hard when the grip is offered. The dog targets the proper area(s). The grip is full, firm (calm), and hard The dog pushes into the grip. The dog is possessive of the prey.

The set up for the session will be as described above. The dog should be back-tied on the pole, on a flat collar or a harness, to limit his movement. The handler will start the session with the alert command, and then withdraw, coming in occasionally to stroke the dog, but for the most part the handler will allow the dog to work independently. Typical prey sessions in line with these goals with the prey-dominant dog can be organized as follows: (1) The Alert. Helper starts from hiding. The handler gives the alert command, and immediately after that the helper moves into view, attempts to induce barking, and once the dog barks he makes pass-by runs with the sleeve. The decoy starts with the sleeve held high over the shoulder and as he approaches the dog, the sleeve comes to parallel at chest height. As the helper’s path goes tangent to the dog’s circle, the sleeve should be passing within inches of his jaws. You know you did it right when you hear the telltale clack of the jaws. This reflects the dog’s commitment to take the bite. The helper needs to run; laziness here can change the dog’s mood from prey to defense if the helper loiters in front of the dog. Further, we are associating the trigger of prey, movement, with his reward, biting. Remember, prey behavior is movement away from or tangential to the dog. Also, mixing up misses and grips is essential. Helpers can teach the dog to wait until

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pass by number 3 or 4 to make a commitment if they never give him a grip on pass-by’s number 1 and 2. (2) The Delivery & Strike. The action of the helper when delivering the grip is essential. The helper’s path should appear the same as he approaches to deliver either a miss or the grip. Sleeve position high, tangential approach, but this time the helper steps through the circle, giving the dog ample room to make a full grip and strike the sleeve high and hard. One common mistake is to only pass the sleeve into the circle. The dog should, on the strike, feel himself jar the helper. Let him make body contact, let him hear your wind be knocked out (as you absorb his impact be vocal). If he blasts you in the family jewels with his paws, you won’t need to act! It is the helper’s job to be sure to have the dog target the proper place. We will discuss targeting in a later chapter devoted to this important foundation skill. (3) The Grip. Upon taking the bite, the helper’s immediate thought should be to look at the grip, and use the techniques described above to make it full, calm and hard. Suppose he gets a full grip on the strike? You immediately make the line tight, inciting opposition reflex and set the bite, go in prey. Keep action in the sleeve, and keep it parallel to the ground. I always tell my helpers what one of my teachers taught me (sleeve parallel, line tight in prey on a full grip, “shake, shake, calm”, then again “shake, shake, calm.”) In your mind you can repeat this. Now walk backwards with the line tight, re-tracing the circle, and slip the sleeve, keeping the rhythm, “shake, shake, and calm.” The helper must always be in motion away from the dog. If the dog takes a less than full grip we must induce the counter. Use any of the techniques described earlier to induce the counter. As soon as the dog strikes and makes the grip, even if it is not full, we still immediately pull tight, because we want to try first to use opposition to induce the counter. Pull tight very quickly and keep it tight for a second or two, puling so that the dog may be concerned he will lose the grip. Then, instantly, step into the circle, set him on all fours, simultaneously relaxing your arm and body, looking away, and presenting weakness to the predator, and in most cases the dog will counter in deeper. You react to the counter by immediately pulling tight to set the bite and work him in prey. “Shake, shake, and calm”, and repeat again. Traverse his circle, keeping constant line tension to keep the bite set, any your body angled away from the dog presenting no threat. (4) Reward & Reposition. Reward the proper strike and grip by slipping the sleeve, and backing off a few feet. In prey work there is no time for the helper to lose concentration. Do not turn your back and walk away from the dog. Immediately, look at his prey item, and be in a stance that says, “I am going to steal that back from you.” If the dog is highly prey oriented and possessive, he will not want to let it go. The handler can come to the dog and support his jaw from underneath. This keeps the dog from thrashing the sleeve in a hectic manner on the ground, and keeps the dog focused on protecting his prey from the adversary. The decoy should be in a ready position, withdrawn but focused on the dog.

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(5) Disengage & Re-start. There are a number of ways to disengage the dog from the sleeve. The easiest, and the one that preserves frustration, is the choke-off. The handler can lift the dog by the flat collar and once the dog drops the sleeve, the handler will kick it out a foot or two, just out of reach of the dog. I don’t like using the out command here. We are developing intensity in prey drive, and a formal out command is a drive killer. The dog should be frustrated and possessive in his prey mood, not obedient. The helper should immediately come back toward the dog, but be focused on the prey item. The helper stalks the prey, threatening to steal it, but not threatening the dog. This does two things: It frustrates the dog that lost his prey, and challenges him in a low stakes defensive confrontation over the prey. You may begin to see the defense drive come out here. That is great; just keep your helper’s focus on the prey. If the dog is very seriously possessive, and the handler isn’t physically strong enough to choke him out, you may try to have the helper pull out another sleeve, and have him stimulate the dog for a second grip, to make him drop the dead sleeve. This sleeve trade is part of the man-orientation work we will discuss a little later on in the book. But in many cases it can alleviate the fight over the dead prey, and minimize the choking off the sleeve. Once it is dropped and kicked out, the helper can come back for a grip on the second sleeve, or can drop the second sleeve back in front of the dog, and work the prey guarding over it. Once the sleeve is stolen back, the helper freezes, the alert is given, and the session resumes again. Normally we end the pole session with a runaway bite or two. Runaway bites teach the dog to pursue the decoy and move forward to make contact. After that, the dog is worked in exactly the same fashion as if he were on the pole, except for the fact that the handler now provides the back pressure. After two or three repetitions on the pole, the helper steals the sleeve from in front of the dog, and moves away, still connected to the dog by a ready stance, hissing, and posture. Hook up a 15-foot long line and take the pole line off. The handler now becomes the pole. The helper does a pass by, to make sure the dog is targeting the sleeve, and backs up. The handler allows the dog to pursue, and grip the sleeve. At first a step or two, increasing the length as the dog runs, jumps and targets properly. These back up bites are increased in distance once the dog is coming in cleanly, and targeting properly. It is very important that the handler allow the line to slide through his hands so he can immediately place back tension on the line once the dog is on the grip. This is crucial because the helper will need to induce the counter to get a full grip, if the initial grip is not satisfactory. The body position of the helper should be sideways, as he runs away. Over time the helper can run backwards with a frontal posture toward the dog. This is pure prey work. When this is mastered for our prey dominant dog, you can move on to channeling prey to defense. Be aware, however, that before you move on you will want to be simultaneously working the barking. For now, when he barks, let him draw you closer step by step, before you make the prey run.

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What Kind of Hard Sleeve Do You Use? When beginning prey work it is very important to choose the right equipment for the job. There are hundreds of sleeves out on the market. Some of the sleeves available include bite bar sleeves of different varieties. The bite bar sleeve is the basic bite building sleeve. It is usually made of a plastic cylinder with a wedge shaped bite surface glued and wrapped in soft leather attached to the cylinder. The sleeve is covered with a jute outer cover, which is held on by straps at the shoulder guard, which is usually made of hard plastic. The sleeve is hinged at the elbow. Some bite bar sleeves are hard schutzhund trial sleeves; some have a softer bite bar inside under the cuff. Some bite bar sleeves have a soft sweet spot to encourage the dog to target the middle of the forearm. The purpose of the bite bar sleeve is to provide an easy gripping surface all the way back to the molars. The dog becomes conditioned over time to grip in full because the sleeve is comfortable to bite. Some bite bar sleeves are made with shorter, fatter wedges to get the dog to open his mouth wider; some are made with longer, slimmer wedges to encourage easier gripping deep to the molars. The famous “Belgian” Arm is a bite bar sleeve a slender wedge, to make it easier for the dog to grip full. With all of these choices, how does one choose? First of all, when testing green dogs for police work, or for competition, my minimum standard is that the dog bites ¾ to full on a hard sleeve. For a police dog a ¾ grip that is hard, and confident and firm is just fine. I can work on teaching him to counter a little bit. However, I don’t want to waste time teaching the dog to bite up from a soft puppy or intermediate sleeve to a hard sleeve. Therefore I keep a few different styles of bite bar sleeve available to test out with each dog. If the dog will go on the hard trial arm right away, I can use that for all his foundation training. If the dog needs a little targeting work on the sleeve, I have softer bite bars to use to teach the proper targeting, then I move to the hard trial arm as soon as I am satisfied with the grip. Then there are barrel sleeves. These sleeves are made of hard chrome leather, and also have an outer jute cuff. The purpose of these sleeves is to force the dog to open his mouth very wide to take the grip. It is critical that the cuff on these sleeves be very tight. A tip for using barrel sleeves is to sew up the back of the cuff, very tight with an upholstery needle and waxed string every few sessions. The reason is that as the dog works on the barrel, the leather cylinder starts to crush and the cuff can come loose. A lazy gripping dog can then get the loose cuff material in his mouth, and not work for the full grip. This will defeat the purpose of using a barrel sleeve. Barrel sleeves usually last only a few months, as the barrel is crushed, it will form a natural bite bar, and for solid gripping fullmouth dogs it is fine to use. But it will be less effective in forcing the dog’s mouth open as it is crushed. Barrel sleeves are made by a number of manufacturers, from very hard layered barrels that are impossible to crush unless you drive over them with a truck, to soft barrels that crush too quickly. I prefer medium hardness in the barrels I use. This allows the dog to work his jaw muscles, and make progress crushing the sleeve, but it stays firm enough to keep its cylindrical shape over time. Another tip with barrel sleeves is this: as you see it start to lose its form, remove the cuff, and wrap a tight layer of duct

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tape over the middle of the cylinder, forcing the sleeve back into its round shape. This can keep a barrel sleeve in service for a few extra months, as they are usually expensive. Unlike bite bar sleeves which last for years (I have had my All-American Trial Arm for 10 years now, and my Schweikert #5983 medium bite bar sleeve for about 3 years), barrel sleeves will collapse and should be used only with experienced dogs without grip issues. One final caution on barrel sleeves: When they are new, they are not good for doing send bites. If the dog doesn’t open up, he will slam his front teeth into the sleeve. Use the barrel sleeve on pole work, and short sends only. Use a bite bar on longer sends. But you should already know not to do a lot of send bites until your grip issue is resolved. Channeling Prey to Defense to Prey When the dog is solid on his bite and you can move around the circle, you will introduce frontal positions, by turning into the dog for an instant, then resuming your prey movements. These “turn-ins” are so fast he doesn’t have time to become concerned with your posture. These turn-ins can gradually become turn-ins with stick coming over his head, to turn-ins with stick petting, helper vocalizations, and any combinations there of. The variables you have to manage are the duration of the frontal presentation, the frequency of these presentations during a session, and the intensity of the presentation. Always remember, stress accumulates. So always taper your defense work to be more in the beginning of a session, and less and less throughout the session, with an occasional spike only in intensity. As the dog works longer and tires, he must see he is defeating the helper, and the helper are becoming relatively weaker as a result of his efforts. For example, with the dog in prey on the bite, as he progresses with these “turnins” becoming more frequent along the prey circle and sometimes longer in duration, I will turn in and let him drive me backwards along the circle. In this position I have made a defensive presentation, but he is moving me backwards away from him (prey) and controlling me. If he bites in deeper as we are doing this, I let him “rag-doll” my arm, let him have the satisfaction of bullying me, while I am facing him frontally. In another exercise, again with the dog in prey on the bite, I quickly turn into him, and simultaneously drop to a sitting position, so he feels he is taking me down, yet I am still facing him. I may slip the sleeve immediately here the first few times, to give the dog a sense of control. As the dog gets comfortable with controlling you immediately upon your presenting a defensive posture, you can lengthen the turn-in into a drive, going from one to two to three steps over time. Do not place prolonged pressure on the dog. Always match the increase in pressure to a more exciting win. Go to the ground, and let him dominate you. Remember you must always end with prey, either a slip of the sleeve, or dying prey going to ground, but you must end by relieving the pressure.

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Chapter 4: Defense Training Basics Many people interested in protection training or protection sports are confused about which drive should be manipulated first to begin protection training for their young prospects or green dogs. Some argue that only prey drive should be worked in green dogs, and to leave defense training for when the dog is much more mature. There is some truth to this idea. Defense training is certainly stressful for the dog, and it is easy to push him into avoidance if the stress is brought too high. Young dogs have a lower threshold for avoidance. The answer to the question of which drive to train first actually depends on the temperament of the dog in question. Prey training is much easier to do properly and it rarely results in pushing the dog into avoidance. In order to do defense training properly the training helper must have an excellent fundamental understanding of drives. A lack of experienced decoys that can properly read a dog can cause serious problems in the development of a police dog. The most critical concept in protection training is the concept of channeling. Channeling is the process by which we develop the interaction of prey and defense drives, and teaches the dog to comfortably shift from one drive to the other. Defense drive produces stress, and with stress being a cumulative factor, too much stress can result in avoidance. Prey drive is a calming, confidence building drive in which the dog feels strong and in control. Yet defense training is essential. It provides the power and violence necessary for a dog to successfully fight a man. The hardness of the grip, the focus on the decoy, the all-around power in the work comes from defense that is built and channeled properly. Our goal is to develop a threshold for avoidance that is so high, that nothing the dog ever sees on the protection field or on the street will push it into avoidance. Defense Profiles The stimulus that activates a dog’s defense drive is threat. Threat is stressful. If we look at the defense profile of a dog, we would see that certain amounts of stress/threat have no effect (mild threat) on the dog. At some point the dog reacts to the threat. This is called the dog’s defense threshold. The dog, if selected properly, should react aggressively to the threat. If the stress continues on the dog, pushing the level of threat higher and higher, at some point the dog will abandon aggression as a strategy for dealing with the threat and avoid. This level of threat or stress is the dog’s avoidance threshold. The manageable levels of stress in between the dog’s defense threshold, and the avoidance threshold are what I refer to as the dog’s defensive margin. This is the margin for workability in this drive. The dog’s genetic gifts in the area of his nerves, as well as his early experiences as a puppy in solving problems lead to a workable defensive margin. The more confident the dog, the higher his defensive threshold; the avoidance threshold will be higher relative to the defense threshold, and thus his defense margin will be wider. Consider a couple of different defense profiles for dogs at the extremes of defensiveness. Consider the fear biter. His defense profile would consist of a very low defense threshold, as most normal activities would cause a defensive reaction, e.g. the

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mere proximity of a stranger, and his avoidance threshold would be above the defense threshold, but pretty close to it, leaving a thin defense margin. This means that the dog would tolerate very little escalation of threat before choosing avoidance, however he can and will fight, for a time. These are the dogs that scare people and will bite them within their narrow defensive margin. Prey may even play a role here, if the defensive display causes a human victim to flee, the dog may pursue and bite.

Fear Biter: Defense & Avoidance Thresholds

Stress

20 Defense Threshold

15 10

Avoidance Threshold

5 retreat

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The shy dog would be the opposite. His avoidance threshold would be low, and below his defense threshold. This dog chooses avoidance before fighting, and left with no other choice chooses to fight (i.e. being backed into a corner). More stress beyond that would likely cause the dog to try to flee again (its preferred strategy) or completely shut down. We could say his profile consists of a low primary avoidance threshold, a defense threshold, and then a secondary avoidance threshold, then complete displacement (shut down). Shy Dog: Defense & Avoidance Thresholds

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20 Avoidance Threshold

15 10

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5

Time

40

retreat

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The preferred temperament for police work is a dog with a medium to low defensive threshold, what we normally refer to as a sharp dog. He fires up on perceived threats easily and quickly, however his avoidance threshold is very high, an artifact of his nerves being very strong, giving him a wide defense margin. Through training we will put his defense threshold on command (Alert), so that we can call the drive into use when needed and in situations where there is no readily perceptible threat.15

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

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Stress

Good Nerves: Defense & Avoidance Thresholds

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Defense Training Goals & Working the Defense Drive As we did for prey work, it is instructive to define our goals in defense training. There are three main goals in training in defense. (1) Alert: Put the defense threshold on command. (2) Lower the defense threshold. (3) Raise the threshold for avoidance. In order to manipulate these thresholds, and increase the defense margin, we must activate, and work within the dog’s margin, pushing up close to the dog’s avoidance threshold, but not crossing it. During the dog’s initial defense evaluation we should have identified where the threat level began pushing the dog close to avoidance. The behaviors exhibited by the dog as we push close to the avoidance threshold are called preavoidance behaviors.

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Such as a passive suspect the handler perceives as a possible threat, or may become a threat from past experience. The handler may be going forward to a threat situation, and he may want to get the dog thinking about dealing with a possible threat to come.

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Pre-Avoidance Behaviors & Avoidance Remedies Reading pre-avoidance behaviors is an art. Only experienced decoys should be used when working the dog close to his avoidance threshold. Displacement, or conflict, occurs when the dog is caught between two competing options, and can’t choose between the two. In this situation, the dog is caught between fighting against the threat, and avoiding the threat. Some of the pre-avoidance behaviors you may encounter are the following: (1) Pre-avoidance and Displacement behaviors under threat in civil work. Occasionally we may see behaviors such as changes in the pitch of the bark, posture, and physical commitment, leading to ground sniffing, and handler dependency. Under the increasing pressure of the threat, the dog will stop coming forward tight into the line, barks in fits and starts, moving in and out as the helper advances, and at some point will abandon aggression and choose a behavior that is neither fighting or fleeing, like sniffing the ground or jumping on the handler, ostensibly pretending the threat is not there. (2) Pre-avoidance and Displacement behaviors when biting under defensive pressure. If the dog is biting under pressure, and the pressure is causing conflict, the pre-avoidance signals can be as follows: excessive growling on the grip, screaming, frantic shifting of the grip, slipping out of the grip (going from fuller to a lesser grip), eyes closing, body moving away from the threat (helpers body, stick, distractions), leading finally to popping off the grip, and coming back into the grip, and coming off again in complete conflict. Worse than complete conflict is avoidance of the grip: the dog may come off of the grip and stay in the vicinity of the helper, barking aggressively, but failing to re-commit to the grip. The helper must read the pre-avoidance signals before the dog chooses to displace, or worse avoid. However, no matter how skilled the helper, occasionally we will push the dog too far in either the civil work or defense work while biting. If the dog does go into a displacement behavior, or experiences conflict that results in an avoidance behavior of some kind, the helper must choose his response wisely. In dog trials, normally once an avoidance response is seen, the judge will instruct the trial decoy to give the dog a mercy bite, in prey drive. However, if the dog is locked in a defensive mood where conflict or avoidance is the result, he may not even engage the prey bite. Continuing to try to get the dog on the grip may cause the dog to go further into conflict and thus avoidance, and it is best to get the dog off the field and engaged in some other behavior away from the threat. If the dog goes into the mercy bite, quickly end the session and get the dog away from the field. If this happens in training, again, the best response is to change the dog’s focus by putting him into a comfortable behavior like some obedience command that is active, like heeling, and change the subject. Get the dog put away, and give him some time to forget about the conflict. Trying to repair the damage of avoidance or displacement on the spot usually makes for a worsening of the problem. When the dog comes back to work after a layoff, change everything about the work session. Change the decoy, the weapon used, place on the field where it happened, and back the session up to something the dog was doing well before the pressure was turned 42

up too high. Since it was defensive pressure that caused the breakdown, we must work the dog in that drive, but well within his defense margin. We must make him successful, and slowly approach the previous levels of threat over the next few sessions. Defense Training Exercises Puppies & Young Adolescents

To properly teach the dog to respond to threat aggressively, we must work the dog in defense and show the dog when he is pressed with threat, his proper response should be to meet this threat with aggression. In fact we can do this with a young dog who shows some evidence of responding to defensive stimulation. However, it must be done properly and with care. In my experience, some young dogs display defense at a very early age. If your breeder has carefully done his job, you are starting with a social, confident young dog. If your dog is not social and confident around people in normal circumstances, your young dog or puppy will have an extremely low threshold for avoidance, and any threat made could push him into avoidance. You cannot work a drive that is not available. Lack of confidence gives you no defense margin to work the defense drive without pushing the avoidance threshold, so you cannot work this dog in defense. Your goal should be primarily confidence building through socialization, and part of that can be simple prey training. Some dogs will not display defense drive at all until they are older, and again you cannot work a drive that is not in evidence. If you have a skilled helper evaluate your young dog’s defense drive and the threat meets not with any signs of pre-avoidance or stress, and the dog looks at you with confusion or simply attempts to play, again you have nothing to work with. If your puppy does show signs of defense, barking defensively at people in the dark for example, or reacting to body postures that convey threat, then you do have something to work with. Proceed with caution, however. In a young animal there is not a wide defense margin to work within. This is a very delicate process. Threats that bring a clear defensive reaction cannot be pressed much at all in the beginning, and the dog must be worked properly toward our goal, making the dog comfortable working in defense. Channeling does this by moving the dog from defense into prey. Example: Puppy Training in Defense Consider a young Malinois puppy around five months old. He is very bold and confident, but doesn’t show too much interest in rag play. He does like to bark at the action of other dogs working on the field while he is back-tied. He brings out a nice defensive bark while watching. He barks defensively when people come into the kennel area, too. This puppy’s mother and father both show strong defensive drives, and high levels of confidence. I would work this dog in the following manner: With the helper at a distance, he gives lateral motion, then freezes and stares at the puppy. The puppy brings an alert stance out at the end of the line, and barks. The helper immediately reacts by running either laterally again or running away. The puppy moves at the end of the line with him, showing the prey drive and experiencing the confidence 43

of scaring off the threat. This is the beginning of channeling. We stimulate defense and channel it into prey. It is a win for the puppy. We don’t do too much of this, for work in defense has a cumulative stressful effect on the puppy. You should not encroach on his avoidance threshold, so everything is kept at the maximum distance needed just in order to stimulate the drive. Over time, months, we will slowly press closer, to raise the dog’s threshold for avoidance, but only as he gains experience with winning these little confrontations. We can add in the flirt pole, and after initial stimulation in defense, flip the rag toward him to bite. The payoff to this initial work is after a couple of these little confrontations, the dog can release his frustration on the flirt pole, biting harder and more intensely than if we began the session with only prey work. Only the most experienced decoys should do this work, as it must be done carefully and thoughtfully. Many new decoys come too close to the dog too soon without being able to read the pre-avoidance behaviors. If we only were to work the rag play in prey, he would learn from this that he can bite softly, get distracted, and if we condition him to keep working this way, he will learn that bite work is done at low drive intensity. This is poor foundation training. Stress is cumulative and can lead to avoidance, but experiencing stress is essential. It builds the dog’s ability to handle stress confidently. I must reiterate, with young dogs, this work is done in a very gradual manner and the sessions are extremely short. We should do this work, only once a week or so; in the other training sessions he is brought out to watch the older dogs work, or to do prey work if he is also intense in that drive. My retired competition dog Arrow of Tigerpaws, SchH 3, BH was trained in this exact fashion. He had little prey drive as a puppy, but was easy to stimulate in defense. Arrow was many times V rated in protection, including two scores of 99 points, and a 97 at the 1996 USA National Championships. He played Schutzhund “for real” before a debilitating stroke cut his competition career short. The channeling work from defense into prey enhanced his prey drive over time to a very high level. The other side of channeling from defense into prey is to also make the dog comfortable in the prey drive, because the dog learns it is comfortable to work there. He learns to enjoy the relief from the confrontation, and he learns to enjoy the power he feels after neutralizing the threat. In training a young dog or puppy, we must address that dog’s strength, be it prey or defense. In a highly prey oriented dog with little or no defense, we concentrate on developing this strong prey response. But we must always be aware of trying to elicit the dog in defense as he matures so we can begin the channeling process. When the defense drive becomes apparent we must begin to manipulate it so that the dog learns to work confidently in this drive. Be careful of working too much and too long only in prey. You will get a false sense of security in your dog’s ability to handle stressful confrontations. When he begins trialing and must work on new decoys in new places, he will be much more delicate and easier to push into avoidance, because he hasn’t been taught to handle stress confidently.

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New decoys and traveling will put your dog in defense. He must be confident to work there, or else you may get a big surprise during the attack on handler, or the courage test. All the bites in Schutzhund are defensive bites except for the escape bite in Schutzhund 2 & 3. Your Schutzhund 1 routine is all defensive bites. In PSA or Police K9 work, your dog must be able to handle defensive bites, and pursuit bites that turn into defensive bites. The pressure put on the dogs by the decoys in PSA is relatively extreme, and the environmental stress of PSA or street police work demands a well developed and trained defense drive. Working Young Adults in Defense

The fact is that not all dogs have the strong nerves necessary to work in protection. Working a dog only in prey during the foundation training and ignoring the defense training (for fear that he might not be able to handle it) causes you to put in a lot of effort, and in the end, if he is not of strong character he will never make a good police or rotection dog. A dog with weak nerves that may appear to work well in prey will begin to show signs of breakdown as you put the control work into the dog. The bark and hold is always dirty because there is too much conflict and stress in the confrontation, and corrections from the handler (which put the dog in defense) will display as shallow nervous grips, chewy grips, and sometimes avoidance of the helper. Such a dog was never given a chance from the start, because he was never taught to handle stress (read defense) in his foundation training. A dog trained through channeling from defense into prey will also work better in obedience, learning to handle the stress of correction with confidence. Those of you who train obedience and use corrections without releasing the dog to a toy (or vigorous play of some kind) build stress over time and never teach the dog there is a way out of the stress. The result is slow and fearful-looking obedience. This is also true in tracking: Force on the track is stress building, without teaching the dog how to release stress; your performance will be hectic and nervous, lacking the concentration born of confidence. It all plays in together. To your dog, there are no distinct phases of training, there is only work. He must be taught how to work with confidence which demands developing all aspects of his response to the stimuli he will likely encounter whether working on the street or in a trial, or both. When trainers work a dog in prey and introduce the dog to the stick, body contact, touching the head and under the jaw as they work, they are using channeling, because these things will provoke mild defensive feelings in the dog. Over time the process of channeling makes the dog neutral to threats of all kinds, so it appears the dog only works in prey drive, because of the extremely high levels of confidence trained into the dog through this “inadvertent” defense training. It is also important to stimulate the defense drive without the sleeve present to get the full effect of the dog’s defensive drive in a “civil” (no equipment) situation. In civil work, we really see the defense drive in its purest form. We see the dog’s ability to handle realistic confrontation and stress. This is what is must be developed to make a powerful protection dog for any purpose. Defense Training Exercises

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Civil Work with Retreat Relief

As with working puppies in defense, working a young adult in defense begins with civil work. The dog is normally worked on a back tie, and the helper will move to a distance well out of the dog’s defense threshold, and use defensive postures and a slow stalking approach to move the dog into a defensive mood. The procedure is the same as when we tested the dog initially, but in the present instance we are training and not testing. We need to provide relief as we press the defensive reaction in order to build it.

Civil Aggression 60

50

Stress

40

Stress Level 30

Defense Threshold Avoidance Threshold

20

10

0 start

advance 1 retreat 1 advance 2 retreat 2 advance 3 retreat 3 advance 4 retreat 4 Time

When the session starts, the helper is in hiding. When the dog fires up defensively, the helper will show some submission but not a full blown retreat. This portion of the work is where the dog’s defense threshold is triggered, and over time it will lower in anticipation of the confrontation. The submission shown by the helper is the relief (though not complete relief) from the confrontation. This relief triggers endorphins that serve as the reward to the dog’s aggressive response. Each session is made up of about four mini confrontations. The chart above shows the procedure. We begin at the start with the dog on the back-tie under no command. Later, when the dog is more experienced, we can put the dog in an obedience command, and give the alert command. The decoy can be hiding at a distance or passive at a distance, just outside of the dog’s defense threshold distance. The procedure is as follows:

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• • •

•

•

•

Decoy advances slowly, frontal posture, eyes locked on the dog, hand forward in a slight crouch. The decoy can also make a low hissing sound (it works) as he advances. All movements are slow and confrontational. As the decoy nears the dog’s defense threshold, and the dog becomes alert, he retreats to reward the dog’s increased alertness to the possible threat. The decoy now makes an advance to cross the defense threshold. Once the defense threshold is crossed, the dog will show an aggressive response. The decoy will show some submission when the dog shows good aggression, however the decoy must continue to press. The decoy is nowhere near the dog’s avoidance threshold, which was established in the original selection test. On a good aggressive display the decoy retreats. Notice in the chart above, as the pressure is put on the dog, stress increases (aggression is the dog’s way of manipulating the stress he is experiencing). Retreat is a form of channeling, the decoy becomes more prey-like than threatening, and the stress will reduce during the retreat. The decoy re-groups and advances again, this time showing some submission but continuing to press the advance toward the dog, getting closer to the dog’s avoidance threshold than before. Again, on a particularly strong aggressive outburst, the decoy will retreat. The decoy re-groups for a final advance, this time the goal is to press close to the dog’s avoidance threshold, but he must not cross that level of stress. As the decoy advances he must read the dog for pre-avoidance. We do not want to reward the dog for a stressed display from being in pre-avoidance. We want to reward a nice strong aggressive display, and then retreat to drop the stress below the defense threshold.

The dog must think his aggression manipulates the decoy. The stronger the threat is, the stronger the dog must respond with aggression. Over time (see the chart below) the dog will become more confident with each approach. The dog’s avoidance threshold will rise, and the defense margin will widen. Once the dog can tolerate an advance where the decoy comes right up to the dog, and the dog is exploding with aggression, lunging out to get at the decoy in a very aggressive fashion, the dog is ready for us to use biting as a relief from the stress of the confrontation, rather than retreat.

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90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Defense Threshold Avoidance Threshold

W ee k 1 W ee k 2 W ee k 3 W ee k 4 W ee k 5 W ee k 10 W ee k 20 W ee k 50

Stress

Defense & Avoidance Thresholds: Long Term Trends

Time

Civil Work with Bite Relief

The training set-up is the same as we described above: the dog is placed on the backtie, secured to the pole with a flat agitation collar or a protection harness. The main difference in this training process is that instead of retreat, the decoy will offer a grip as the means for the dog to control the situation, and reduce his stress. The sequence for the decoy is as follows: (1) The Alert: The difference between the alert in prey and the alert in defense is that in defense, at least initially, the dog is barking aggressively to ward off the threat. As the dog gets comfortable with manipulating the decoy with aggression, the dog will also, as in prey, learn to use the bark to bring the decoy to him to get the grip. It is important to show the dog that the bark has an effect on the decoy. This means the decoy must move back or submit (get low) as he is drawn in to give the dog an indication that his aggression should continue despite the advance. The decoy is drawn straight in, unlike the prey biting, until the moment of the grip. (2) Delivery & Strike: The delivery of the grip follows being drawn in with the decoy showing threat mixed with submission in reaction to the dog’s aggression. When the decoy arrives at the dog the empty hand probes at the dog to get the dog to commit to a civil bite and suddenly the helper throws the sleeve from behind him into the dog’s circle for a bite and slip. The decoy withdraws immediately and quickly to a point outside the dog’s defense threshold and stands ready. We ignore the quality of grip initially in favor of a quick win for the dog. As the dog stays comfortable in the grip over longer and longer periods (variably) the helper can address all the prey goals related to the grip, making it full, firm and hard. Once the dog can work confidently in prey as the payoff to the defensive confrontation, we must begin to re-introduce channeling back into defense from prey. During the defense portion of the work, the decoy must pay attention to the defense margin, being keenly aware of any pre-avoidance behaviors. Threat from

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helper brings aggression from the dog, and a response of variable aggression (threat/submission) from the helper, always ending with a win for the dog. The dog is rewarded with a slip of the sleeve, and the dog should be encouraged to hold or carry the sleeve. (3) Reward & Reposition: The helper rewards the aggression with a slip of the sleeve after the grip goals have been properly addressed. The helper must withdraw to a distance which will no longer stimulate the dog to drop the sleeve in favor of a civil display. Once the sleeve has been carried (and with this temperament it may be a very short carry initially) the helper can use prey guarding to re-engage the dog. (4) Disengage and Re-Start. The disengage with the defensive dog can normally be done quite easily. If the helper simply agitates the dog with threat, the defensive dog will normally revert to using aggression to threaten back and in the process will readily drop the sleeve and begin barking. As the dog carries and holds the sleeve, the handler can choke the dog off when ready and kick the sleeve a couple of feet in front of the dog, and the helper can re-start the process with prey guarding. The helper should continue to use the barking to precipitate the grip. As with the prey work, short back-ups should be started when the dog feels very comfortable on the grip, with a nice full hard and firm grip. The same principle for the back-ups is used as with the pole work. Defense Î prey pursuit & Grip (slip quickly) then bring in re-attacks while biting. The dog is held at about 3’ on a long line attached to the harness or flat collar. The helper stands in front of the dog and initiates with threat. The helper works his way close to the dog as if delivering a grip on the pole. The helper makes the dog miss the grip and backs up. At first the helper should give a side presentation to the dog, working his way to a fading frontal view over a number of sessions. The helper will slowly increase the distance of the back-up.

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Chapter 5: Drive Channeling in the Prey Dominant Dog The ability to avoid drive conflict is based on teaching the dog to switch drives clearly and comfortably as dictated by the changing dynamics of the fight with the helper. This process of changing drives is called channeling. In the two previous chapters we discussed in detail the drives of defense and prey which are the building block drives of protection. Defense drive here is used in a broad context to include: defense of social position (dominance aggression), self-defense, defense of prey (object or resource guarding), and pack related defense, and other classical defensive behaviors.16 Channeling between defense and prey, multiple times, is what we require for a stable and confident dog that can be taught the proper intensity and control. By its very nature, channeling requires we do defense training, and thus we have to worry about the possibility of pushing the dog into avoidance. Defense training, even assuming that we are training a dog with good nerves, induces stress. Each dog has a stress threshold at which it will “turn on” in defense (defense threshold), and a stress threshold at which he will abandon fighting as a strategy (avoidance threshold). The stress levels between these thresholds, the defense margin, are the levels at which we can work the drive without causing avoidance and build confidence. It is important to remember that stress is a cumulative factor. If sufficient stress accumulates over time, the dog may abandon fighting as a strategy and decide to avoid the confrontation. This is undesirable for a police service or working protection dog for obvious reasons. It is also important to remember that these thresholds are dynamic in relation to the dog’s environmental context. In a familiar and safe environment, the dog may show a higher threshold for defense. In an unfamiliar or challenging environment, dark room with slick floors for example, the dog may show a lower threshold for defense, all else equal. This context variable applies to the avoidance threshold as well. This means that in a challenging environment the avoidance threshold may be lower as well, leaving less working room in the dog’s defensive mood. Trainers must take heed not to push the dog into avoidance. Sharp dogs being trained in this kind of environment may have very little working room in that mood. Some Examples of Conflict: Schutzhund & KNPV Conflict is what dog trainers refer to as the confusion and resulting inappropriate behavior manifested by a dog during protection training that is unable to change drives seamlessly during the dynamics of a confrontation with a decoy. A typical example of conflict can come from Schutzhund or KNPV. In each sport, there is a searching exercise 16

Hilliard (2001, 2002) discussed a dichotomy between “classical” and “non-classical” aggression to make a distinction between the traditional or classical notion of defensive behavior, and the type of dog that exhibits aggression without any of the classical defensive/fear behaviors. Some trainers refer to this type of dog as a “prey monster” showing prey behavior toward humans, or a dog behaving in what is referred to colloquially by trainers as “fight drive”, a high level of aggression, willingness to rise to combat humans, and little if any fear behaviors such as short-mouth snarling, or wide mouth snarling, piloerection, body bridging, etc.

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which ends in a hold and bark on the decoy. The conflict is demonstrated when a dog takes dirty bites during a hold and bark exercise, where the search, a prey exercise, ends in hold and bark, a defensive confrontation. The inability to switch from prey drive to defense drive easily can be one cause of the conflict and resulting inappropriate biting behavior. In addition, variables such as the newness of the training area, darkness inside a building or room (in the case of Police K-9 doing a find and bark), distance from the handler, etc. can serve to raise the stress of the confrontation. The dog is unable to handle these stressors. The dog is supposed to hold and bark, but instead he is in conflict, at times barking properly and keeping in check, at times taking dirty bites. We often see the same thing on outs or re-attack exercises. Either the dog does not out as the helper goes from fighting the dog to a passive “out” position, or the dog takes dirty bites anticipating the defensive exercise about to occur. The dog is stuck in defense, stuck in the mode of fighting, and will not release on command, often despite being corrected. Many handlers I have seen simply correct the dog more and harder, which by bringing more pain and stress, reinforces the defensive mood, and actually causes the dog to fight harder and hold on tighter, creating a vicious circle of outing problems.17 In the two previous chapters, we discussed the appropriateness of beginning with either defense training or prey training based on the dog’s temperament.18 It was concluded that after an initial evaluation, the dog should be worked first in his strongest drive. That could be what he stimulates most easily into, or what he has available at the time training begins. Thus the initial test of suitability will designate the dog as either “Prey Dominant” or “Defense Dominant”. This is not an all or nothing designation, mind you. In fact, even in a dog that is well balanced, one drive will tend to dominate. In the prey dog, channeling first means introducing defense after the dog has been worked first sufficiently in prey. Note also that we don’t just work in prey. We will experiment from time to time with civil agitation. The stimulus to prey work is movement and frustration. We base the prey work on pass-by misses and bites. The focus at this stage of training is on grip work, using the opposition reflex, and encouraging full biting through proper grip development, and proper targeting. We are developing a dog that stimulates easily in prey and the commitment of the dog should be strong. Separately, as we discussed in the last chapter on defense we will introduce civil agitation. In pole work, I usually tie the dog out during another dog’s work, and have the helper, during breaks in the action, civil the dog on the pole. As the dog becomes more confident in the prey work, we should observe the dog barking at the stalking of the decoy as his defense develops. Note that in a balanced dog, the dog may readily respond in civil work.

17

This is true especially if the corrections are made from behind the dog. Many American police dog trainers persist in this folly, having taken no time to learn how their imported dogs are taught to set the bite with back tension against the grip from the time they were 7-week-old puppies. 18 Bradshaw (1998), and Bradshaw (2000).

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Prey Dominant Dog: Channeling Prey to Defense I like to make my first introduction to defense for the prey dog in a nonthreatening way. This is an odd thing to say, since defense work by its very nature is threatening. Defense comes in many forms: self-defense, territoriality, social defense (pack, handler, breeding rights, maternal), and defense of prey or posessions, to name some. It is this last form of defense that doesn’t directly threaten the dog. In the other forms of defense, the stakes are higher in the sense that the dog can be more easily pushed into avoidance by a mistake.19 In defending his prey, the dog only stands to lose an object of prey. It is critical that the decoy then make his threat focus on the prey object, and not on the dog himself. Threatening the dog directly over his prey can be added later. In the beginning process of awakening defensive moods in a prey dominant dog, we do not want to push the dog into avoidance.20 The decoy must avoid eye contact and look squarely at the sleeve, showing submission to the dog’s barking and aggressive displays. I use my hand out in front of my body as I stalk the sleeve very slowly, using hissing sounds, and wiggling my hand and drawing it back as the dog barks at my approach towards his prey. It is critical that the dog see reaction from the civil decoy to his efforts to defend his prey. At first the dog may only try to jump back on the prey (very common in young puppies) instead of showing aggressive behaviors. Positioning the sleeve in front of the dog but just out of reach can bring about the frustration necessary to kick the dog into aggression as his only option of defending his prey. Decoy behavior is critical: All movement should be straight towards the object and slow, as any other movement may put the dog into a prey mood and destroy any possibility of bringing about defensive aggressive behavior. Many decoys make the mistake of moving too quickly, or advancing to closely, or both. Once the dog begins to show aggressive behavior over the sleeve, these movements can be repeated without a sleeve on the ground, and by developing this conditioned reflex; the dog will show the civil aggression we are trying to bring about, when the sleeve is not present. If this strategy doesn’t work, it may be because the visible sleeve keeps the dog only in a prey mood. We will need to explore other things that may bring about the necessary stress to induce defensive behavior. One way to do this is to use the variable of environmental stress. This can lower the dog’s defensive threshold, and put him in a mood of defensive aggression. Common ways to do this are to use a civil decoy in a dark, unfamiliar place, or put the dog on a slick floor in an unfamiliar building, or perhaps both. Caution must be used not to put the dog at too much of a disadvantage so that his avoidance threshold is crossed during agitation. Skilled helper work is crucial to feel out the dog’s mood and put just enough pressure on the dog to elicit the reaction we desire, and to also allow the dog to win the confrontation by coming forward to the fight. The idea is to teach the dog that he wins stressful confrontations by becoming aggressive. In such a situation, the dog might become aggressive, then be allowed to chase the decoy 19

Every dog, in the defense portion of the evaluation test, will demonstrate an avoidance threshold. This is critical information for the trainer and handler to understand. This is defined as the point, beyond which, additional defensive pressure will cause the dog to avoid the confrontation. 20 It becomes critical for the decoy to understand how to read pre-avoidance signals in the dog.

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across the room as he runs away and out a door, frustrating the dog. Or if the dog’s nerves permit, giving him a hidden sleeve bite after some aggression is elicited. Usually it is the confident prey dog with which you will need to go to these extremes to elicit defensive reactions, so doing a hidden sleeve bite under these circumstances may not be difficult. In general, when trying to get the prey dog to switch into defense, prey guarding is a common useful method. This is true especially with younger dogs. At this point we will assume that the trainer can stimulate defensive behavior. The question now becomes how we train the dog to channel from prey to defense. Step 1: Introduce Defense through Prey Guarding.

We can initiate prey behavior through movement, using equipment like a visible sleeve, and using techniques like prey misses, where the decoy comes close enough to get the dog to commit to the strike, but snatches the sleeve away at the last second to make the dog miss the bite, thereby frustrating him. After a couple prey misses, the bite is delivered. If the dog is not strong enough to take defensive pressure on the bite, then the sleeve is slipped, and the handler kicks it out in front of the dog just out of reach. The decoy then withdraws to a comfortable distance for the dog, and begins to stalk the sleeve. As the dog shows defensive prey guarding behavior, the decoy advances and withdraws according to the dog’s aggression, showing submission as he draws very close to snatch the sleeve, and then he begins moving again. The defensive behavior is rewarded by the decoy’s reactions to the aggression, and then the subsequent movement after grabbing the sleeve begins another round of prey work. As the dog becomes more confident in his defensive behavior, the decoy can increase the level of threat towards the prey item, and then eventually switch his focus toward the dog. This is important. The prey item should fix the dog in place as he guards it, but now the decoy threatens the dog with body posture, hissing, and frontal displays. However as he does this, the decoy must react to defensive displays by showing submission to the aggression, then recovering, and advancing. For the aggression to take root, the decoy must show a mixture of threat and submissive displays.21As the decoy draws closer and closer, the decoy should become more submissive. The dog must think his aggressive display is having an effect for him to continue with this strategy of behavior. Note however, that when the dog is biting he should feel safe, and also feel he is punishing the decoy. The decoy works the dog on the bite in a prey style, reacting when the dog punishes the sleeve in frustration. The dog should be working up a lot of defensive energy during the civil portion of the work, then put that energy into the prey biting and thrash the decoy by pushing into the sleeve during the prey work. When the dog is in prey mood, the decoy continues to work on the dog’s grip, and can begin to introduce the dog to defensive postures while biting.

21

Raiser (1996) discusses this issue on PP. 12-13.

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Step 2: Introducing Defense while the dog is on the sleeve.

When the dog is biting clearly and comfortably after the civil pressure on the grounded sleeve, the decoy can begin to introduce defensive movements while the dog is biting. However, be careful not to push the dog into avoidance. The first few movements should be quick with an immediate reward to the dog. Begin in prey, maybe a miss or two, and then deliver the bite. Slip the sleeve. Immediately civil the dog over the grounded sleeve in the proper way we discussed above, then grab the sleeve, and move again into prey. Deliver the bite, allow the dog to punish, and pay attention to the grip. Now, quickly turn from a prey (side) posture to a frontal posture all in one fast movement. The decoy quickly turns into the dog, raises the stick, and makes a clipped yell, slips the sleeve and withdraws. Normally the dog will thrash the sleeve, venting the stress from the sudden change in mood into the sleeve. After withdrawing, the decoy moves to a safe civil distance and keeps eye contact, and waits for the handler to out the dog, then immediately begins to civil the dog, and repeat the procedure. The goal is to de-condition the dog to more and more violent defensive helper movements from the decoy while on the bite. These variables include de-conditioning the dog to frontal postures, stick threats, voice threats, and the defensive drive (making more and more steps into the dog on successive sessions) and eventually stick hits. I want to make a note on introducing stick hits. This should proceed in two ways. First, the threat should come up over the dog’s head quickly, and then bring the stick down in a petting motion over the dog’s head. This can be added during prey work as well. The dog should not fear the stick hits. At first he only is threatened and petted with the stick. Light taps can then begin on the back-tie line as the helper drives the dog, advancing over time to harder and harder hits to the line, and the area where the line attaches to the dog’s flat collar or protection harness. Second, we introduce the actual strikes to the dog. The first time you actually strike the dog with the padded stick, the hit should come from below and under the sleeve to the dog’s shoulder. This area is heavily muscled and not a sensitive spot. If he is already taking hard hits to the line, the first hit to the body should come quickly and with an immediate slip of the sleeve as the hit comes from where the dog cannot see it. This should be done simultaneously. We do not want to give the dog an opportunity to avoid the bite by popping off when he is struck. Sticks should be changed up, de-conditioning the dog to padded stick, reed stick, clatter sticks, etc. As the dog shows he can easily handle the pressure, the hits should come more often, during defensive drives, and end with a slip or a strong reaction by the decoy moving into a submissive, prey posture. Always assume that changing the variable (stick, new posture, duration of the defensive drive, voice pressure) may have an adverse effect on the dog. Do not assume the dog can “take it” or you will end up pushing the dog into avoidance. Experienced decoys who can properly read the dog’s reactions to any defensive pressure should be used. The most telltale sign that the defensive pressure is bothering the dog too much can be noticed first in the grip. During the prey development stage of training, you should develop a “baseline” grip. Not every dog will have a genetically full grip, and many breeding programs (French Ring, KNPV) do not always throw full grips. But you should have a feel for what the dog’s best grip is when he is feeling most confident. Changes in 54

the grip during channeling training will tell you that you may be on the verge of pushing the avoidance threshold. These changes include growling, mouthy grips, moving to the hand or elbow under pressure, slipping out of the grip (to a less full position), or moving his body away from the helper’s body. Notice that all these movements I suggest start the dog off working in his strongest drive, prey, and move him into defense, and back into prey. This is the essence of channeling. The dog begins confidently in a prey mood, is stressed into defense where he is taught that aggressive reaction can wilt the pressure, and then back into prey so he can relax after the stress: comfort Æ stressÆ comfort. He learns that over time any defensive stress can be released by fighting the decoy. This is how he learns to fight the decoy successfully and confidently. Step 3: Multiples and Classical Conditioning

The next steps in teaching the dog to channel are teaching him he can do this work multiple times. I will use the following shorthand to denote the basic channeling training: Prey Î Defense Î Prey

Multiples are repetitions of this basic exercise: first stimulated in prey, taken into defense, then back to prey. Instead of slipping the sleeve after he returns to prey, the decoy brings another round of pressure, always ending the sequence in the dog’s calming drive, prey. Prey periods should start with longer duration, then become progressively shorter (in a variable way, not linear way) over time. Prey Î Defense Î Prey Î Defense Î Prey

Multiples can go through many rounds. As the dog easily begins to move back and forth, taking the pressure, then calming down as the decoy submits to his aggression and fighting back, we then start to reduce the initial prey stimulus. Ideally we want the dog to feel comfortable beginning to work in either drive, not just starting out in prey all the time. Thus, we slowly reduce the initial prey stimulus, bringing him to civil aggression quicker right out of the box, so that we get: Prey (slowly lowering the amount of stimulus) Î Defense (increasing variably over time) Î Prey

Notice that after we reduce the initial prey stimulus to nearly zero, we are left with the dog beginning to get activated to work in a purely defensive mood. Channeling training is a classical conditioning exercise, where he learns that prey stimulus predicts a coming defensive confrontation, thus he is always ready to fight back. It also teaches him that his efforts fighting back through confident defensive aggression are rewarded, because he always defeats and punishes the decoy, i.e. defensive confrontation predicts winning through prey. The end result is the following: Defense Î Prey (and multiples of this).

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The last step is to slowly reduce the intensity and duration of the prey periods, so that the dog can learn to quickly relax, and also quickly return to a defensive mood.22 At the end of this training, the prey dog can stimulate easily in both drives and work through multiple cycles of confrontation. He can take a lot of defensive pressure and intensity, and quickly relax when the decoy stops fighting. For the prey dog, this brings his foundation work to a close.

22

This is critical for fast outs, after heavy defensive pressure. If the dog can quickly channel from defense into prey, the mere fact of the decoy quitting the fight should allow the dog top slip into a prey mood, thus be ready for the out. Good competitors will allow the dog to get in about 1 full second of punishing the decoy before outing the dog on command. This ensures the clear return of the prey mood from defense before asking for the obedience to the out command, and is less likely to create conflict over the out.

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Chapter 6: Drive Channeling in the Defense Dominant Dog The fundamental issue in channeling the defense dominant dog is to take a dog that stimulates primarily in defense, where the stimulus is threat, and transferring that energy into a prey mood. The goal is to have the defensive dog learn to manage the stress of threat and the reactive aggressive response, and become comfortable working in that drive under those conditions. We need the dog to channel from defense to prey in order to be able to handle higher and higher levels of defensive pressure. Prey is a calming and confident drive, and unless the dog can come off defense to prey the dog may have problems with long-term high stress confrontations, as well as control issues. A defensive mood may prevent the dog from processing obedience commands, like the out, and cause the dog to be in conflict with the trainer during the bite work. Prey mood is more conducive to thinking and processing obedience commands. The dog can clearly concentrate on fighting the suspect when he is in a defensive mood, but when he neutralizes the attack, he can slip into a prey mood and be clear and conflict-free when asked to do obedience. In other words, he becomes clear about when he is winning the fight. Many problems can occur when dogs cannot channel defense to prey: The simplest example is the out. We have all probably seen the confident, defensive dog that engages the decoy in a fight, but when the decoy stops the fight, the dog does not and continues to fight, both with the decoy and against the handler, refusing to be obedient to the out command. Out corrections seem to fuel the fire of the fight even more, and a vicious cycle of corrections causing more conflict seems to occur. This dog is in conflict because he doesn’t realize when he comes to the end of the fight. He doesn’t realize the cessation of the fight is signaled by the decoy’s behavior, i.e. the decoy stops fighting back. By channeling defense to prey, the return of the prey mood signals the dog that he is winning or has won, and can concentrate on following obedience commands like the out, guard, and transports without having to feel compelled to get back into an energetic defensive fight with the decoy. If the dog can eventually be brought to prey, he can learn to handle everincreasing levels of threat. This is particularly important because the dog that primarily reacts to threat as a motivation to bite can be pushed more easily into avoidance during bite work because the bite work is by necessity more confrontational. The earlier section on defense foundation training explained the mechanics of the defense threshold, defense margin and the avoidance threshold. Because we are pushing through the defense margin in defense work, the stress of the training sessions will build towards the avoidance threshold as we condition the dog to deal with higher levels of threat pressure. This conditioning process involves pushing the dog into defense, as a means to bring aggression to the decoy, then channeling the defense mood into a prey mood as relief from the stress. This anticipation of eventual relief from the stress is what allows the dog to acclimate to higher and higher levels of threat, without going into avoidance. In fact, the relief from stress allows the avoidance threshold to move upwards. This is a fundamental goal of any defense work, and in fact is inherent in the basic foundation training we do when we are doing defense drive development.

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Channeling in the defensive dog involves bringing the dog to defense, then into prey as a relief, then back into defense again, multiple times. The defensive dog must learn that fights ebb and flow, with the possibility that the dog will lose his superior position (prey relief) and may have to go back into a defensive mood again. The dog must learn that each time he is pushed by threat to react with confident aggression, and eventually he will win. Channeling Exercises: Defense Dog Step 1: Threat is the Trigger and Prey is the Relief

We already covered this strategy in the section on defense foundation. Unlike pure prey work, where there is little stress (except some frustration), defense work is inherently stressful and thus requires immediate channeling to provide the relief from the stress. As we have already discussed, stress accumulates, and without relieving the stress, the dog’s avoidance threshold may lower. This can happen because during a given bite work session the dog gets tired, and thus feels less equipped to react to threats aggressively. Thus this first strategy of channeling defense to prey involves exactly the same exercises we discussed in the section on defense drive development. Civil work provides the threat trigger, and the helper reacts to good quality reactive aggression from the dog by showing proper submission mixed with occasional complete withdrawal from threatening the dog. The dog learns that his aggression can control the decoy’s behavior. Confident and decisive defensive aggression can neutralize the source of the threat. The biggest mistake a decoy can make in doing civil work is to not properly react to the dog’s aggression, leading the dog to think of other strategies (displacement or worse, avoidance) as a way to deal with the threat. Once the dog can be approached very closely on the pole with civil threat, and the dog reacts strongly and decisively to the threats with high quality aggression, and the dog shows commitment to bite the civil decoy (snapping at hands and arms that pass close to the dog) then the dog is ready for relief through biting. The same civil strategy is followed, and the relief comes from a hidden sleeve bite, or a sleeve bite. Be aware that if the dog’s drives are more balanced, the mere presence of a prey item on the field, or in the decoy’s hands can change the entire mood of the confrontation, and change it from a defensive exercise to a prey exercise. My advice would be to use a hidden sleeve with a dog that is more likely to change his mood to prey when catching a glimpse of the sleeve. We want to preserve the reality and feel of a true defensive confrontation (he must become acclimated to this kind of aggression if he is a police service dog or if he is going to do PSA type surprise scenario personal protection work). If the dog is rather defensive, the existence of a sleeve may not change his mood at all, and you can simply hide the sleeve along the axis of your body or behind your back for a quick delivery after a civil session of stalking into the dog. The helper simply presses into the dog with threat, and at the last instant when the dog is lunging to bite the civil decoy, he brings the sleeve or hidden sleeve around for a delivery and grip. If you choose a hidden sleeve bite you have a situation where the dog must be disengaged, before he knows the out, directly off the man. I suggest in such a case, have the decoy quickly go to ground, and lift the dog off of the grip.

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Once the grip is delivered, the decoy should not fight the dog, just grip and slip. Over time the decoy can keep the dog on the prey bite longer, and watch for changes in the grip, as the dog is asked to stay on the grip after the defensive confrontation. The proximity to the helper and the duration of the prey bite after the grip is delivered will tell you a lot about how the dog feels controlling you in prey after a serious defensive confrontation. The helper and trainer must read the dog’s body and grip. The dog should stay in a nice full grip, or better yet adjust when given the chance. If the dog struggles to move away from the helper while in the bite, or pulls himself off the grip or to an inferior grip position, this is a signal that the confrontation as a whole is going on too long. The grip should be a strike and fast slip at first, and then gradually the helper should keep the dog in the grip longer, and longer, giving him opportunities to adjust. The helper should pay attention to the goals we discussed in prey work, such as full, hard, and calm grips, and encourage adjustments. Remember, dogs in defense are much less likely to counter their grip, as holding grip position is the key to feeling in control for the defensive dog. Shallow grips, where the dog is growling a lot, and showing some conflict in his body language may be preavoidance behaviors. The helper must not continue to push the dog farther, lest the dog go into a display of displacement or avoidance. As the dog acclimates to the relief of prey work after the defensive stimulation, the decoy can begin to increase the threat levels prior to the prey bite. This can include using some distractions and introducing the stick all prior to the grip, then re-introducing the stick work and distractions once the dog is sure on the sleeve. The goal is to show the dog these distractions as the decoy is stalking to the dog, then hide them as the grip is delivered, then re-introduce them with a tight line in the prey bite. We don’t want the stick or any other distraction used at the moment of the channel from defense to prey (the grip) at first. Only when the dog is sure on the grip, and we introduce petting with the stick and lifting the stick over the dog’s head when on the prey bite, do we bring the stick and other distractions to the moment of the grip. The dog at this point should be taking a high level of civil agitation, with stick and other distractions, before, during and after the grip itself turns the decoy from defensive threat to prey object before we go to the next step in the channeling process. Step 2: Once disengaged, re-engage with prey guarding

As we did in prey work, prey guarding is a good way to threaten the dog’s prey without directly threatening the dog. In civil work, we by necessity are threatening the dog, without any prey objects in sight to change the mood from one of a defensive confrontation to a prey exercise. After the sleeve bite is delivered in Step 1 above, and the helper slips the sleeve, he must withdraw to a safe distance where his proximity does not interfere with the dog carrying the sleeve, or being cradled and calmed on the grip by the handler. The carrying behavior is very important. If the defensive dog will carry with the helper at a distance, encourage this behavior until the dog decides to stop and thrash the sleeve on the ground, or he just stops and refocuses on the man. Do not allow the dog to get chewy on the grip, or to thrash it on the ground. Once the sleeve is slipped and the helper withdraws, this is prey work. The handler must be certain to concentrate on helping the dog to carry and hold the sleeve calmly.

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Once the dog either drops the sleeve, or the handler lifts him off of the sleeve, the decoy should be in immediate position to re-engage the confrontation. In the prey section we discussed the steps: (1) Alert (2) Delivery and Strike (3) Grip (4) Reward and Reposition and (5) Disengage and Re-Start. The steps are exactly the same for a defensive channeling session. The reward and reposition step is what I want to concentrate on here. Once the sleeve is slipped, the decoy withdraws as the handler runs the dog in a circle or holds the sleeve up in the dog’s mouth and allows him to calmly hold it. The helper should avoid a lot of eye contact and actually turn away from the dog slightly. We want the dog to concentrate on his prey, and not immediately forget about it simply because the helper is too strong an attraction. This is an adjustment the helper has to make from prey work to defense work. In prey work, the dog is possessive of the prey, and some eye contact from the helper just serves to reinforce his possessiveness. In the defensive dog it can completely refocus the dog back to the defensive confrontation with the helper. Once, however, the dog drops his prey, the decoy begins a prey guarding session to re-engage the sleeve. This is also a defense to prey channel. Prey guarding is a defensive confrontation, which ends in a prey move when the helper snatches the sleeve back. Once the helper has the sleeve, he can hide it again behind his back, and begin the stalking again. Step 3: Defense to prey to defense to prey (multiples)

It is in this step that the real work of channeling is done. The session is set up as follows: Defense Æ Prey Æ Defense Æ Prey

Here the session is begun just like before with threat to trigger the dog’s drive to bite. Prey is offered as relief, but instead of slipping the grip, we re-introduce defense while on the grip. We do the exact same procedure we did in the prey section. The goal is to decondition the dog to more and more violent defensive helper movements from the decoy while on the bite. First the helper just does a simple posture change by turning into the dog while he is in the prey bite, and then turning immediately back into prey. The helper must look to the grip as the barometer of the dog’s comfort level with re-engaging the fight. Up until now, the dog took threat, and channeled into prey, and didn’t have to contend with the defensive pressure returning, ostensibly the fight was over. Now the dog must get conditioned to the fight ebbing and flowing. After using his aggression to neutralize the threat (defense), he gets into a position of control (prey), but now the threat returns (defense) and he must once again work comfortably under threat before he gains control again. The difference now is the dog must take the threat during biting, and the threats come from a variety of variables that we must teach the dog to handle. These variables include de-conditioning the dog to frontal postures, stick threats, voice threats, and the defensive drive (making more and more steps into the dog on successive sessions) and eventually, stick hits. At first he only is threatened and petted with the stick. Light taps can then begin on the back-tie line as the helper drives the dog, advancing over time to harder and harder hits to the line, and the area where the line attaches to the dog’s flat collar or protection harness. Second, we introduce the actual strikes to the dog. Sticks should be changed up, de-conditioning the dog to padded sticks, 60

reed sticks, and clatter sticks. As the dog shows he can easily handle the pressure, the hits should come more often, during defensive drives, and end with a slip or a strong reaction by the decoy moving into a submissive, prey posture. Now comes a very important part of the training. We must adjust the intensity and duration in each drive element of the channel. The process is as follows: Defense (Decreasing) Æ Prey (Increasing) ÆDefense (Increasing) ÆPrey (Decreasing)

• • • •

Initially the level of threat used to stimulate the dog should decrease variably over time. Prey intensity after the initial confrontation should increase variably over time. Then the return to defense while the dog is on the grip should systematically increase in intensity and duration. The recovery time in prey before the sleeve is slipped should decrease variably over time.

This procedure will condition the dog to begin the session more in a prey mood over time, and enable him to take increasing levels of defensive pressure on the grip, and simultaneously conditioning him to shorter and shorter recovery times between fights. Short recovery times are important because of the out. The dog must learn to come off the defense quicker and quicker to be able to settle fast in a prey mood before the out. There can be more changes from prey to defense in the middle of these multiple channeling sessions, but should always begin and end as above. The dog should learn that the longer he fights back with good energy the weaker the threats will be later, in a longer fight. However, sometimes, the decoy should make a last flurry of hard defense before the final prey move before the helper disengages from the fight by slipping the sleeve. The fights become variable in intensity and duration over time. The result looks like this in our shorthand: Prey Æ Defense Æ Prey

Step 4: Prey (Increasing) Æ Defense (Increasing) Æ Prey (decreasing)

The final outcome of this progression, then, is we have a dog that stimulates in prey with a lot of energy, can take a lot of defensive pressure, and doesn’t need a lot of recovery time to come back into a prey mood at the end of the fight. So, we have come full circle, our defensive dog can now begin the session in prey, take a lot of defensive pressure on the grip, have the fights switch back and forth from prey to defense, and then end in prey. At this point in the dog’s foundation training we have completed both the prey and defense drive development, done the channeling and the dog should be able to begin any session of bite work in either prey or defense. At this point in the training we can organize our sessions either on the pole or off the pole, with the handler working the line as an anchor. These sessions can start on the pole, and for the last couple of bites, both

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the prey dominant and defense dominant dog can work on sends, with channeling exercises performed once the dog is in the grip. The main feature of this foundation work has been sleeve work. Now it is time to introduce other biting equipment. The hidden sleeve can be easily introduced on the pole, with the session ending with a lift off of the grip instead of a slip of the sleeve. These liftoffs were discussed in the prey development section. Notice we have done all this work on the sleeve, and for a dog that is going to work on a bite suit, proper target areas must be introduced on the bite suit, and the dog must become accustomed to doing this channeling work on all the equipment he needs to work on, including the hidden sleeve. The trainer and decoy must understand that both prey and defense can now be worked in any given training session. The prey dog can activate in defense, and the defensive dog can activate in prey. Some of the following exercises which are applications of channeling must be incorporated into the training before we move away from the sleeve work. (1) Introducing the courage test (2) Handler defense (3) Environmental Generalization

The Hidden Sleeve When to introduce the hidden sleeve is an important issue for police and personal protection dogs. Many people think the hidden sleeve should be saved for long after the dog is on the bite suit, as a proofing mechanism for a street bite. I disagree. I think that if the dog is strong and confident, in his foundation work, the hidden sleeve can be introduced while the dog is working on the pole. As with any new piece of equipment, the hidden sleeve can be confusing to the dog. I like to introduce it to the dog in defense work, when he is most focused with his aggression on the man. The only problem with a hidden sleeve is that it requires you to disengage without slipping the bite to the dog (although it can be done), and usually requires the dog to be lifted off the grip. Some argue that a working police dog should be started with (defensive) aggression in mind. They argue that ultimately a service dog must be trained to do something he cannot practice which is biting a person for real, so that while the dog is still naïve in regard to equipment he must think his first bite is a civil bite. Thus when encouraging civil aggression and biting, the first few times should be on a hidden sleeve or a hidden suit. Then training on visible equipment where necessary can proceed. That first experience of channeling defensive aggression is then inextricably associated with biting civilly. This behavior is critical for developing a properly civil-aggressive police service dog. The only issue with this line of thinking is that most green dogs have already been introduced to biting a sleeve for a long time, thus making his initial civil grips on a hidden sleeve are of paramount importance.

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It is important to be aware that with the hidden sleeve, as with bite bar and barrel sleeves, there are many types. I prefer a very low profile hidden sleeve, and the decoy should change arms with it. Over time, a dog will come to recognize a hidden sleeve under an over-shirt as equipment. Therefore its best use comes when you take the dog by surprise and he isn’t anticipating it. In man-orientation work, we often put on a hidden sleeve under the bite suit, and give the dog a grip on the suit and let him pull it off of us, then immediately re-attack the dog and give him a grip. The dog isn’t expecting it with the suit just there in front of him after a grip. Preparing for the Courage Test The courage test is an important exercise because it generally begins in prey with a pursuit, and the defense comes just before the grip. Proper foundation civil work and channeling should prepare the dog for this kind of confrontation. We have already done civil aggression prior to delivering the grip, with the introduction of stick pressure as the strike and the grip is coming. The main difference in this context is that the dog is off the pole and no longer close to the handler. The back tie provides a certain amount of stability to the context of the bite work. The courage test should be worked as a channeling exercise, de-conditioning the dog to hard defensive pressure prior to the bite. Once the dog will come into the sends with the helper’s body turned square to the dog’s entry, then more pressures can be added, like clatter stick, jugs with rocks, hoops and streamers, or other strange objects, like tarps held in the stick hand, or cardboard boxes over the dog’s head during defense work. All these distractions should be first introduced while the dog is in a prey grip. Here is a sample training progression: (1) Start with fleeing sends in Prey. The decoy catches the dog, and works the distraction in prey after the catch. (2) The decoy flees for a send bite, turns into the dog as he is backing up, and catches the dog while fading, and works the distraction in prey. (3) The decoy flees, turns into the dog, and charges the dog briefly with the distraction, then fades as the dog comes to the bite. Works the dog with the distraction in prey. (4) The decoy flees, turns into the dog, charges progressively more and more over time threatening with the distraction, then fades just before the grip, catches and drives the dog slowly incorporating the distraction in the drive, then back into prey. (5) The decoy flees, turns into the dog, charges, catches at a stop, and then drives the dog with the distraction, back into prey. Decoy can go back into a drive, and do channeling multiples before the dog is disengaged. (6) The decoy flees, turns into the dog, charges, catches in the charge, and drives the dog with the distraction, back into prey. Decoy can go back into a drive, and do channeling multiples before the dog is disengaged. (7) The decoy starts at a distance and charges defensively; the decoy stop catches the dog, drives the dog with the distraction and channeling multiples are done before the dog is disengaged.

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After the last step in this progression the dog is doing a full courage test on the sleeve. This progression from 1-7 should be developed over time, and not attempted in just a couple of training sessions. Preparing for the Handler Defense Exercise The handler defense or attack on handler is done in much the same way. The handler defense can really catch the dog off guard because it is a surprise attack. This means there is no build-up in intensity. The dog must go from 0-60 in defense all at once. Therefore we must de-condition the dog to the surprise attack first. During the catch and drive all the distractions introduced on the courage test can be employed. The progression goes as follows: (1) Place the dog in a sit stay away (20’) from a hiding place, decoy jumps out and agitates defensively, fades away from the dog and the dog is released into the grip. Decoy works the dog in channeling multiples before the dog is disengaged. (2) Place the dog in a sit stay closer to the hiding place, decoy jumps out and agitates defensively. Send dog earlier and earlier until the dog is being sent on the decoy standing still (not fading) but still agitating defensively. (3) Place the dog in a sit stay away (20’) from the hiding place, decoy jumps out agitating defensively, slowly charging the dog, release the dog on the approach of the decoy. Decoy catches the dog and works in prey first. Decoy works the dog in channeling multiples before the dog is disengaged. (4) Place the dog in a sit stay closer to the hiding place, decoy jumps out and quickly charges the dog defensively, dog is released ever closer to the decoy as he approaches. Decoy catches the dog and works the dog into a defensive drive after the catch. Slowly integrate the distractions in the drive, and variably increase the intensity and duration of the defensive drives. Decoy works the dog in channeling multiples before the dog is disengaged. (5) Place the dog close to a hiding place, decoy charges the dog from the front, from behind, or the side, dog is allowed to release on his own into the charging decoy. The decoy works the dog in ever stronger defensive drives (variable in intensity and duration over time), then proceeds into prey and channeling multiples before the dog is disengaged. (6) If the dog can heel, heel around, and once in a while, have the attack come during heeling. Practice heeling past familiar hiding places with no handler attack. If you do too many handler attacks from heeling, the dog will anticipate the attacks and want to go to the hiding place and break heel position.

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Preparing for Environmental Generalizations The handler defense exercise will make the dog very alert to his surroundings. It is critical that the dog begin to be exposed to environments that are more stressful than his regular training area. For police dogs, these exercises should be done in and around buildings, parking lots, vehicles, and in dark rooms and in tight places. Attacks from behind doors will also get the dog used to looking around doorways for threats, and is a good initial step before teaching formal building searches. For personal protection dogs, these attacks should occur in places where the dog might likely work, near the owner’s home, as you enter the home, or exit the home or car, and in parking lots, or on a walk at night on the street. It is critical to remember, that if you change the dog’s environment that will add its own defensive pressure, and you will be working with somewhat less of a defensive margin. The decoy should be aware to read the dog’s body and grip, and work to increase the dog’s confidence in these exercises, and the general defensive pressure builds up in scenario based exercises. As a rule of thumb, always expect that the dog will likely have a problem, so you as the handler and/or decoy are prepared if the dog shows difficulty handling the defensive pressure of these scenarios. Changing Helper Positions during the Fight One other thing the decoy and trainer should think about is de-conditioning the dog to changing the helper position during the fight. As the dog is worked both in defense and prey, the helper should sometimes go to the ground and fight with the dog. It is very important that the decoy’s safety be considered when he gets lower on the ground. There must be a tight line from the handler to the decoy as the decoy goes to the ground. The handler should be in position away from the dog’s head, pulling with tension away from the decoy’s head. As the handler approaches the dog to praise him on the grip, with the decoy on the ground, he should work up the tight line to the dog, and keep tension as he backs away from the dog. The line should be tight, as the decoy gets up as well. When doing sends as well, you can do short sends with a decoy sitting in a chair and the handler feeds the dog, pulling on the tight line, into the grip. If you do sends to a grounded decoy they should be first done on a sleeve, feeding the dog slowly into the grip, and a tight line maintained during the work on the ground. If a dog knocks a decoy down, and the handler is not attached to the line, the handler should immediately pull tight on the line to set the bite. If the line is fouled or wrapped up in the dog’s legs, and a tight line cannot be established, the handler must be very careful not to approach the dog from the dog’s flanks. This can drive the dog away from the handler to the helper’s head. The handler should approach and block the helpers head with his legs, then gain control of the dog’s collar, putting tension on the grip. The helper can then use the back tension to help himself up off the ground. These safety measures should be practiced in the foundation work, so that as the dog proceeds to field work, building and area searches, the dog becomes sure in the grip on a grounded helper, and the handler does not panic and mistakenly cause an accident.

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Chapter 7: Working in the Bite Suit At this point in the dog’s training, the dog has been through all the basic drive development, including prey drive development, defense drive development, and channeling. He has been introduced to two of the basic scenarios of protection training that don’t require a lot of obedience skills: the courage test and the handler attack. The next big change in the dog’s life as a police dog will be to take the dog to the bite suit. If you purchased an excellent green dog, all the prior work may have been done, or done to some degree which you will have had to finish out. The result is that the dog is sleeve sure, and has satisfied all the prey and defense goals we have outlined, and can channel drives easily and seamlessly. Before we can say we have a trained protection dog we must add the bite suit and hidden sleeve to the dog’s training program. The bite suit is a piece of equipment, just like a sleeve and a hidden sleeve. But it is a very important piece of equipment. All trained protection dogs are “equipment oriented” in some sense. Training in protection requires us to approximate real bites, and the equipment allows us to approximate real bites to varying degrees. The sleeve provides a lot of flexibility, and ease of reward, and is well suited to basic bite development. But it also can become a very clear stimulus to bite. The result is that dogs can become very equipment oriented to the sleeve. Taking the dog to the bite suit can alleviate this to some degree. Further, man orientation exercises which we will discuss later will also alleviate the problem as well. The bite suit brings a different element into the training. The bite suit itself is a much more defensive piece of equipment. The dog is forced to bite the man in close, especially when we introduce inside front shoulder bites. There is a much larger element of confrontation in this kind of work. The decoy can usually feel the grip, and the dog can feel whether or not he is having an effect on the decoy. As with all equipment, the dog needs to learn how to work on it. Putting dogs too soon on a bite suit can cause the dog to lose his hard, full grip. The suit is generally not as challenging to the grip as a sleeve. The bite suit is meant to approximate biting a person much more closely than biting a sleeve. But it does not challenge the grip in the way that biting different kinds of hard sleeves can. Trainers should realize that taking a dog to a bite suit does not mean he can never go back and bite a sleeve. It is just fine to take a dog back to the sleeve for a few sessions to work on his grip, and I have done it with police dogs and my PSA competition dogs many times throughout their career. What Kind of Bite Suit Should I get? Choosing a bite suit is like choosing a sleeve. There are many options out there. The basic suit styles you can choose from are the Dutch Training Suit, French-Style Ring Training Suit, and Kimono Training Suit. There are many others, but these styles are the basic styles. Dutch Training Suit The Dutch Training suit is based on the model of the KNPV bite suit. A KNPV trial suit is often referred to as “leather and Jute” because there is leather under suit that is placed

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on the decoy, and then a jute cover goes over the leather. It is not a one piece construction, and is cumbersome to take on and off as one might in training. The Dutch training suit was developed as a mimic of the KNPV suit, but made in its construction out of layers of material into a jacket and pants set that is easy to get on and off. The style of the suit is to look just like a KNPV suit, there is very little to no padding in the chest and back areas. All the upper padding is in the biceps and shoulder area, where the dogs are commonly taught to grip. The pants are not very mobile. The jute material in the best suits of Dutch design is a lot harder and slicker than typical French or Belgian suit designs. I have had many comments that dogs trained only on Belgian or French suits have a hard time biting the Dutch training suits. They often slip out of the grip, because the Dutch suit is much more challenging to bite. Therefore, I like it as a training jacket, and for foundation work in training the suit. My decoys do not prefer it for trial work because it lacks mobility, and they can’t run as freely, or use their arms as freely. The Dutch suit arms are also not tapered toward the hands, and usually have a large opening at the hands and the suit comes long in the arms and covers the hands. Many decoys do not like this because they like their hands to be out in order to use them to manage sticks and distractions. These suits also usually have the feature of jute covers over the arms, to provide a double layer of jute in the arms, so that the covers can be replaced and sewn over the suit itself. Therefore when the cover begins to wear, the suit doesn’t need major work, just a new cover. Ring Training Suits The Belgian and French training suits come generally in a French Cut style and a Kimono Style. A true Belgian Ring suit is not generally used anywhere outside Belgium. This is because in Belgian Ring, dogs bite only forearm and/or shins, and the suits are made in a French cut style, with very little padding anywhere but in these designated target areas. In fact in a Belgian suit, the forearms and shins are heavily reinforced with jute covers sewn over the suit material. This cover is made thick and hard to challenge the dog’s grip. In Belgian Ring the grip is heavily pointed, so the grip is heavily tested. Therefore, the suits we see in the United States are French Style or Kimono Style. The French cut suit is usually made to form fit the decoy without a lot of excess material in the shoulder area. The legs and bicep areas are more padded than in the Dutch suits. The arms are usually tapered through the forearm and lack padding there, making it painful to take bites in the forearm. The suit is padded fairly well in the bicep and shoulder areas, and often these suits are custom made, and extra padding like Kevlar can be put in the target areas that get the most use. The seams are made like a regular t-shirt would be made, with stitching around the shoulder where the arms of the suit are attached to the vest that covers the body. The Kimono features a large jacket and pants set with a lot of excess material in the arms and the shoulders. The arms attach to the jacket in more of a “flying squirrel” style. The arms are not separate but blended into the body of the jacket, with no seams in the shoulder. There is a lot of excess material in the arms, biceps and shoulders which keeps the decoy from feeling the grip. Some people like these jackets because it provides a lot

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of extra protection for the decoy. But I don’t like the dog to only bite material on the suit. This kind of suit can make a dog a “clothes-ripper” on the street. The dog should, in my opinion, grip into the decoy not just the suit. Therefore, preferably, I like to train with Dutch suits, and use French suits for occasional training and trials. You should have your suits made to your measurements, so that you are working in a suit that allows you maximum mobility. Targeting the Bite Suit Targeting the dog’s aggression is one of the most basic fundamentals in protection training, yet one of the most misunderstood. Some trainers insist on sending the dog to forearm bites in a bite suit. I wonder what the purpose is of the other 95% of the bite suit if the dog is only taught to bite in that area. The dog will come to identify the bite suit as a prey item, no different from a sleeve if this is allowed to occur over time. Most of the time, this happens because decoys are not schooled in proper technique, and thus are afraid to have a dog come inside in the front. Further, if dogs are not taught to properly target the inside front, decoys certainly have good reason to fear a bite in the front. The dog’s indecision as to where to grip usually leads him to make a last second decision, and usually leads to a grip in the torso which is difficult to catch safely, or perhaps a bite near the collar, and these are difficult for the dog to maintain during a fight with the decoy causing the dog to let go and re-grip who knows where. The bite suit also allows the trainer much flexibility in devising scenarios for both sport and police service dogs. For a dog that likes to bite high, take away the upper body and you can teach the dog to go into the legs. That may be all he can get in some bite scenarios. Similarly for leg biting dogs, they must also learn to come up high to round out their biting education. One of the main reasons for teaching targeting is decoy safety. Dogs that do not target, or are unclear regarding where to bite, usually take the suit at the seams between jacket and pants, or on the buckles of the jacket, increasing the risk of injury to both dog and decoy. Back bites increase the chance the decoy will fall down on runaway bites as well. Further, dogs that hit the back or the torso in the front will hit a brick wall. Decoys can absorb impact easily in the shoulders (both front and back) and in the legs in a safe way. They cannot absorb back and torso hits, especially during a test of courage. For sport dogs, the grip will tend to be shallow, and thus unstable, increasing the risk that the dog can be run with pressure from the decoy. There are some who term this kind of biting as “biting in the core” and tout it as essential to police dog training. I could not disagree more. It is at best unsafe, and the idea of biting the man in the core (away from extremities where it is relatively safer) can be easily communicated more safely by teaching targeting into the shoulders (front and back) and the upper legs (front and back). I teach targeting, man orientation, and how to handle environmental distractions during the foundation work of drive development and channeling. The dog is likely not on the bite suit yet at this point in his development, and teaching the dog targeting and how to take his aggression out on the decoy in different equipment configurations (sleeve, bite suit, hidden sleeve) is key to his proper development as a civilly aggressive dog, especially for police service work.

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In this chapter, I will discuss targeting the suit up high (triceps/biceps), as well as targeting the legs. There is a key point in all training, which is to limit the number of variables you change on the dog at any given time. This is crucial. When first introducing environmental distractions, the dog should be biting comfortably on the sleeve. This was explained in the chapter on drive development. When introducing targeting to the dog, keep the other variables such as distractions and releasing on command, to a minimum. Targeting High on the Suit

Another reason for teaching targeting, aside from decoy safety, is that dogs will possess more commitment to bite under stress if they are clear on where to bite on the man. This conditioning will also lead to more confidence and clarity in a real street confrontation. Dogs that are allowed to “bite everywhere” usually are less committed to the grip. Their entries are slower, because they must make a decision out of innumerable choices about where to grip once they get to the decoy. This slows the dog’s entry, not to mention the effect it has on the grip over time.23 The dog becomes comfortable with frontal grips, and the dog’s grip not ever allowed to fill up. This gives the dog a feeling of being in less control of the decoy, thus more vulnerable to being fought off or scared off by some environmental distraction. A full and punishing grip gives the dog a feeling of control and power over his adversary. A dog that knows where he is going before you send him is a dog that will come hard on the decoy and hit with force and commitment. It is true that you must teach the dog he can grip elsewhere if his preferred spot is not available, but this needs to be shown to him on an occasional basis. For example, in a high targeting dog, we teach them to go on the inside of the arm in the left shoulder from the front, and to the shoulder/triceps area on a fleeing bite. But inside arm bites in the shoulder can be taught long before you ever move the dog to the bite suit, using a Belgian made sleeve, or a leg sleeve placed on the arm. The bite surface is turned to protect the inside of the arm. The beauty of this piece of equipment is that even young dogs can be taught to go inside in the front, once they are comfortable with the forearm presentation in the initial bite development. If we teach the young dog to feel strong on the inside of the arm in his prey drive development, he will get secure in that area for a lifetime. Before we get too far into the discussion of targeting, let me outline those areas of the bite suit I like to teach the dog to target. If you look at the front of the bite suit, the inside of the arm on the left side of the decoy is the spot I like to teach in the front. Why the left side? Because most decoys are right handed and should manipulate the stick or distractions for safety reasons with their dominant arm, the right arm. Now some dogs will naturally want to go to the opposite side, and if this is where they prefer to target 23

Dogs that are allowed to bite in the torso or in the back, usually bite with a frontal grip, because most bite suits (especially Ring suits and Dutch training suits) have very little material in the torso and back areas. Suits that have built in bite bars, I also do not like because the dog gets comfortable biting material rather than engaging the man. A god example is the KNPV where the trainers like to see the dog gripping the man, not just material. I prefer this as well. It makes the dog reckon with whom he is fighting, not becoming a clothes ripper on the street, but rather looking to get a hold on the man himself.

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(you will see the dog cross the decoy up a few times) then I allow him to go to that spot on the right. I don’t like it as much, but it may be better for the dog. From the front, the shins and the thighs of the suit are also good places to target. When working leg bites, the dog must be taught to turn his head on entry to the outside of the body, and that skill is learned through presentation by the decoy in training. From behind the decoy, the shoulder/triceps area is preferred up top, also keeping the dog to one side or the other for the time being. The backs of the thighs and the calves are also good areas in the legs. These areas give the dog full access to the man: shoulders (front and back) thighs (front and back) and/or calves (front and back). From 360 degrees around the decoy there is a familiar and comfortable spot the dog can take, and his decisions are limited to just a few. This allows the dog to make a choice and commit to the grip well before coming to the decoy.24 Teaching the High Target Areas

Teaching the target areas properly requires proper decoy work. Nothing will stymie proper target development more than incorrect decoy work. The basic principle is this: only allow the dog to get the spot you want him to get. With unskilled decoy work, this is a near impossibility. Decoys must pay attention to a number of things in order to develop target areas properly. First, all dogs being taught targeting should be on a backtie and not held by the handler. In the chapter on drive development we discussed backtie work, misses, and delivery in prey development. The same set-up is used here. We begin with a dog that is comfortable biting on the outside of the forearm on a hard sleeve, has a good grip, and that can take pressure from environmental distractions. Now, just as before, we want to remember some key fundamentals. Let the dog’s bark draw your movement. This begins with the alert. The command word to alert must be given before any agitation comes from the decoy. The alert command precedes any movement so that a classical conditioning to the alert command can take place. The dog will fire up in aggression upon the command, not the agitation. This comes in handy later on in training when we teach passive attacks (no decoy movement at any time prior to the grip). The grip must always be watched, to insure a full, firm, grip. Back-tension on the line, maintained by either the decoy or handler depending on the situation is the key. Tight lines are maintained to activate the dog’s opposition reflex, and loose lines are used when the dog is being encouraged to counter. Lastly, watch how much pressure you put on the dog when teaching new equipment like the bite suit. Changing where he is used to biting, or introducing new areas to him, will cause stress. Train for a successful outcome.

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Teaching the dog back bites, and torso bites for the police service dog are essential, but should be done in small quantities. When the dog cannot get anything else (a very rare situation indeed) he should at least have had a few grips in these areas. You will usually see the dog immediately switch to a learned target area after the initial grip in the back or torso, and this is what we want. Liability concerns should eliminate torso biting for police dogs, and safety for the decoy should eliminate sport competitors from these bites as well.

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Triceps target

With a grip in the triceps area of the bite suit the decoy initially should be prepared to slip the bite after a short time working the dog. Prey circles are the key to this with the dog missing the first few grips before the triceps area is presented. The decoy should develop a keen sense of where the end of the leash is, in order to get close enough that the dog snaps his teeth with the bite area just out of reach. This happens during the initial phases of prey work on the forearm sleeve. The prey is carried high, with the target arm (usually the left arm for right handed decoys) up. The forearm is drawn in at the elbow to keep the dog off of the forearm should he get the grip. The sequence is: Alert Î Barking Î Decoy movement to pass by Î Repeat Î Grip

The grip is given after one or two misses. The decoy is looking for the dog to snap at the target area before the grip is delivered.25 Watch the dog carefully, if he is looking at the legs, no need to step in and deliver! He is going to get the leg, not the intended target area. The delivery, unlike the miss, requires the decoy to step into the circle, and square the triceps area to the dog. The bite surface should be level (triceps area parallel to the ground), and square to the dog’s mouth, so the molars on both sides can grip the suit. Bend at the knees, not at the waist, so the grip surface is square to the dog’s entry, and the elbow is not pointing to the ground. Once the grip is delivered on the triceps, the decoy puts tension on the back tie to set the grip, then immediately slips the jacket to the dog. If the grip is clean and full, the decoy can work the dog longer in each grip on subsequent deliveries, and later add more and more fight to the session. If the grip is not full, the decoy must encourage the counter with proper technique before slipping the jacket. The handler can them come in and support the dog’s head while he enjoys the grip. Once the dog outs the grip, or the handler forces the release, the decoy is immediately back on the dog, encouraging his barking through prey guarding, steals the jacket and begins the sequence again. Anywhere from two to four repetitions of this sequence are necessary. Then the dog should be put away to rest. The decoy should make sure to have the dog come up to the grip, rather than jam it into the dog’s mouth. Teach the dog to come to the bite, not that the decoy will deliver it to him. Also, decoys should be careful not to present the grip too high, so the dog backflips against the back-tie. Keep the presentation at chest level, and use your lower body to bend at the knees when delivering the grip. Once the dog is biting this area reliably, after a couple of weeks of repetition on the pole short sends can be taught. The dog is placed on a 15’ long line. The handler holds the line with about 4’ of room for the dog to set up in front of him, and the decoy does the same miss deliveries as he did on the pole. After the dog clacks his teeth one 25

Do not lead with the hand when making the misses, keep the elbow bent up ir to the inside and lead with the elbow which is protected. New decoys often are concentrating on keeping their body away from the dog, and allow the hand to circle through the dog’s bite area on the pole with a resulting hand bite.

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time at the target area the decoy squares the triceps area to the dog, keeping the right arm tucked inside his body, and the dog is sent to the target area from 3 or 4 feet away. The dog should readily come to the familiar spot. The handler then puts immediate tension on the line, to set the bite, and the dog can be worked in channeling exercises. The grip is watched, and counters are encouraged. The dog can then be slipped the jacket, or lifted off of the grip, as the decoy goes to ground. Allow the dog to punish the decoy after the fight in his target area, before taking him off of the bite, or slipping the jacket to him. Allow him to enjoy his grip, and enjoy his effect on the decoy. This is what builds his desire to fight with the decoy. These sends can then be lengthened, as the dog is sure in his target area. Over time the triceps area can be dropped a few degrees from parallel, until the decoy runs away from the dog with his forearms inside the front, and the shoulder hanging more naturally. The dog will learn to turn his head slightly to make a clean and square hit. It is important to keep the forearms tucked in to the body when doing these runaway bites, at least for a while, so the dog only gets the target area you want him to get. Dogs will get lazy and grab at the forearm if it hangs. The Proper Catch Technique The decoy should use proper technique in catching the dog from behind. Too many decoys try to spin the dog on impact, pulling the target away from the dog to soften the impact. This is not correct. The impact of the dog should push the arm forward at the shoulder, and simultaneously, the decoy should push his left leg forward, and counter weight the catch with his upper body. This does a few things. One, it places the decoy’s center of gravity on his left hip, to balance the weight of the dog (and his forward momentum) with the rest of his body. Two, the countering effect of the upper body keeps the dog from pulling the decoy forward. The whipping effect of the dog hitting the decoy from behind will make the decoy spin, and ultimately fall on his back. This can twist the dog’s neck or spine in the process. Proper technique of placing the left leg forward and counter weighting the hit, will at a minimum cause the decoy to fall to his knees, rather than on top of the dog. This is a much easier position from which to recover. In the frontal catches, the dog is targeted to come to the inside shoulder or bicep area. The position of the decoy prior to the catch can be one of two positions. We use the KNPV style arm tuck (see below) or the PSA style arms up presentation (see below). Again the dog’s momentum will initiate the decoy to absorb the dog, and the decoy should not spin the shoulder away from the dog as he enters. This can be practiced by having someone stand in front of the decoy with a soccer ball, and the decoy in the suit should at first walk toward the person, who throws the ball at the shoulder area. The decoy should be able to catch the ball softly, as the ball’s momentum is cushioned by the catch in the crook of the arm. It is the same principle as catching an egg tossed at you. You must not keep your hand still when catching the egg; otherwise it will break on impact with your hand. You instead gauge the momentum of the egg, and softly “go with it” as it comes to your hand. Then the decoy should practice coming faster and faster toward the thrown ball. Then begin practicing catching a shoulder-sure, experienced dog.

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If you are not comfortable running through the dog’s entry, you can perform the stop catch, coming to a slow walk or a stop prior to the dog hitting the target area. I prefer the decoy not to stop completely, as this ensures a higher likelihood that the impact will take you backwards too fast, and you can fall. Body position is important in the catch as well. The decoy should not slide to the left or right before the catch. The dog will be in the air at this time, and will not be able to make a targeting adjustment to the decoy, and the decoy risks having the dog initiate contact in the chest, or worse cause the dog to fly by the grip. Body position on impact is as follows: The dog will come to the shoulder, and if he comes to your left shoulder, your right leg should move slightly forward, bearing most of your weight at the moment of the catch, and your body should lean to counterweight the dog, slightly forward. Your left leg will slide back and behind you, as the dog makes contact, so you absorb his body. Your left arm will naturally come out and around the dog’s head in a wrap up motion (see below). Then your weight can transfer back to your left leg as you spin with the dog, putting your center of gravity under the dog’s and your body. This puts you in a perfect position for the drive. Inside Front Bites

There is one over-riding issue with inside arm bites: It is a scary place to bite for the dog. This is even scarier than a body bite. Bites from behind are easy to teach, because even in a bite suit, the dog is not threatened by the frontal posture. This is why we teach these inside bites early in the dog’s prey development on a sleeve, rather than go right to the bite suit. However dogs that are imported rarely have had inside technique unless they come from Holland where the KNPV expects inside front bites. Before going to the suit teach the sleeve inside the front shoulder first. Set up on the back-tie, and use the Belgian-style sleeves, turned inside out. You cannot use anything other than this kind of sleeve for this, or a leg sleeve. Do not try this with a bite bar sleeve. The part of the sleeve that normally goes up to protect the triceps area is reversed, and now comes high on the inside of the arm up to the shoulder. The decoy’s body position is crucial. The decoy must lead in to the dog with his left side (assuming we are teaching the customary inside bite to the left side). The forearm is tucked back on the hip, so the shoulder/biceps area is forward to the dog. Barking draws the decoy in to the dog and misses are made to the target area. It is important to keep your right side away from the dog at delivery so that the dog doesn’t crossover to your unprotected side.26 Once the target area is taken, the line is immediately made tight, and the forearm is uncoiled around the dog’s head, in a cradling effect. A full grip is encouraged through countering measures already discussed. The first few of these grips should result in quick

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Unlike the back arm bites, these misses are straight in and out, and the decoy should minimize side to side movement, as a grip in the wrong spot can cause injury to the decoy.

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slips of the sleeve, without too much fighting. Then channeling exercises can be included, and distractions added to the work, as in the triceps biting. 27 Next we develop the same area in the bite-suit. The jacket should be slipped the first few times, so be ready to unclasp it quickly. The decoy assumes the exact same posture as with the sleeve delivery, dog back tied on the pole. In the suit it is easier to tuck the forearm behind the back if your suit allows sufficient mobility. The decoy comes in as the dog barks for his movement (remember the alert should be properly given before any decoy movement on the first sequence). The misses are done close in with the left shoulder leading, and then the grip is delivered. Decoys should not square their body on impact, but make the line tight, and encourage a full grip, while only then uncoiling the arm and squaring up. Sends are developed in the same way as before, with misses and short sends being developed into longer sends. When catching in the front, the decoy can watch the dog all the way into his shoulder/bicep. Initially, all these sends should be done with the decoy backing up as the dog comes in. This lessens the impact, and allows for a smoother catch. The same caveats apply here to the decoy. He should not spin the target area away from the dog to lessen the impact. The dog’s impact should be the impetus for absorbing the hit. The decoy’s left leg should move back on impact and the body counterweight the dog’s momentum. This will keep you standing. Problem Solving High Bites

There are a number of things you can do to problem solve if the dog has difficulty establishing the target area. First, read the dog. Is this a stress issue or a habit you are trying to break? If the dog is stressed over biting in the front, more work to develop the dog’s instincts to prey and defense, along with channeling must be done. In other words, the dog isn’t ready. If all you can do are triceps bites, stick with that for a while. It is better to take a step back in training, than push the dog too quickly, and condition the dog to be uncomfortable in the front as he associates stress with biting in that area. If the dog hesitates in biting the suit, because it is just unfamiliar, give him a grip on the forearm of the jacket a few times, to get him used to biting the new material. With your young dogs, vary the sleeve you use, form size to material (jute vs. synthetic) so he doesn’t get fixated on one item. Then, slowly move him up the arm to the triceps area, in successive bites until he shows confidence in that area. Thereafter, don’t give him any more forearms, only triceps presentations until you start to develop other target areas such as in the front bicep and in the legs. If you have a dog that won’t stop looking at your legs, or refuses to come up, put him up on a table, or in the bed of a truck. You can easily deliver the target area you want up high. Or, do the grip over a short fence or window jump.28 You must give him a reason to come up to your target area. If the dog is just very well conditioned to the legs, 27

Once the dog’s comfort in biting this area is clear, short sends can be done on the sleeve, in the same manner as discussed in the previous section. Work from 3-4 feet away up to longer sends. I prefer to switch to the bite suit if the dog is older and mature, and can do damage. 28

This works well for teaching a leg dog to bite a hidden sleeve. Take the dog in a car and give him a grip through the window. You take the legs out of the picture entirely. You can also use a window jump as well if no car is available.

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it may take some time to get the dog to come up high in the front. Don’t be surprised, if the behavior is very strongly conditioned, to see the dog only go up top if the legs are taken out of play. Targeting Low on the Suit

Leg bites are difficult to perfect in a dog that is used to going high for all his bites for a long time. Therefore, the best time to teach legs, if you teach high bites first, is shortly after you teach the inside bites. I allow my young dogs (puppies) to do both high and low bites, in their initial presentations to the target areas. Again, the key is to give the dog only what you want him to bite. Begin again on the back-tie. Now realize that the dog is going to be looking high, because either he has been introduced to biting on the sleeve, or you just worked on his high targeting. This means we must take away the high grip, and offer only the low grip. Pick an area; usually the shin area is easiest to make a good presentation. The decoy can either wear the bite suit top or not. If unskilled, I recommend wearing the top for safety; however, this will cause added distraction for the dog that already looks high.29 It is important to know that catching a dog in the legs when he is looking high is a challenge. You must frustrate him with agitation and misses, so he takes what you give him, rather than what he wants. Also, the dog is back-tied, which means when he does grip the leg, you are pulling against a stationary wall, and therefore it is not easy to keep your balance. For the same reason, you can put another person behind the decoy to help steady him if he loses his balance. The principle is the same as before: only allow the dog to grip where you want him to grip. If you use a leg sleeve, you can easily reward the dog for the leg bite by slipping the wire or releasing the Velcro, and so I recommend this at the inception of the introduction of leg biting. You don’t have to reckon with the out, and you can reward the grip target by slipping the leg sleeve. For this work I like the quick release leg sleeves with the ripcord best, as the Velcro is sometimes not strong enough for hard biting dogs that pull. The decoy waits for the alert, and moves in response to the dog, keeping the upper body still (keep hands behind your back) not out to the sides to steady you, because they may distract the dog as they are part of a familiar target (arm) and you may get bit on a transfer. The leg is kicked out at the dog and rolled back in, in a way the dog cannot reach it, but lunges for it. You are looking for commitment, and the clack of the teeth. When you are ready to deliver the grip, roll the leg forward and into the circle. Once he grips, put your leg down, and keep yourself on the ball of your foot (the one in his mouth), and as before, stress the grip with tight line, and then give a little slack so he can grip in. With dogs that won’t look at the legs as you stand in front of them, you can start by making some prey in front of the dog, then laying on the ground in front of the dog, keeping your upper body completely out of the picture, and deliver the leg horizontally to 29

Many trainers teach the dog initial bite development in the legs, and there is certainly nothing wrong with this. In most cases, police service dogs and sport dogs are taught to grip high first, mainly out of habit to what the trainer is comfortable with. Personally I develop my dogs’ grips first on an arm sleeve, because I am most skilled at high bites. I can take measure of the grip, intensity, and get the counter on the sleeve more easily than a leg sleeve.

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the dog. Once the dog is on the leg, stand up and place tension on the grip to keep him in the grip in the new target spot. This works extremely well. You can progress to sitting in a chair in front of the dog and finally standing. Once you are standing, be aware for a fast transfer to the arms or shoulder area, if the dog is used to biting there. If he leaves the grip and comes high, try again by going the going to the ground method. You can still work the dog’s grip, and you are not likely to get a transfer. Make sure your upper body is angled away from the dog’s bite range, and watch your foot! The handler can keep his hand on the back tie line, to force the dog low, and prevent the dog from getting you up high in a transfer. Ultimately you must work your way to getting the dog on the leg in a stable fashion with the decoy standing up. Once the dog is looking low as you come in, you can test the dog’s commitment by trying a send. These are the same as before, with a couple of misses followed up by the send. Since I primarily like my dogs to go high, that will usually be their first choice when sending the dog. So using some kind of impediment (a toy children’s tunnel from Toys R Us works great) that isn’t dangerous, and forces the dog to go low is critical the first few times. I want my dog to understand the rule is: if you can’t go high, go low. So I make it so he can’t go high. I like working these exercises on a slick floor as well, at least initially. This makes the dog want to stay low for traction, and as well, gives the handler plenty of time to follow the dog into the bite with a tight line to put tension on the leg grip once it is established. 30 It is critical to teach the dog, once he is in the leg to stay there. A tight line will maintain the grip. You should allow him to fulfill his grip in the leg, and end the bite with either a grounded decoy or a slip of the leg sleeve. Moving to the suit from a leg sleeve is an easy matter, however slipping a leg bite isn’t as easy as unbuttoning the jacket! You will likely have to lift the dog off the grip from the grounded decoy until the out is established, or a re-direct is established. The upside is that this frustration from being lifted off the bite will also help focus the dog’s aggression. Conclusion

Set up your training of target areas so your dog knows the rules. One rule is: go high, but if you can’t go high, go low. Another rule could be, in the front go high, from behind go in the legs. This requires making the dog see the context from the beginning of target training. Facing the decoy means to go high, from behind always take the legs. Or your rule could be the opposite of mine: go low, unless you can’t then go high. Whichever way you train it, make the experience consistent and rewarding for the dog. Once the stability of the grips is established, and by that I mean he stays in the leg when taking a leg, or stays up high when taking up high, you can experiment with scenarios that encourage both high and low biting: under tables or through tunnels for legs, over jumps for upper body bites. Add more fight into each well-targeted bite, but allow the dog to punish you when he takes the pressure well. Don’t forget the grip, and don’t forget the channeling work.

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The handler also must guide the dog low with the long line (looping under the leg as in tracking helps keep the dog’s head down) to help the dog go where you intend him to go. This is easy on slick floors, near impossible on grass.

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Chapter 8: Fundamental Man Orientation Exercises For the street police dog, as well as for a personal protection dog, orienting the dog’s aggression to the man is imperative. As we teach the dog the proper way to bite and target, we must never forget that the ultimate goal is to teach the dog to fight the man with courage, intensity, and decisiveness. This requires the dog to target his aggression to the man, and not just to the equipment. Too many street police dogs in America are equipment oriented. When I teach seminars to police departments, I will do a series of man orientation tests. The first one is to have a strange person hiding behind a car, and the handler takes cover with his dog. From cover he allows his dog to see the man come out from behind the car (the officer calls him out). The dog must show aggression on command. Many of the dogs do not show aggression unless there is equipment to be seen. This is a problem both of man orientation, as well as with the dog’s alert not being properly conditioned during foundation work. Remember, most of the police dogs used in the US are former European sport dogs, which are conditioned to always see the sleeve or suit prior to doing bite work. While this works against man orientation, it is a necessary evil in order to develop the dog’s biting behavior. Another test I do is to put a man in a suit, and have that decoy hold a sleeve, the dog is sent and the sleeve is thrown to the side, as the decoy attacks the handler. Many a handler has taken a beating from the decoy while his dog thrashes the sleeve on the ground. A more difficult test is to set up the same scenario, but then have the decoy deliver a sleeve grip to the dog, slip it, and stand there passively or quietly walk away. The dog may run around with the sleeve, and completely ignore the threat. This is not acceptable in a police or personal protection dog. Therefore, we must teach the dog to look to the man for the fight, and not be satisfied with only taking a sleeve reward, or a slipped bite suit, as the end of the game. Some dogs with more civil aggression will more naturally drop a slipped sleeve and look back to the man for another encounter. Prey dominant dogs, however, will often look for the reward as the signal to the end of the confrontation. In the beginning of training this is not a problem. However for a finished police dog, should he rip the jacket off of a suspect, he must not be content with that result. He must want to re-engage the suspect. In Europe, police and security officers encounter this all the time. A friend of mine who uses his police dog at soccer matches for crowd control tells stories of gangs of rowdy fans confronting him and his dog. They will wrap their forearms with leather jackets and newspapers and let the dog grip, shedding the jacket. If the dog doesn’t come off the jacket, the handler is vulnerable to being attacked by the people in front of him. However, they train their dogs to immediately release the object and refocus their aggression on the man. It is important to realize that this man-orientation behavior can indeed be natural in a more civilly aggressive dog. During bite development, we are going to encourage the dog to go into prey, carry, and work against this natural proclivity to some degree. However, regardless of whether the dog is prey dominant or defense dominant, man orientation can be conditioned in the dog fairly easily. Therefore it doesn’t matter if the

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dog naturally shows this behavior as a green prospect, because it is a skill that can be taught to any dog. We want to have the dog used to all bite equipment, before doing major work in man orientation. The dog should be finished with all of his prey and defense development, and be clear and confident in his channeling work. Once this is complete we can intersperse man orientation work into the dog’s regular training scenarios. The dog may need to be taught the out if he is too fixated on the dropped sleeve to be redirected to the man through agitation. If you find this to be the case, skip to the section on the out, and do that first before doing the man orientation work described below. Training Progression for Man Orientation Step 1: Sleeve to Sleeve Man Orientation

This is the basic man orientation exercise. The set up for all man orientation exercises in the beginning shall be on the back tie. The dog is worked on the back tie in defense first to establish an orientation to the helper out of civil aggression. The dog is alerted on the passive decoy, and once the dog engages him aggressively, the decoy can agitate the dog civilly. The sleeve can be in a trash can nearby, and the decoy can at the last second pull out the sleeve and deliver a grip. The dog is worked, and the sleeve is slipped, the decoy withdraws a few paces, and immediately agitates hard with a whip or clatter stick, to draw the dog back to the man. The decoy rewards the dog for coming back to the man, with another grip on a second sleeve. While the dog is worked the second time, the handler must kick out the sleeve on the ground to where the decoy can get it again. The decoy slips the second sleeve, and immediately picks up the other sleeve, agitating the dog, and drawing him back to focus on the decoy. This is again rewarded with another bite. The session is ended with the decoy going to ground and the dog lifted off the bite to induce further frustration with the decoy, or he can be called out if he knows that exercise. The work progresses again with civil agitation to begin, with the sleeves on the ground. If the dog looks to the sleeves, they must be put out of reach enough so that the dog focuses civilly on the decoy. Then the decoy picks up the sleeve and delivers the grip, proceeding as above to trade sleeve for sleeve. Step 2: Sleeve to Hidden Sleeve

Here the progression comes with civil agitation to begin the session, and the decoy delivers a civil bite on the hidden sleeve. The dog is worked on the hidden sleeve, and then goes to ground. After being lifted off the grip, the decoy withdraws, and gives the dog a grip on the sleeve, immediately challenging the dog once it is slipped. As the dog refocuses on the decoy, the decoy gives another hidden sleeve grip. The dog is worked on the hidden sleeve, over the grounded visible sleeve. The decoy can give another bite on the hidden sleeve after the dog releases the decoy. This gets the dog involved with the decoy, ignoring the dead sleeve on the ground. The sleeve bites are delivered purposely to be less satisfying than the fights on the hidden sleeve.

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Step 3: Sleeve, hidden sleeve and bite suit.

The decoy is dressed in bite pants from the bite suit, hidden sleeve, and a visible sleeve. The dog is alerted, and the decoy gives a grip on the sleeve, immediately slipping it, and agitating the dog back to him. The decoy then can kick at the dog with the bite pants, and deliver the grip on the pants, working the dog in the legs, then goes to ground. The dog is lifted off of the grip, and the decoy rolls away. The dog is immediately agitated and given a grip on the hidden sleeve. The same can be done with the bite jacket. The jacket can be left open, and the decoy wears a hidden sleeve underneath it. The jacket can be the first grip, it is slipped, and immediately the dog is agitated and the grip is delivered on the hidden sleeve. What you should begin to see is the dog leaving the slipped objects quicker and quicker for the civil bite and fight with the decoy.

Step 4: Generalization

Once this behavior is established on the back-tie, the behavior must be generalized to fieldwork, inside buildings, in the woods, and during building searches. This work is dangerous, once the dog will come off of dead equipment; the decoy is at risk of getting bitten (which is what we are looking for in reality). Thus the handler must hold the leash during these exchanges, unless the exchange ends with a bite suit grip. This kind of work should continue throughout the dog’s life in training. As you work on skills training, put man orientation exercises into the scenarios to keep the dog freshly aggressive toward the man. It is important to be aware of both problems and advantages this work can cause in your training program. The main problem this can cause is a problem with the grip. The dog may anticipate releasing the sleeve before the sleeve is released, and transfer to another bite area. If you see the grip becoming chewy or unstable, go back to the backtie work, and put back-pressure on the grip, working the calm, hard grip as we did in prey development work. The decoy should anticipate that this might occur, and because the handler will be holding the line during most of this work, the helper can work the dog’s grip after every transfer. Transfers should be satisfying, varying the time on the grip prior to transferring the aggression. Some grips should be long and satisfying, with no man orientation work, some should be long and satisfying with a man orientation exercise thrown in. Also remember, civil aggression can be used (without a bite) in man orientation exercises, by slipping the suit, and agitating the dog in civil clothes, and running away, behind a door, for example. The handler must always be on guard, not to allow the dog, out of frustration, however, to grip the dead prey object on the floor. Obedience training should always include, after the basic foundation work is complete, heeling around over bite equipment, doing down-stays in the presence of the sleeves and toys, to teach the dog to keep his focus on the handler and not on dead prey. Only decoys and handlers reward the dog, not the ground!

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One side benefit of this man-orientation training is that it will make the dog easier to redirect when you get to training that skill. The dog will eagerly anticipate another satisfying bite and be more willing to come off the dead decoy to another, more aggressive decoy. The out will also be made somewhat easier because of this proclivity to release for another grip which is the foundation idea behind our out procedure.

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Chapter 9: Guarding: Sit, Down, Hold & Bark The focus of the rest of the chapters in this book will be on basic skills training. Once the basic foundation training is complete, including the targeting, work on the bite suit, and man-orientation exercises, the dog can be taught skills. Skills training for your dog will depend on the purpose for which your dog will be used. If your dog is a police dog, certain skills may revolve around your department’s SOP. If your dog is going to do Schutzhund, or one of the personal protection sports, you will have sets of exercises your dog must know based on the rules of the particular sport in which you will be training and showing. The police patrol dog may have a skill set involving the following exercises: Out on command; guarding (holding a subject after apprehension without biting); searching a building, and searching an area with a resulting apprehension (find & bite or find & bark); redirected bites (apprehending multiple decoys); call-off (send and call back before the bite); passive bites. The personal protection (sport) dog may have the following skill set: Out and Guard, Out and Recall, redirected bites, call-offs (very close to the decoy), and passive bites. Once the trainer knows what is required (by rules of the sport, SOP, or certification exams) it can be trained. What follows in the next three chapters are the basic control skills of all protection dogs: some kind of guarding which is done either before (find and bark) or after the out, the out on command, redirected bites and the out and return, and the call off. We will treat each of these skills in their proper training order. If your dog must learn a find and bark, that must be trained first. If your dog must do a barking guard after the out, it must be trained prior to the out. In both cases the hold and bark is taught first before the out on command. Then the out can be taught. Once the out is established with the proper guarding, then redirects can be taught. The call off depends on a solid redirect. Everything builds on the previous skill. It is imperative that the trainers do not rush the skills. This will create an unstable foundation on which the rest of the dog’s skills are built. It is just as dangerous for a trained police dog as for building a home, to have an unstable foundation. Never forget that people’s lives depend on a properly functioning police dog. Back Chaining The reason we must teach these exercises in these orders is based on the principle of back-chaining. In any complex behavior we teach a dog, we always want to break up the behavior set into distinct pieces, and then put the exercises together. If the dog must do a barking guard after the out, the dog must know the barking guard before we ask him to out, otherwise the dog will not understand what to do when we ask him to release. This can place the dog in conflict, where he is not allowed to bite, but otherwise doesn’t know what to do, which can lead to the dog getting dirty (gripping) after the out. If we teach him a behavior in which to engage after the out, the dog can be clear on what behavior we expect, and can put his energy into that behavior without conflict.

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Guarding Philosophy If we look at the pre-requisites for the out on command, some kind of guarding will be required. For a police dog that is not required to do a find and bark by departmental SOP, the dog does not need to end a search with a revier. However, if the department wants an aggressive guard the hold and bark exercise must be taught prior to the out as well. The simplest guarding behaviors are the out and sit, or the out and down. Thus the pre-requisites to the out will be the obedience exercises of sit or down. The out and sit/down is a common form of guarding, the dog releases the grip, and stares at the decoy, or releases and lays down staring at the decoy. The out and down is preferred in dogs who have a very strong temperament and are prone to re-biting. If the dog’s primary target areas are up high on the suit, the down keeps him away from these areas, tempting him less to get dirty after the out. Further, the down is a strong control command for the working dog, and the additional influence coming from the handler to make the dog lay down after the out, keeps the dog in check in a stronger fashion than if the dog outs and sits. For most of my police dog work, I prefer to teach the out and sit or out and down. It is easier to train, and if the find and bark is not required, training goes much quicker. If we are only going to do the out and sit/down then these behaviors must be conditioned properly prior to out training. If this is your situation you can skip this chapter and go directly to the out training. If you are going to do some kind of barking guard, both a find and bark, or a barking guard after the out, then the following chapter is required prior to training the out behavior. Training Progression: The Hold & Bark The hold and bark is trained first on the back-tie. The set-up for this exercise is the same as our basic prey and defense development work. The helper will use the dog’s defensiveness or frustration to build the bark. I like to use the sleeve to begin this exercise, because it is easy to quickly reward the dog, and begin again, maximizing the number of sessions of barking we can get in, without the complication of the bite suit. Once the behavior is established on the sleeve, then the sessions can be repeated on the suit and hidden sleeve. Step 1: Walk Ups

From the back-tie, he handler gives the hold-and-bark command to the dog. As the dog barks and with each successive bark, the helper comes a little closer. The helper must make very quick, discrete moves, on each bark. The goal being that the dog learns his barking moves the helper closer, eventually bringing the bite. This should be a review for the most part, of the dog’s prey training. Barking brings movement. The helper must come in close but not allow the dog to grab the sleeve. Most dogs will show a number of behaviors as the helper comes in closer such as jumping and lunging to the sleeve, or stopping their barking in anticipation of the bite. These are prey behaviors: As the prey comes close the dog quiets and moves on the prey object. The helper at this point must jump back, away from the dog, and re-establish the barking again. The dog must learn that he will not get the bite unless he settles down and barks in 82

a continuous, rhythmic manner. Once the dog is barking and not lunging as approached closely, the helper gives the grip. These grips should be quick grip and the sleeve slipped to the dog. Make sure the grip is firm, full and hard before slipping as a good helper always works the grip before rewarding the dog. Once the sleeve is slipped, the helper withdraws immediately and repositions, using prey guarding to re-initiate the barking behavior. The helper moves in and steals the sleeve, and begins the cycle again, letting the barking draw him in closer. The key behavior you will be looking for is continuous barking, with the dog settling into the behavior on a loose line. Many dogs will learn this quickly on their own, the negative punishment (withholding of the reward) when inappropriate behaviors are demonstrated, will guide them to choose another behavior like standing or sitting still and barking (what we desire). Other dogs will have to be guided into settling before the grip is given. This can be accomplished by having either the handler or a second trainer use a long line on a pinch collar to give a sit command as the helper draws in near the dog. This is called forcing the dog to settle. The goal is to have the dog settle consistently on his own, without the trainer/handler having to give corrections to get the dog to settle. The decoy can begin to get the dog neutral to slight decoy movements. The decoy can push the dog backwards with slow body movements into the dog, and draw him by walking slowly backwards. We want the dog to stay close in a hold and bark, and follow the decoy as he pushes the dog in and out, with a quick sleeve delivery being the cue for the dog to bite. The handler must be quick, and ready to give a correction of the dog tries to take the grip as the decoy pushes the dog around in the hold and bark. Should the dog stop barking at any time, the response of the decoy must be immediate. The decoy must make a fast escape and not allow the dog to bite. The handler must also be ready to snatch the dog back if the line is too loose to allow the decoy to escape. This is negative punishment, withholding the reward when the behavior stops. Step 2: Send Ups

Once the dog learns to settle as the helper walks in, we must then begin having the dog come to the helper and settle into a nice calm rhythmic bark, with the grip as the reward. These are done on the back-tie as well. The handler holds the dog by the leather collar or fur-saver, and this time the dog is back-tied on the pinch collar (hooked to both rings). The handler alerts the dog, the helper comes into position just outside the dog’s circle (which is established by the length of the back-tie line), and the dog is allowed to feed out slowly on the pinch collar. The dog should bark and settle, the tension on the pinch collar should also help him settle into the sit. Once the dog settles into a rhythmic barking pattern, the dog is rewarded with a grip. Remember, the dog is back-tied to the pinch collar, so don’t put too much back-tension on the back-tie line. If the helper and handler decide the dog needs some back tension during the grip, a second leash can be connected to a flat or fur-saver collar and the handler can put back tension after the grip with this line. This process is repeated with these short send ups, until it is evident the dog is checking himself, and settling into the barking behavior on his own.

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Step 3: Longer Send Ups

Once this is evident, the send ups can become longer. The handler can either put a longer line on the back-tie, or go off the pole and handle the leash himself. The handler’s timing is crucial, as the send ups become longer, the dog will attempt to bite, as the running toward the helper incites prey behavior to kick in. Thus the handler must be able to check the dog precisely on the prong collar, neither under or over-correcting. Using Slick Floors Once trick I like to use is to train this behavior on slick floors. The slick floors allow you to much more gently correct the dog as he has little traction to place opposite force on the handler. On slick floors, the entire exercise “slows down” and the handler can more precisely time his corrections, and the corrections can be much more of a guiding nature than would be realized on grass. Another nice tool for doing these send ups in a controlled way is with a pole that is in the ground, with a swivel, so that the dog can be sent in any direction from the handler, 360-degrees around the post. Once the dog will do these send ups, it is time to generalize the behavior to the environment in which he must exhibit this behavior in competition or on the street. Step 4: Generalization & Discrimination

You should intersperse sends for bites with the hold and bark send ups, because the dog can learn by context alone to slow dramatically, or check himself too far away from the helper. We want our hold and bark to be close and clean to be effective. By mixing up sends for bites and send ups for revier, the dog will learn to discriminate on the command word rather than on the context. The helper’s agitation after the alert can become the context for the hold-and-bark behavior, and if the dog learns that a still person is not to be bitten, you will have a difficult time with passive bites later on. The dog must learn the behavior you want through discrimination, not by context, but rather on the command word. Some contextual discrimination of behavior is inevitable during the initial training, but with repetition (mixing passive bites, with hold & bark, and straight bites on sends) the dog will be forced to listen to the command the handler gives in order to show the correct behavior.

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Chapter 10: Out on Command Once the desired guarding style is trained, we can proceed to training the out on command. Once the dog outs he will be expected to perform a guard, so the guarding behavior should be well generalized and clear for the dog. The out on command is a simple exercise to train if the dog has been properly prepared with solid foundation work, especially proper channeling training. Key Temperament Issues There are some key temperament issues that affect how easily the dog can be trained to out, and these must be factored into the training program. The first issue is the dog’s drive balance. The more intense the dog’s defensive instinct, the harder it is for the dog to come off this drive and settle into a prey mood where he can process information. The irony of the training process is that if we teach the dog to confidently come into defense, the dog should react to defensive confrontation with intense aggression, and the more he is fought, the more he should fight back, with power and intensity. As we bring in corrections to induce the out (see training structure below) the dog can take these corrections as simply an obstacle to fighting the man, and in reaction to this the dog may fight the out corrections harder. In order, then, to avoid this outcome, we must not teach the out by beginning in defense with such a dog. As you will see below, we shall begin all out training in prey, and slowly condition the dog to complying with the out by bringing in defense slowly so as to systematically de-condition the dog. This is important to keep in mind, as the trainer will have to be patient in bringing the dog to higher levels of defense. Moving too fast will likely cause a conflict. We do not want to teach the dog to fight the out. The prey dog will more easily return to a prey mood after being brought to defense, so this issue is less of a concern, except in the case of the dog that is extremely intense in prey (the typical “prey monster”). In this case the dog is so possessive of his prey that the out can be construed as an attempt to deprive him of his possession, and cause the dog to fight against the out. The conclusion, then, is that all out training should be done initially in a prey mood, and the helper should work in a medium to low intensity initially, so as to have the dog in the proper frame of mind to avoid conflict. If this conflict between obedience to the trainer and the dog’s desire to fight or possess his prey is allowed to occur, the out can take a long time to train, and the results may not be optimal. The dog can become conditioned to fight the out, rather than conditioned to accept it as obedience, patiently waiting for the reward that comes with this obedience. Another key temperament issue we must consider in training the out is hardness. The harder the dog, the less likely the dog will respond to compulsion to effect a change in his behavior. In selection, we should weed out those dogs that are so hard they cannot be controlled with force. This may seem an odd thing to say, as many people seem to want to gravitate to hard dogs because they represent toughness of character. Just remember, the harder the dog the more likely you will have to forgo compulsion to get desired results. In the case of training the out, this likely means having to first train redirected

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bites. You will teach the out by trading one grip opportunity for a higher intensity grip opportunity, instead of a clear out on command as an obedience exercise. In the opposite case, a dog that is too soft to the handler, the out corrections may cause the dog to shut down or go into avoidance. In such a case you will have to train the out piecemeal, returning often to confidence building exercises which allow the dog to win the prey item, rather than enforcing the out. Over-training the out will cause the dog to release early or worse shut down and not want to engage. It is important to remember that this softness may not impact the dog’s desire to fight the man, a soft dog can be very tough, but when the social dimension of the handler giving the command and a correction following that command comes into play, the dog reacts with over-compliance. This can happen as well with the call-off, causing the dog to hesitate or not go after the suspect, and can be a very frustrating, life-long problem with which to contend. In both cases, with the overly hard dog or the overly soft dog, a motivational approach of trading bite for bite (as in a re-direct) may be the best way to imprint the exercise, and then moving to a compulsive out after the dog has a clear idea of giving up one grip opportunity for another. In a dog that is neither too hard nor too soft, the out can be trained as discussed below, with little complication, and easy compliance. Training Set-Up For the out training we go back to the basic pole set-up. The dog is back tied on the pole even though at this point he has been doing a significant amount of field work, because we want to control his behavior after the out. The 2-line system allows us to keep the dog clean after the out, as well as to guard against any other behaviors we do not want to see (spinning, leg biting, etc). Once we add in the guard after the out, the 2-line system easily enforces the guarding behavior, and keeps the dog clean. The dog should be back-tied in a flat agitation collar or on a harness, and a prong collar with a long line attached. The prong collar should be positioned high on the neck with the rings at the bottom of his neck. With the prong set up this way you have 2 ways to correct the dog: Jerk-and-release style (positive punishment) or steady pull to effect a choke-out (negative reinforcement). Most dogs will come off with a good correction, but some harder dogs may need a more compelling reason to release, and if the long line is attached to the prong collar’s outside ring, the chain with the inside ring will lie across his trachea, and a steady pull on the prong collar will tighten the chain and have the effect of a choke collar when pulled tight. I do not recommend using a choke collar unless you have a sensitive dog (I don’t like choke collars at all for the most part because they can severely damage the dog’s trachea over time). The prong collar offers more versatility, and is safer and more effective in communicating a correction. The long line will be attached to the dog and the trainer giving the correction will stand behind the helper. The reason for this set-up is to be able to correct the dog into the sleeve, not correct him from behind. Dogs posses two reflexes that are at work during out training. The opposition reflex, activated when you pull against the dog (say, as on a leash), makes the dog pull away from the pressure. This occurs when you pull on something in his mouth, he will try to pull against you. The gag reflex is activated when you push something into the dog’s mouth, the dog will gag and open his mouth. American police dog trainers are famous for correcting the dog from behind on a choke

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collar to get the dog to release. There is a big problem with this approach. In Europe, leash tension from behind while the dog is biting is meant to induce opposition reflex, causing the dog to bite down harder on the sleeve or suit. Thus correcting the dog from behind actually will induce the dog into conflict between biting harder and letting go, leading to slow outs, and ripping and tearing of the suit or sleeve cover during outs. Correcting the dog into the bite will induce more of a gag reflex, and turn off the opposition reflex, allowing for easier and cleaner outs. Correction & Reward Structure Out training should be done initially on a sleeve, even if the dog is already biting the suit and doing hidden sleeve bites as well. The sleeve makes it easy to reward the dog. Once the dog is clear with the out on a sleeve, and then the dog can be moved to the hidden sleeve and the suit (in all the various targeting areas), starting with the forearm, and moving to the triceps, and then the frontal biceps area. The basic correction and reward structure is this: The dog is allowed to bite, and the handler commands “out.” The dog does not out, because he doesn’t likely know what out means, and so the dog is corrected for continuing to bite with a jerk-and-release correction into the sleeve.31 The dog lets go of the sleeve, and is immediately rewarded for letting go with another bite. In the initial stages of training we just want the dog to let go. Once out, the dog is immediately rewarded with another grip. After the dog gets the idea, we will make it mandatory for the dog to go into his trained guarding position after the out, and prior to another reward bite. The following are the steps to the process: Step 1: Alert the dog and deliver a prey bite with medium helper intensity

Don’t forget that the dog’s job is to alert to the helper on command, so always begin with the alert command. Then, the helper delivers a medium intensity prey bite. Prey is the drive of clear thinking and calmness, and because the out is the dog’s introduction to obedience during the excitement of biting, we want him in a clear thinking mood for out training, at least initially. Regardless if the dog is more defensive or prey oriented, we want to work the dog in this clear thinking drive. Later, we will include channeling exercises to bring the intensity of the dog’s experience up prior to the out. Once the grip is given, work the dog a little to allow him to blow off some steam and reduce his level of frustration. Step 2: The Helper freezes up with the dog squarely in front of him.

The helper must position the dog correctly so that the trainer can correct the dog effectively, meaning there should be a direct line from the prong collar to the trainer, and there should be a little slack in the back-tie line. The trainer and handler should give the 31

Some trainers teach the dog an “out imprint” by trading toys on the out command. While this certainly cannot hurt the situation, I have found that the context of bite work and the context of play drive are so different the dog doesn’t transfer what he learned in the play sessions once the helper comes into play. Therefore I usually do not bother with this method. However, I do not find any reasons to consider it objectionable to try unless the trainer is pressed for time, as in a K9 school.

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dog a second or two to get in a last shake as the decoy freezes up, before the command is given and the dog is corrected. Step 3: The Handler commands “Out” & the trainer instantly corrects the dog into the sleeve

The handler must give a clear command. The handler should stay back from the dog 3-5 feet, and not get right up in the dog’s face when giving the out command. The reason for this is two-fold. The handler’s presence right next to the dog can be perceived as competition for the sleeve, and induce the dog to hang on tighter out of possessiveness. Further, the handler can get bit out of frustration if the dog comes off the bite on the correction, and the dog is frustrated about letting the sleeve go, or reacts to the discomfort of the correction and re-directs his aggression to the handler. This is especially true for new K9 handlers, who may have only weeks before received their dog at the beginning of a class. Don’t assume the dog is completely bonded with you or has any great measure of respect for you! Commands should be firm and audible, but the dog has good hearing and screaming should not be necessary. Leave your screams for emergency situations. The handler is not getting the dog to let go with his voice, the trainer is getting the dog to let go with the prong collar. You want to condition the dog to release on a soft command, so when you give a hard command in a real situation, the dog will take it to heart. As soon as the out command is given, the trainer corrects the dog into the sleeve with a stout correction until the dog comes off, as soon as the dog lets go and has all four feet on the ground in front of the decoy a reward bite must be given immediately and the dog slipped the sleeve. The command should not be repeated, the trainer should enforce the command with the correction line, using either positive punishment or negative reinforcement to induce the out behavior. Once the dog is quickly re-engaging the bite after the correction you can do multiple outs and re-bites before slipping the sleeve. The next step is to add in the guarding behavior. Step 4: Adding in the Guard after the dog releases

Now we can add in the guard, and the training progression is as follows: The dog is alerted, the helper gives a prey bite, works the dog, and the helper freezes up. The command to out is given and enforced; the handler immediately gives the guarding command (Sit, Down, or Revier) and the guarding behavior is enforced by the trainer with the correction line. At first the reward bite is given once the dog obtains the guarding position. This means, as soon as the dog sits, lies down, or gives a bark or two, the helper gives another grip. Then the helper will vary the time the dog stays in the guard, working up to a longer guard over a period of time. The dog must sometimes be quickly rewarded, and other times demand he stays clean in the guard for longer periods, but make it highly variable. The variability will make the behavior stronger. The trainer working the correction line must stay attentive, so that the dog is not allowed to become dirty during the guard. The trainer must watch for signs of stress in the dog, which is usually manifest as deterioration in the grip. The grip gets more frontal or less firm with the stress of the out. If this occurs, you can go back to prey work and build the grip back up without doing any outs for as couple of sessions, and then return to the out work later. It is critical to 88

understand that the pressure of the out is stressful and that stress accumulates over time, so continuing to work the out when the grip is deteriorating will only make the grip worse and worse if you don’t take a break from the out training for a few sessions to allow the dog’s confidence to come back. Having said that, if the deterioration in the grip is only very minor, you can mix in bites and slips with the outs to bring the grip back up during the out session. It is only for major grip changes that you should take a break from the out training. The handler will have to accept some minor changes in the grip during the initial phases of out training, but as the dog gets clear on his requirements, you should see the grip bounce back to its pre-out quality. Step 5: Adding in Channeling to the process.

So far we have done a prey bite followed by the out. We have to proof the out with higher intensity work in both prey and defense, which will work against the out command. Once the out and guard is well established and clean, with the dog readily rebiting and doing multiple sets of bites and outs on the pole, we now include channeling exercises. Recall that before you embarked on the out training, the dog completed his foundation work with channeling exercises, and targeting exercises. So, as we bring higher intensity into the prey work, and then include defense into the process, it should all be review for your dog. If your channeling work is incomplete, the out should not be attempted. Do not give into the temptation to rush to skills training before the foundation is complete, it will only make for bigger problems that have to be fixed down the road. The changes in the training progression that occur when the channeling is added all occur prior to the out command being given. The goal is to bring up the intensity in both prey and defense work prior to the out. The set-up and the procedure for giving the corrections and enforcing the out and guarding are all the same as described above. The process is as follows: Prey (variably increasing intensity) Î Out (and then multiples)

Our first goal is variably increasing the intensity of the prey sessions prior to the out command. Begin with a medium intensity prey delivery, work the dog, and out. Once in the guard, deliver a re-bite, and make this next grip a little more intense for the dog, still keeping in prey, and then demand another out. Once the dog is out, deliver a re-bite and out again, and then end with a grip and a slip of the sleeve. Vary the intensity of these sessions. The dog should handle this fairly easily. If the outs and guards are clean, you may even see some anticipation of the out. This is nothing to worry about and it will likely disappear as we bring in defensive intensity in the next set of exercises. Prey Î Defense Î Prey Î Out (and multiples prior to the out)

Here we give a medium intensity prey bite to start the process out. The dog is then brought to defense, returned to prey, and then commanded to out. Our goal here is to variably decrease the initial prey intensity, variably increase the defensive intensity, and variably decrease the recovery time (the prey work after the dog has been worked in defense). These exercises should be a repeat of the channeling work already completed, 89

and perhaps now it is easier to see why the channeling work is so critical. Having the dog comfortably come off the defense into a prey mood quickly will more easily allow the dog to settle and out after a hard defensive confrontation. The dog must be taught he can “release the demons” of the fight and get into a mood where he can process the obedience command of the out. Notice the only thing we have added from the first progression of PreyÎ Out is what precedes it: PreyÎ Defense. But the defense portion of the fight is critical. Remember we are variably increasing or decreasing the intensity of the prey or defense work referenced above. Nothing is changed in a linear fashion, but rather we want to see the work trending higher or lower in intensity over time. As this work goes to its completion, we are left with the following reduction: Defense Î Out

What this means, is that the dog can take a hard initial fight all in defense, and then out quickly after the fight. The only signal for the dog that the fight is over is that the decoy freezes up. There is no long recovery in prey, just a freeze and out. If your dog can do this quickly and cleanly, and not fight the out, your dog is clear and comfortable with his job. It is important to realize, that because the foundation work was properly laid with the dog, you will very likely go quickly through these steps, as the dog will be going through a procedure with which he has much experience. The same holds true for the exercises described below as we move the dog off the pole into field work, generalize the dog to varied environments, and incorporate the E-collar if you desire. Step 6: Two Line Field Work

Once the dog is clear with the work on the pole, and has gone through varied channeling exercises, it is time to get the dog off the pole and out into the field or inside a building for the out work. Remember, this is a change of context for the dog, and so we must be certain we do not allow the dog the freedom to make a mistake in this new context. Therefore we want to preserve the two line situation where we can both enforce the out and the proper guarding behavior, without the dog being able to make a mistake. To assume that the dog will behave as he did on the pole once he is given the freedom of fieldwork is to set the dog up for failure. We must be in a position to enforce the obedience to the out and the guard. The training set up will then be as follows: The dog has one long-line on the flat collar or agitation harness, and one line on the training collar. Be sure to use lines of different color so you know which line is which. The procedure is the same as always: the dog is alerted, and once the dog begins his aggression the helper agitates in response. The decoy can either deliver a grip (of medium intensity in either prey or defense) or the handler can send the dog on the decoy. Once the dog is biting, the handler takes the flat collar line, and a third person takes the correction line, as we did before on the pole. The handler becomes a “moving pole” during fieldwork. Once the helper works the dog, he signals to the handler that he is freezing up. The handler becomes still and becomes the pole against which the correction can be delivered if necessary. The trainer takes a position behind the helper in the same fashion as on the pole. The handler and decoy 90

must be sure there is a little slack in the back line, and the handler gives the out command. The trainer then keeps the dog in position once he outs and guards with the correction line. If the dog doesn’t out, the trainer enforces the out as we discussed above. Step 7: One Line Fieldwork

Finally, the training set up will go to a single long line situation when the dog is outing cleanly in the two line situation. A long line is put on the pinch collar only. The dog is sent to the bite, and the helper works the dog. The handler picks up the correction line, and puts himself in a position behind the decoy to enforce the out as before. The helper freezes on the signal of the handler (use a non-verbal signal so the dog doesn’t anticipate the out on “freeze up” or some such command) and the out command is given. The handler is now in a position where he can correct the dog if necessary, enforcing the out and proper guard position. By now, the dog should be very clear on his guard after the out. If he is not, the trainer has moved forward too quickly, and the dog should be on two lines to enforce proper guard position. Step 8: Generalization

The final step in the out training is to generalize the response. It is best to take the dog back to the two line fieldwork step, so that there is an easily enforceable out. We must enforce the out and reward the out in varying but likely circumstances where the dog will have to out. For the police dog, outs inside buildings, on stairways, in dark rooms, and inside confined spaces are some of the variables to which we should generalize the out. Further variables include varying the bite equipment. As the dog is introduced to the hidden sleeve, and the bite suit, the dog should be made to out on this equipment by being taken back to the two line situation. Outs on the hidden sleeve are best done on the back tie to guard against leg and body re-bites, or over a meter jump (for the same reason). The bite suit outs should be incorporated after the dog is comfortable biting and griping the suit, and should start with outs on the forearm, then go to the triceps area, and finally inside front bites. The reason for the transition is that the dog is likely to be in a more defensive mood the greater the level of confrontation, and will be harder to out. During this progression, the dog can go away from the two line set up back to the one line set up as the out does not need to be corrected, and the behavior is clear to the dog. Step 9: Incorporating the E-Collar

For me personally, I find the e-collar to be an indispensable tool for training sport and police dogs. It allows for properly timed corrections independent of the handler’s position relative to the dog. However, there should be a well thought out progression for teaching the dog to respond to the e-collar in every exercise in which it is likely to be used. For the most part, we will use the e-collar for obedience (heeling, recalls, distraction management) and in protection for outs, returns, re-directs and call-offs (all variations on the obedience recall exercise).

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In the appendix, I explain the proper use and introduction of the e-collar for obedience, and here I will briefly explain its incorporation into the out training. I think of the e-collar as the final step in out training. After the dog can out in a generalized fashion on sleeves, suits, hidden sleeves, and in varying environments, the e-collar can be introduced. I use it here as a proofing device after the behavior is clearly trained. Further, the dog should have a concept of the e-collar from obedience before putting it into the protection work. This gives the dog an advance understanding of pairing corrections (for heeling) which will be readily transferred to the out. The trainer should select a setting on the e-collar that is enough to motivate the dog given his temperament. For harder dogs, we must remember that the adrenaline rush of biting will increase the dog’s pain tolerance. However, we do not want to over-correct the dog and shut him down with conflict. We want to make the e-collar correction meaningful but not counter-productive. Choose a level about 20% higher than you would use in obedience. You can always go up a little if it doesn’t do the job of making an impression. Remember, the dog should already be outing cleanly without the e-collar, and the e-collar will only be a proofing mechanism. In the first session as we said, the collar should be set a little higher than you will use in maintenance training. This gives us the ability to back down on the level after the dog understands the e-correction. This is to guard against stepping up higher and higher as the dog learns to tolerate the correction as progre3ssively higher levels. This can create, in some dogs, a tolerance to the ecorrection and as a result a very hard animal. Just as we did with the pinch collar, the initial correction should be meaningful to make a lasting impression that we need only remind the dog of later. The training set up goes back to the pole to simplify things. The dog is back-tied on a flat collar, and the dog has on an e-collar and a pinch collar with a line coming off the bottom of his neck, exactly as we had for the initial out training on the pole. The handler holds the remote, and the correction line. The dog is worked in a soft prey style, given a grip, and when the decoy freezes for the correction, the handler gives the correction as follows: Decoy Freezes Æ Command “out” Æ Nick on E-Collar Æ Pop on Pinch

This formulation does a few things. First it keeps the dog from moving out of the guard because he is surprised by the e-collar correction in the new context. The back tie and 2nd line hold him in the guard position. Second, the new correction (e-correction) is followed by a familiar correction (pinch correction) in order to transition the dog to react to the new correction. This is simple classical conditioning. The signal that the dog understands this is that he is coming out quickly and clearly after the e-correction before you can even give the collar correction with the line. As the dog understands the e-correction, we can phase out the physical correction of the pinch collar. Then the progression follows along what we have already discussed, going to two lines, one line, and finally no lines and just the e-collar.

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Chapter 11: Re-Directed Bites & Out & Return Introduction Re-directed bites, by definition, are scenarios where the dog is sent to bite one suspect, and must be called out of the grip to be sent to another suspect. For example, suppose the dog is apprehending a fleeing suspect on a traffic stop, and the officer gets into a close quarter scuffle with another suspect. The dog must be recalled to assist the officer. One can also imagine how this might be needed in a personal protection scenario with multiple suspects as well. In sport work, there are many scenarios where these redirected bites will be employed. Furthermore, the re-directed bite will be turned into an out and return, as is mandatory in certain police dog certifications, with the dog being called out of the grip to return to the handler, rather than staying and guarding the suspect. I like training both types of disengage, because this allows the most flexibility in the deployment of the dog. The handler can decide what he wants the dog to do once the out is performed. Command Structure Once we introduce the re-directed bite, we will now have two ways in which the dog can be disengaged from the grip. The out and guard, and the out and return must be distinguished on command. We want the dog to be able to drop into a guard on one command, “out” and come off the grip and return to the handler on another separate command. If we structure our commands properly the dog shouldn’t experience any confusion as to what he should do. Here is how I structure these two separate disengage commands: Out & Guard: “OUT” Out & Return: “Dog’s Name & Heel/or Here” The trainer should know ahead of time if the dog is normally easy or difficult to out. The added confusion of a second decoy on the field may cause some problems with the out as the excitement will be at a high level. The goal is to have the second decoy motivate the dog to disengage the first decoy when the first decoy freezes up, by excitedly agitating the dog with the whip, and then we slowly eliminate the agitation to the point where the dog will recall from the grip on command and engage a second, passive decoy. Be ready for the dog to mistakenly continue to fight decoy #1 when he hears the agitation. This improperly directed aggression is normal. This is why the dog will be set up with a training collar to out the dog (the decoy can make the correction, or another trainer can float into the scene and make the correction), and a second line on the dog affixed to the agitation collar to physically control the dog.

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It is critical to be aware that while motivating the dog to come back to another grip through agitation is initially desirable it can cause the dog to react only if he hears the agitation. This is a contextual cue that is inevitable, at least initially. We must wean the dog off this contextual cue to the desirable cue of the handler’s recall command “Ranger – Heel”. Training set-up Step 1: Planning

As in all our training, planning ahead to make sure we get the outcome we desire is crucial to keeping the dog out of conflict. The equipment necessary will be as follows: Long line (15’ or 30’) attached to a flat collar, and a short 6’ leash attached to a pinch collar. Later we will introduce the e-collar after the behavior is clear to the dog. There will be two decoys, set up 180 degrees apart. Both decoys should be equipped with a whip, to excite the dog’s prey drive. The handler comes out and has the dog sit in heel position and face one of the decoys. I like to start with a grip on the bite suit in the triceps area to make the out as easy as possible, minimizing the confrontation and defensive mood of the dog. The dog is sent to decoy #1 who works the dog, making sure to get the grip nice and full, as we would normally do. Then this first decoy makes sure there is a clear line from the back of his arm down the long line from the dog’s collar to the handler’s hand. Step 2: Motivating the re-direct

The goal in motivating the re-direct is to trade out one decoy for a more exciting fight with another decoy. There is a very important progression to the redirect. After decoy #1 freezes up we are ready to re-direct the dog. The process is as follows: Decoy # 1 freezes Æ handler: “Ranger- Heel” Æ Decoy # 2 Agitates on dog’s name

Now, one of 2 things can happen. Either: (1) the dog lets go and comes to the agitating decoy, or (2) he stays in the grip on decoy 1. If he stays on the grip, the decoy must immediately correct the out, and as soon as the dog drops out of the grip, and before he can come into a guard (what he already knows to do after the out) the handler must pop the long line on the flat collar as the second decoy continues agitating, to re-direct the dog on the second decoy. Three of the most common problems in the first few sessions are: (1) The dog does not out. (2) The dog outs but he guards decoy #1 despite all the commotion behind him. (3) The dog outs and on the whip crack re-engages decoy #1 (directing his aggression on the closest available target).

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The suggestions above deal with each of these issues. It is the job of the handler and decoy to be aware of these likely outcomes and have a plan to deal with them. Decoy #1 must be in a position to correct the out, and timing must be keen. In many of the seminars I teach, I see poor planning and poor communication between decoy and handler about how to deal with these issues “on the fly” when they are happening at full speed. I cannot stress enough that these issues must be worked out prior to sending the dog to the first grip. Talk about what you expect each decoy to do, especially if the decoys are not very experienced. Decoy #1 must catch the dog, grab the correction line and be ready to enforce the out if necessary. The handler must be ready to give some motivating pops on the line to bring the dog out of a guard or keep the dog from returning to decoy #1 when the dog does let go. And decoy #2 must agitate at the right time. The handler not only must be ready to help the dog with the long line to make the re-direct, but he must also give the dog the familiar signals of a tight line when the dog is correctly in the grip, and a loose line just prior to the out. The line tension will help avoid anticipation of the re-direct. Now assuming we get the dog to come to the second decoy, give the grip on the back of the arm, and set up for another re-direct back to decoy 1. The procedure is exactly the same as discussed above. Once the dog begins to see the pattern of what is required, the likely outcome is that the dog may begin to anticipate the re-direct. This is an undesirable outcome (anticipation). However, it signals to us that the dog understands the context of what we want him to do. What we really want him to do, however, is to come off on command, and not to anticipate the second bite. Therefore we must take some steps to insure this is the outcome we get. There are a number of things we must now do to vary the context: 1. Decoys must keep the dog in the grip, adding some defense and keeping a lot of movement in the fight. Vary inside front bites with back shoulder bites, and forearm bites (for police dogs). Throw in some distractions, such as stick or jug of rocks to keep the fight more intense. 2. Decoy must keep a hold on the short line, and not allow the dog to leave him prior to the command. If the dog comes off the grip, on his own, the decoy must not let the dog leave (using the line) and must immediately attack the dog to re-engage the grip. However, a good decoy will be able to read the anticipation in the dog’s grip before he comes out, and make an adjustment accordingly. 3. Begin mixing in outs-and-guard with reward bites for guarding, with the outs-andreturn. 4. Once we add in out and guards, vary sessions where we don’t do any re-directs, remember that action commands (re-directs) are more exciting than commands where the dog must restrain his drive (guarding). 5. Be sure to vary direction and decoys throughout the process, for example if you send the dog in one direction down the field and re-direct him from that position all the time he will anticipate based on direction (place on the field). If you send the dog first on decoy “Bob” and always re-direct him from Bob, he will anticipate the re-direct based on the decoy he is biting. What I try to do is to switch up direction, and decoy position on the field all the time.

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Step 3: Enforcing the Re-Direct

At some point you will want to incorporate a correction into the re-direct. This is one instance where the handler will correct the dog from behind on the long line. Though this is not optimal for reasons discussed earlier, as long as the dog is clear on the out command, a correction from behind will serve as a reminder to come back on the “Ranger-Heel” command. Step 4: Incorporating the E-Collar into Enforcing Re-Direct

Once the dog responds to the long line correction for the re-direct, the e-collar can be introduced ahead of the long line correction. We use the same pairing of corrections as before in the out training. The handler commands the dog to “Ranger-Heel” and if the dog doesn’t instantly let go and return to the handler, the handler will nick the dog with the e-collar, and follow that with a jerk-and-release on the pinch (attached to the long line). Over time as the dog responds to the e-correction, and gets ahead of the long line correction, the long line correction can be eliminated. Step #5: Finishing up the Out and Return

Once the dog is redirecting on command cleanly and coming back quickly, following the handlers signal to go to the next decoy, we can incorporate a “stop” at the handler. The dog will be sent on decoy #1, and then be called to re-direct, “Ranger – Heel,” and as the dog comes back, call him into heel position. If the dog does not know heel position, you cannot expect the dog to come into a nice finish. You could just call him to you and down him. I prefer to get the dog to come to heel, briefly stay at your side, and then reward the come to heel with a grip on the second decoy. The exercise can then be made more realistic with 2 decoys hiding. Decoy #1 comes out and threatens, or he runs, and you sent the dog to grip decoy # 1. The dog has not seen decoy #2 in hiding. Once the dog is on decoy #1, t5he handler calls the redirect, and calls the dog to heel position. Once in heel position, decoy #2 comes out to attack and the dog is sent to grip decoy #2. Once the return bite decoy (#2) becomes a hidden reward, we have perfected the out and return. Vary the time between the redirect command and coming to heel, and sending the dog for the second grip. In fact, recall him to heel off the first grip and then heel around for a minute before sending the dog for the second grip. In a trial, just continue heeling to the next exercise, and your dog has done the out and return. When you go back to training after a trial, add the reward bite back in. Step #6: Multiple re-directs

Obviously, you can redirect the dog multiple times on two decoys on the field. You can also add in out and guards to help the dog discriminate between the verbal commands of out and return and out and guard. You will see after a while the dog stays in the guard and doesn’t look at the second decoy when asked to out because he anticipates the regrip reward for the out and guard, but when the dog hears the redirect command, he releases and turns away from the decoy quickly to run toward the handler. Make sure you set the dog up for success, and do not move too quickly in the progression.

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Chapter 12: The Call-Off Introduction & Relevance The call-off is clearly one of the most difficult skills to train in a protection dog, and is required in most applications from police service dogs to personal protection and sport training. The call-off is not a requirement in Schutzhund sport as of this writing, but it is an essential part of most other dog sports including ring sport, KNPV, PSA and Mondio. The call-off is structured differently depending on the certification or sport exercise. For example a call off in KNPV is executed about 30 yards from the decoy that is fleeing from the dog. A ring call off must be executed within feet of a decoy who is defensively agitating the dog (the set up is a mock face attack). In PSA Level 2, the first level in which there is a call-off exercise, the decoy may be fleeing, charging the dog, or passive depending on how the judge decides to set the exercise that day. The call off is normally executed at about 50 yards from the handler and within 25 feet of the decoy, with extra points for a call-off within 15 or so feet from the decoy at a designated marker. Call-off set ups may also require the dog not to be called off too early, which will result in a failing exercise. Obviously a dog who bites the decoy after being called off will also fail the exercise. In police certifications, generally the dog must call off about halfway between the handler and the decoy, and in many certifications the decoy will “give up” and stop agitating or fleeing prior to the dog being called off. This adds an additional contextual cue for the dog on this exercise, making it a lot easier for the dog to perform. If he sees hands go up he stops. I do not like this for street work, as passivity and hands above the head do not necessarily signal that the handler is giving up – in fact he may be aiming a shotgun at you. I don’t want my dog stopping unless I tell him to. The call-off as we will discuss it here is an extension of the re-direct exercise introduced in the previous chapter. The reward structure for the dog is exactly the same as we use in the re-direct, where the dog is given a reward bite behind the handler for returning on command, the difference being obvious: the dog must return prior to biting the first decoy, instead of after apprehending the first decoy as in the re-directed bite. This seemingly minor change makes a big difference in how the dog perceives the situation. Many trainers train the call-off in the old style: Put a very long line on the dog’s correction collar, send him for the bite, when the decoy “gives up” the dog is called back to heel using an “Out” and “Heel” command, and simultaneously corrected on the training collar. The force of impact on the dog when the line gets tight can be tremendous, and in my opinion is dangerous for the dog especially as the exercise becomes longer and longer. Further, the shock of being corrected can have an adverse effect on the dog’s desire to bite as well, as he anticipates the possibility of being corrected very hard any time after he is sent on an apprehension. Further the cues of the very long line, the decoy giving up, makes for a narrow context in which the dog will probably call off in a trial, and even more narrow in a real situation. Hard dogs will read the context, and if there is no long line, they are gone downfield hell bent. This is because they are only calling off if there is a threat of a

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correction. On the other hand, many softer dogs having experienced the harsh correction will have problems engaging as they are afraid to get the “whopper” of a correction. The remedy for this is to let the dog go downfield and bite a lot in the context of the call off so he gets his confidence back. The dog will go through phases of being impossible to call off and phases of anticipating the correction. This is a most frustrating situation for the dog and the handler. As a trainer, I don’t want my dogs hesitating to engage for my handlers. Their life may depend on the dog engaging. There has to be a better way, and there is. Our style of training the call off is based more on reward. We do not allow the dog to get the primary decoy through a thoughtful set-up of the training environment. We make an effort to teach the dog with as little hard compulsion as possible so the dog learns that the call off is only trading a bite for a different bite (behind the handler). If the dog is motivated to call off without the compulsion, and it is nothing more than a change in direction, the desire to fight the call off is diminished significantly. Pre-Requisites There are certain pre-requisites for beginning the call off training. Primarily, the dog must be very confident in his bite work. If there is any lack of confidence in the bite work, or if the handler just finished the out training, the call off should wait. Piling too much control onto the dog too quickly can cause conflict, and conflict can cause the dog either to hesitate in going to the bite, or make him fight the control. The dog should be comfortable outing on command, and comfortable doing re-directs and outs, and out and returns. The dog must understand the obedience recall command, including recalling under distractions (including decoys in full suit) on the obedience field. The dog should also know the return to heel position. The return bite, which is the dog’s reward, must also be properly planned out as well. Specifically we have to plan for a proper disengage on the return bite. There are a number of options: (1) Return bite to a sleeve, and slip the sleeve. (2) Return bite to a triceps bite on the suit, and slip the suit jacket. (3) Return bite and out & guard. (4) Return bite and out and return to the handler. I prefer to keep the training very structured, and don’t want the dog to get overexcited as he flies around the field from a call-off to a reward bite, and have him thinking he may be re-directed. The call off can cause the dog to anticipate a redirect, so I prefer options (1) – (3) to simplify the disengage process after the call off. As you read on below, you will see we will mix up the call-off with re-directs and out and guard disengages to force the dog to listen to our commands and not anticipate. That, however, comes after the call off is clear to the dog. Be aware the sleeve may be a poor substitute for the dog compared with a bite suit grip, and we want the reward to be of equal value, so the dog is not giving up something of high value for something of perceived lesser value. Know your dog, and structure the reward as it best fits his temperament.

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Training Set-Up Introduction

When training the call off, we must be careful not to create anticipation. This is one instance where anticipation can cause very difficult ramifications – including having the dog hesitate in going to the decoy. We guard against this anticipation by mixing up sends for bites with sends on which we call the dog off, in every exercise discussed below, at a ratio of about 60% - 40%. This means out of 10 repetitions 6 of the sends are directly to a bite and 4 of the sends will be ones where we insure a call off occurs. Bear in mind, there are some dogs that seem so driven to bite, you will never create hesitation. But remember, this is not a nerve issue creating the hesitation but rather a conditioned response you may create. Even the most driven dog can learn to call off for a reward bite, and may hesitate on going forward if he thinks his best chance for a bite is one behind him rather than one in front of him. Further, dogs can anticipate context based on who the decoy is who stands before him, or the direction of the send. Vary the decoy’s position randomly throughout the exercises (i.e. switch decoy Fred from the return bite position to the primary position in front of the decoy, and move decoy Bob vice versa.) Mix up the direction you send the dog as well. If you train in a school hallway that runs from east to west, sometimes send the dog east and sometimes send the dog west. This should be random so that there is no way the dog can discern if you are going to call him off based on the direction of the send, or which decoy stands in front of him first. Vary the props in the decoy’s hands so that the dog cannot discriminate the call off based on what the decoy is holding in his hands either. Further, be very aware of placing markers on the ground, or if there is furniture on the floor. If you call the dog off at specific cone, he will quickly to learn to anticipate the place where he is called off. This means move around in the hall or room a lot so there is no specific place association with the call off. This will extend to the field where you train as you move outdoors, and extends to the trial field. If in your certification trial, you know the call off will be marked by a traffic cone or a flag or some other known marker, you must not allow the dog to take notice. I recommend placing cones that look exactly the same everywhere on the field, so the dog becomes neutral to their presence. Training progression Slick Floors First

I begin all my training for the call off on slick floors. School hallways are ideal. Be aware in your selection process, that some dogs may have a difficult time feeling comfortable on slick floors if they have never been exposed to them. In my selection testing, I make sure all my dogs will perform a normal range of their behaviors on slick floors. The reason is it is much easier to control a dog on slick floors. I can put a flat agitation collar on a dog on a slick floor, and clamp down on the line, and he will spin around with minimal pressure from the handler. This allows us to correct the dog’s

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direction of travel when necessary with no resulting side effects of compulsion delivered from a training collar. Because I train dogs for law enforcement agencies, and specifically because we have placed a police dog in our local school district, we have an easy time getting into the school at night to train dogs. I recognize that not everyone has this option. If you don’t, you will have to follow the exercises outlined here from the beginning on grass, but it is still very feasible. You will simply have to begin with shorter set ups so the dog doesn’t gain too much momentum. However, I will say that if you can expend some energy in getting access to a building with a slick floor it is well worth the effort, because much of this training will progress with relative ease on slick floors. Equipment

The equipment necessary for training the call off includes a variety of long lines: 15 foot, 30 foot, and a 60 foot line. We have specially made 60 foot lines for our tactical building search applications which we use here. Long lines should be made of soft tubular nylon. Avoid cotton lines at all costs; they will burn your hands badly. Many trainers will employ a set of leather gloves to keep their hands from being injured during this training as it progresses. You will also need a 2” leather agitation collar. I do not recommend harnesses for this training because you will need control of the dog’s head. You will also eventually need a pinch collar (heavy duty XL preferably) and I strongly recommend employing the e-collar here. However if you do not use an e-collar for obedience (heeling, return to heel) or have not used the e-collar for the out and redirect training, do not just use it here. You will create an easily discernable context for your dog, and he will anticipate calling off whenever you put it on him. As I have said before, and e-collar is an excellent tool, and it should either be an integral part of your training program or you should not use it at all. If you are training for sport, and want to have close call-offs, you will find that with most strong dogs that have a high intensity prey drive, you will not be able to compete with people who use one if you do not. They offer timing of correction you cannot achieve with a line and a training collar. It is the difference between cutting a tree down with a steak knife and cutting one down with a chain saw. I have heard some trainers say that e-collars are like taking the easy way out. Pretty much all of our modern inventions including cars, heavy earth moving equipment, shoes, etc. were made to take the easy way out. If you want to bang your head against the wall, go right ahead. The command structure you will use for the call-off is the same as we use for the re-direct from the bite: Call-off: “Dog’s Name” + “Heel” Training Progression on Slick Floors Step 1: Call Back from Down in front of Passive Decoy

The first exercise in the call off involves teaching the dog to return from a decoy to the bite behind. Set up your dog about 10 feet in front of a passive decoy facing your 100

dog, and put him in a down. You will go behind the dog holding a 15 foot long line. The dog will have a pinch collar on him, high on his neck, as well as a flat collar. The long line is to be affixed to the flat collar. The correction line affixed to the pinch collar can be given to the decoy to enforce the down, or a second handler. The dog should be comfortable holding a down under this minimal distraction. The dog should be intent on the decoy but obedient. If he is breaking the down to go to the decoy, you should work on his stay for a while prior to doing this exercise. Call him to you, using your call off command: “Ranger-Heel”. Be aware he may interpret this as a release to bite the decoy, but you have him on a line attached to his agitation collar so he cannot go to the decoy in front of him unless you allow him to. Immediately after you command him to return to you, a decoy behind you can agitate to draw the dog’s interest. Guide him to the return bite, and disengage the dog as we discussed above. Now, mix it up. Allow the dog this time to go to the decoy in front of him, by commanding the dog to attack. The decoy in front of him can flee or make noise with some agitation, and let the dog enjoy the bite before performing a disengage. Keep doing this, with 6/10 of the exercises allowing the dog to bite the decoy in front of him, and 4/10 be recalls to a bite behind using the decoy behind to agitate after the call off command is given. Step 2: Call back from an Alert to bite behind

Now we will increase the distraction for the dog, and make him come back. This is simply a progressive desensitization process. Place the dog in the same position as you did in step one above, but now, prior to allowing the bite or making the dog return, alert the dog to the decoy in front of him. Have the decoy lightly agitate the dog in response to his aggression post alert. Let him go to the bite in front the first time, and disengage. Set up again, keeping in mind the down must be executed or be corrected. He must alert only on command not prior to your alert command. Next, alert the dog and have the decoy lightly agitate, and call the dog back. The decoy in front can continue to very minimally agitate the dog by moving around a little bit, but the decoy behind agitates strongly after the call off command is given. Your job as handler is to steer the dog to the bite behind, and disengage. Again use the 60/40 ratio of sends to the front to call offs. Continue doing this while over time variably increase the agitation from the decoy in front when you calloff/send. This step can take some time. We want to begin to vary the decoy behavior in front to see if the dog has a harder time recalling to us if the decoy is defensive or if he is in prey. Typically the dog’s stronger drive will give him a harder time for the call off. The prey dog has a harder time calling off from fleeing decoys, and the defensive dog (with strong nerves of course) has a harder time calling off from defensive confrontations like a courage test. Step 3: Call back from feeding dog out slowly

The next step is to put the dog in heel position and place the decoy about 30 feet in front of you and the dog. You alert the dog, and slowly allow him to feed out on the line – you just let it slide through your hands. You will call him off and clamp down on the line when the dog is maybe 10 feet out from you. This will cause the dog to “spin” in place, and the decoy behind you will agitate and give the return bite. Continue this with the 60/40 ratio, while slowly increasing the distance you send the dog (you will need to 101

go to the 30 foot line and then the 60 foot line) and varying the distance at which you call him off. What we are looking for at this stage is the dog beginning to react to the command, and turning around on his own to go to the return bite reward. If this happens, it means the dog is reacting to the command to call off. The agitation from the return bite should now be delayed until the dog is heading to the passive return bite with some commitment. The return bite can eventually become a full passive bite. Use the agitation wisely; we don’t want to see the dog reacting only to the agitation on the return bite. Reward him with the agitation variably when he turns and shows clear commitment to return. Continue using the 60/40 split between sends to the primary decoy and call-offs. If you see any hint of hesitation, stop doing call offs for a session or two and go back to sends only. Continue to vary the distance of your call offs, as well as the behavior of the helper. Step 4: Integrate compulsion

Before we move outside, we want to get the dog to understand a correction for not returning on the call off command. The helper for the return bite must now remain passive until the dog is coming in his direction and is most of the way back to him. We need to have the dog understand that this exercise is mandatory. If the dog has been performing the call off well to this point, we now must put him in a position where we can likely get non-compliance. This means closer call offs, and harder agitation. Now we will change the ratio of call sends to call-offs from 60/40 to 80/20. We do this because with the introduction of compulsion, the dog is more likely to anticipate avoiding the compulsion. You should also plan to do sessions where you don’t even call the dog off, though you will have two decoys available. Put the return bite decoy in hiding to increase the likelihood of non-compliance. Now you will affix the line to the pinch collar. Double hook it to both the inside and outside rings of the collar. Send the dog for a couple of bites on the decoy in front of him. Then plan to do the call off on the third bite. Send the dog, and call him off and simultaneously give him a light correction on the pinch simultaneous with his name. As the dog turns to return the reward decoy pops out of hiding to give the reward bite. Now mix up a bunch of sends in a row on both decoys, and then put one of them in hiding. Repeat this process a few times, having the dog call off under high levels of agitation varied with low levels of agitation. Back off on the compulsion if you don’t need to correct, and the dog is turning quickly on his name. Call him off close and at medium distance variably, being aware that the closer he is to the decoy the more likely you will get non-compliance, and the less time you will have to correct the dog effectively before he gets the bite. It is your job to be sure he never is allowed to bite if he refuses to call off. Remember the send/call off ratio is 80/20. If you see any hint of hesitation, you must stop doing call offs, or reduce your ratio to 90/10. Even if the dog is doing well, intersperse sessions where you do not call him off at all.

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Step 5: Problem solving

If you see anticipation happen, encourage the dog to go forward to the bite, and lay off call offs for a few sessions, in favor of sends and bites. Make sure your decoy knows what to do if he sees the dog anticipate: he must agitate furiously to draw the dog to him. Nothing is worse than watching your dog anticipate and the decoy falls asleep at the wheel, not ready to help the dog come forward, and leaving the dog in a situation of conflict. Discuss the likely outcomes of any training exercise with the decoys involved so they can jump in to help immediately when needed. “I didn’t know…..” is not an acceptable excuse. Step 6: Integrating the E-Collar

As we ratchet up the compulsion to the e-collar, which will allow us to make the transition to working on grass so much more easily, be aware of anticipation problems from the start. The e-collar is integrated to this exercise exactly as we have done in all our exercises where we have used the e-collar: pairing corrections. I would recommend a send/call off ratio of 90/10 when using the e-collar. Introduce and perfect the e-collar call off on slick floors first before moving outside. Step 7: Move outdoors & begin with call off from a down in front of a passive decoy

Now that we have the e-collar integrated into the process, continue with an 80/20 or a 90/10 ratio of sends to call offs. The dog should now understand the correction for non-compliance to the call off command. You can use the correction when needed to get the dog to react appropriately. Go through the progression again on grass. Realize that you must wear gloves if you are going to clamp on the line after an e-collar correction. In most cases if you have prepared properly, you won’t need to use the line for much more than guidance, however if your e-collar fails (batteries die!) you will need to insure the dog doesn’t get the bite. If an accident happens and the dog does get the bite and blows off the call off, have the decoy go dead immediately – do not give the dog the satisfaction of a good encounter (negative punishment). A good progression on grass is as follows: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

Short call offs (15-20 yards), decoy far away (50 yards) Medium call offs (20-30), decoy far away (50 yards) Long call offs(30-50), decoy far away (75 yards) Deep call offs (15-20), decoy (30-40) yards Deep call offs, (20-30) decoy (45-55) yards Deep call offs (30-50) decoy (65-75) yards

Notice that first we train short, medium and long call offs, and then only when the dog is doing that automatically do we do “deep” call offs. A deep call off is one that is very close to the decoy, say within 15 yards. Vary your decoy behavior with fleeing call offs, and charging call offs, and passive decoys down field.

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Step 8: Problem solving

Be sure to revert to only send bites if you see any hint of anticipation of the call off. Anticipation can take the form of the dog slowing dramatically, though he doesn’t turn around prior to the call off command being given, or stopping or turning prior to the command being given. If your decoy is good at reading your dog – and he better be – he should have the green light to intervene to draw the dog to him, and the handler must not stand still like a deer in headlights. If you see your dog anticipate, chase him to the bite, and don’t let him think he should return to you. If you stand still and your dog is obedient, the decoy can be agitating like mad and the dog may still come back. You must help him to understand. Another problem, especially when you get to deep call offs, is you will not have enough time to react if the dog decides to ignore off the command and keep going. You have to anticipate each time you do the call off, that he will not do it, and you must be ready to intervene. At roughly 20 miles per hour, a dog can cover 30 feet in one second! This means that if your “deep” call-off is 15 yards (45 feet) from the decoy you have a second and a half to react and correct the dog before he gets to the decoy. That isn’t much time, so if you are not ready prior to sending the dog, you will be too late. If you are too late, and it does happen, simply have the decoy go dead while he is on the bite. You can continue to pulse corrections on the e-collar while the dog is biting and if he returns to you before you get to him, heel him off the field and put him up. Remove the reward for the disobedience. Go do something else for a little while and then do the call off again later. But this time, be prepared. I suggest putting him away because if you correct the dog in this manner for taking the bite disobediently, you may cause anticipation. Step 9: Integrate call-offs with redirects & out-and-guard.

Take the following example of how we can now integrate all our methods of disengage. Place two decoys on the field. Send to decoy #1 for a bite, and re-direct the dog to decoy #2 and call him off decoy #2, sending him back to decoy #1 for the reward bite. Do an out and guard on this decoy, come up and heel the dog away. Once you start mixing these up, you must put a short line on the dog to keep him in the guard on the outs. This will allow you to insure compliance with all the methods of disengage. You can then begin integrating jumps into your sends, such as over a jump to a bite, and then a re-direct to another bite for an out and guard. Disengage him, and send him again for a call off to a bite and then another re-direct. By mixing up these disengage methods, the dog will have to listen to what you are saying and not anticipate on context. This brings to a close the section on skills. It is impossible to anticipate the answer to every question that might come up in the writing of this book. If the reader has any questions about the content of this book, please send your training questions to [email protected] and I will be happy to answer them.

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Appendix 1: The Sports of Europe If you are working with a titled dog from Europe, it is important to know what your dog already knows. In this appendix you will find a very general overview of the sports of the countries from which most of the imports into the US come. Belgium The national dog sport of Belgium is Belgian Ring Sport. Belgian ring is sponsored by two different organizations, the NVBK, or National Verbond, and the FCI Registry St. Hubertis. The rules are essentially the same with well-defined exercises in all levels. However the environmental distractions can change dramatically from one trial to another. Belgian Ring has categories of competition from Level 3 to Level 1 with Level 1 being the highest level of competition, and Level 3 being the lowest. Typical exercises include face attacks (courage tests), protection of master when he is touched by the decoy, transports, call offs, and object guarding. Decoys in Belgian ring typically will put very little stick pressure on the dog once his is on the bite. The grip is highly valued in the point system, and decoys do not try to esquive the dog. Mondio Ring is also very popular in Belgium with many competitors competing both in Belgian Ring as well as playing in Mondio trials. Targets are also provided in Mondio and the pressure from various distractions used by the decoy can be more challenging than Belgian Ring. France French Ring is the national sport of France, however, Mondio Ring, and a sport called Campagne, is also popular. French ring is unique among dog sports because French Ring is basically a competition between the decoy and the dog, where the decoy is attempting to steal points from the dog by making him miss the grip in many of the exercises, through a technique called the esquive. The decoy will attempt to make a very athletic move, at the last second, to cause the dog to shoot by the decoy. Missing the entry to the grip costs the team points. This is why most French Ring dogs are taught to target high on the legs, making it more difficult for the dog to fall for the esquive. Decoys typically put a lot of stick pressure on the dog once he is in the grip. The grip is not highly valued in the points system. Holland In Holland the national sport is the KNPV, literally translated as the Royal Dutch Police Dog Association. The sport is practiced all over the country in KNPV clubs. Most competitors train the dog up through the PH 1 certification, or Politehond 1 – literally translated as Police Dog Level 1. All dogs accepted into police dog programs in Holland must be PH 1 prior to beginning training for the police department. The KNPV offers certifications, and not titles in the PH 1 level. This is why most dogs are sold after they 105

have achieved the PH 1. If the handler were to show the dog in a trial, other than a regional or national trial, and subsequently fail, the certification is pulled. There is a PH 2 certificate, object guard certificate, and various tracking and search and rescue certifications as well. Most of the exercises in the KNPV do not come with a lot of pressure from the decoy except for the courage test, called by the Dutch the “stok stellen” or stick attack. In this one exercise, there is a hit with a six-foot willow stick across the dog’s withers prior to him biting the decoy in the front shoulder or legs. This test of courage includes a send of about 60 yards prior to the impact and is a very spectacular exercise in the PH 1 certification. A KNPV trial is organized with the obedience, agility, retrieving and swimming exercises done first thing in the morning, followed by what they refer to as the “small” bite work which includes transports, object guarding, and food refusal exercises. The “big” bite work is normally viewed together by everyone at the trial, while the other exercises are rotated through during the morning and early afternoon. The big bite work includes the stick attack, fleeing attack with gunfire, bicycle attack (fleeing), call off and the reviere exercise (This exercise mimics the stick attack but the decoy goes passive and the dog must not bite but hold and bark. It used to be referred to as the extra exercise, but has since become a mandatory exercise). Once the stick hit is delivered and the dog is in the grip, there is little or no pressure put on the dog by the decoy. On most of the other exercises the pressure put on the dogs is minimal by PSA standards. Germany Germany is the land of Schutzhund. Schutzhund in Germany is sponsored by the German Shepherd Dog Club of Germany, also known as the SV. There is a branch of the SV in America known as USA or the United Schutzhund Clubs of America. There is also the DVG in Germany and America which is an all breed Schutzhund organization. The SV and DVG offer Schutzhund titled from BH, SchH1, SchH2, and SchH3 among many others including agility and various tracking titles. Many other countries practice IPO which is Schutzhund under FCI rules. FCI is the world kennel club to which many kennel clubs around the world like the AKC (America), Raad Van Baahr (Holland), and St. Hubertis (Belgium) belong. Eastern Europe In Eastern Europe, including the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic (which are two very big exporters of German shepherd dogs to the US), there is the SVV (Slovakia) and the ZVV (Czech Republic). These titles are very similar to Schutzhund or IPO titles but are sponsored by state organizations, and include some other exercises in the agility and protection work.. There are levels from SVV1 through SVV3 and ZVV1 through ZVV3. IPO under FCI rules is also very popular, and overtaking the traditional state sports for the most part.

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Appendix 2: Required Equipment The following list of equipment is a basic list of essential equipment for training police and protection K9s according to the methods described in this book.. (1) 4’ and 6’ leather leashes, preferably with the loops removed. (2) 15’ Tubular Nylon 1” Long Line (3) 30’ Tubular nylon 1” Long Line (4) 60’ Tubular nylon 1” Long Line (5) 2” leather Agitation Collar (6) 1 Medium and 1 Large and 1 XL Pinch Collar (7) Leather Agitation Harness (8) Sleeves Varying from Puppy Sleeves through Bite Bar Sleeves to Barrel Sleeves (9) Hidden Sleeves & Cover shirts (10) Variable intensity E-Collar (11) Training Bite Suit (12) 2 Clatter sticks (13) 2 Padded Sticks (14) 2 Agitation Whips (15) Cones, Flags and Markers. (16) Semi-Automatic Blank Gun (17) Meter Jump, Window Jump. (18) Agitation Muzzle

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Appendix 3: Attention Training & Heeling Attention heeling refers to heeling with the dog’s attention and displaying a picture of enthusiasm, correctness, and control. Good heeling is a thing of beauty, a partnership between trainer and dog. Good attentive heeling is so important to a competition dog because it sets the tone for all of your work, and I mean all. It helps to control and focus your dog, before tracking on your approach to the scent pad, not to mention it is present in virtually all of your obedience and protection exercises. Attention heeling is not just for sport dogs. In my opinion, police K9s can benefit thoroughly from attentive heeling as well. It keeps you dog quiet and focused during building searches as you get into proper tactical position without giving away your position. If you are going to do directional sends, attention to you is a pre-requisite. There is no reason for poor heeling, yet we observe it all the time. I will attempt to share with you some techniques I have employed for teaching competitive heeling. I want to make it clear that I have borrowed ideas and techniques from many other trainers and have used them in a way that suits a given dog’s particular temperament. I have learned a lot from other competition trainers I have known, watched and read, and I owe them a debt of gratitude. Many of these techniques I will discuss have been around a long time, and have been refined by those that have used them. In this article I will describe some techniques. A technique is useless if it is not applied with a proper understanding of timing (of both rewards and corrections) and when to move on to the next step, after proper time has been devoted to repetition. Additionally, you must use your own creativity as a trainer to make adjustments during the process to help your dog achieve the picture you desire. Thus, what I present here are some guidelines, as the trainer you must make the recipe your own based on what you know about your dog’s strengths and weaknesses. I cannot emphasize enough, that to be a good competition trainer, one must understand how dogs learn and process information. A thorough understanding of the processes of operant and classical conditioning is very important. It always amazes me how many people join a training club and do not make the investment to read and learn about what they are doing. If you wish to be competitive, you must be a student of dog training before you will be a practitioner. Areas like learning theory, behavior, and methods are important foundations for the aspiring trainer. Canine Requirements I prefer the dog to have both high food drive and high object drive (I like jute rolls rather than balls or other toys), but you can get away with only food drive if that is all your dog displays. What if he has neither food nor object drive? Find a new competition dog. All kidding aside, our goal is to mold an attentive picture of driven work, no drive, no driven work, that simple.

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I break my heeling training into 2 parts: the attention phase, and the drive phase. In the attention phase, we teach the dog what attention is, and then we teach him that this attention is mandatory. When we are finished with this phase, neither the food nor our toy are required as “attractions” to the dog for his attention, meaning that they are not necessary for the dog to be attentive. We need not rely on the dog believing the ball is in our coat in order for him to be attentive, because we teach him that attention is mandatory. Yes, attention is also rewarded, and inattention is corrected. I will deal with the motivation vs. compulsion question at the end of this article, although I have never had a problem with a dog showing very high drive in heeling despite the mandatory nature of the training. In the drive phase, once we have taught attention and then established the mandatory nature of attention, we increase the power of our reward, moving from food to a jute roll as a reward. Since I began in schutzhund I used jute to reward my competition dogs. However, it was not until I met my friend Rich Pastucka of Holzland Kennels (trainer of Uras vom Haus Anja SchH 3, world team member), that I learned how a jute roll can be used to achieve unbelievable results. I have never seen anyone work a dog in obedience with faster hands, better timing, or more remarkable technique than Rich. Why use a jute roll? It complements our protection phase for obvious reasons, but also, it keeps the focus on the handler. The reward is not thrown away from the handler, like with a ball, and the dog is taught to focus and drive into the handler for his reward. It allows us to reward, and keep the continuity of the exercise. We can also build frustration by making the dog miss the bite on the reward, ultimately giving it when the dog is most highly driven and attentive. Once given, the reward and the dog stay in the vicinity of the handler. There will be more about the drive phase in the next installment. The Attention Phase Food training gets a bad rap sometimes, mostly because people who give it a bad rap don’t know how to do it properly. If food is used as bait, i.e. it is always visible in hand or in a pouch, the dog comes to associate the presence of the food with his work, and in the absence of the food, it may show less drive and enthusiasm, this is simple conditioning. Food must be switched from bait to a reward system as quickly as learning permits. Teaching the dog he must perform first, and trust us that he will be rewarded, regardless of whether he perceives an imminent piece of food. And further, rewards must be moved to a variable schedule as soon as learning permits. At this point I like to teach the dog to catch the food from my mouth, this is not necessary, but makes the dog focus up to your face and not look at your hands all the time, ultimately our goal is to have the dog looking up at us. Catching is facilitated if you toss it up in the air in front of him first a few times to teach him to time his eye-mouth coordination. Then put him in the front position, and drop pieces to him, right over his mouth. Do not let him go to the ground ever, ever, not once to get a dropped piece. Keep your leash short, and make him try harder to time the catch, not take the easy way out.

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I will assume he can catch food dropped from your mouth to his as we proceed from this point. This takes time to master, but keep at it. Now, lets define our training procedures in terms of goals for this phase of the heeling training. Goal #1: Attention while standing still: “watch” means: “look up at me.”

If your dog cannot pay attention to you while standing perfectly still, he will not be able to do it when you are moving in a consistent way. Now, when I say attention, I mean looking up at you until you release him. Attention has a beginning and an end: command/release. I teach my dog an attention command, like “watch” or “look” separate from “Fuss” at this point. I want a command that means look at me, separate from the heel command. Why? Sometimes I want to be able to ask my dog to look at my face without him being in heel position to do it. I will later chain the “fuss-watch me” commands together so that “fuss” will mean he must be watching my face, but this will come later. We begin with the dog in heel position. Always start in perfect heel position, make the dog know from the beginning that we want it all a certain way. Have the dog straight in heel position. Command “watch” and take a piece of food from your mouth with your hand and take it down to his nose, let him nibble on it, and then draw it back on a line from his nose to your mouth. Then repeat again, back to his nose, very slowly, as he watches the food, and let him nibble on the piece, then draw it up to your mouth again. If at any time he loses focus, wave the food under his nose and draw his attention back to your face. As soon as he re-focuses on your face, take the food on a line from your face to his nose and let him nibble it and release him, with an “ok” or “free” release command. This is done in a non-distracting teaching environment so you set the dog up for success right from the start. If he tries to jump at the food, use the sit command to keep him in place or use your leash to keep him in the sit at your side. He should know what sit means before you attempt to heel with him. After a few sessions, try dropping the food reward from your mouth to him. Since you already taught him to catch this transition should be easy. Get away from using your hand to bait him as quickly as possible. This is the transition to reward from baiting I discussed earlier. Vary the frequency of the rewards, in other words don’t time the drops every 10 seconds, vary it to keep the dog’s interest high. Make multiple drops in a row sometimes. Critical: If at any time he loses eye lock with your face, draw his attention back to your lips, by making some lip smacking noises, or using your hand to pull out a piece and wave it in front of his nose and back to your face. Avoid using your hand if you can to keep the focus off your hands. As soon as he looks back to your face, drop the reward to him, and release him, move him out of heel position, as you pat and fuss over him. There are no corrections given yet. When, in this low distraction environment, he keeps focus on you consistently, and you only have to reorient his attention infrequently, you are ready to move on to the next step. Goal #2: Attention while standing still. “Watch” now means: “you must look at me.”

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You will need a pinch collar (preferred) and a short obedience leash. Place the pinch high on his neck, and position the leash running from his neck when he is in proper heel position, so that the leash looks as if it is running up the outside seam of your pants, into your left hand, which will give the attention correction. I mean almost no slack at all, so the correction will be almost instant. The correction will be given for looking away from your face once the watch command is given. The jerk should be made up toward your face, along the seam of your pants, not backwards. Watch your body position, keep correct posture, face your body forward, and give the dog the picture of your body you want him to come to know. When you make corrections, timing is critical, I teach my students to pay close attention and read their dog. I want to make this correction as the dog is in the process of looking away, not after he has already turned his head away. Intervention as the dog is just beginning to look off will teach him quicker, before he gets focused on the distraction while he still remembers what he was doing. The most effective corrections come at the instant the dog chooses to behave improperly. (Another ex: correct your dog’s stay as he is in the process of getting up, not after he has moved). Pay attention, very close attention. As soon as you bring the dog into heel position you should be ready (food in the mouth already), and immediately give the watch command. Reward him as usual, with variable reward food drops, but if he looks away now, we will correct him with a sharp leash pop up toward your face. As soon as he responds to the correction by looking back to your face, drop a piece of food and release him, praising big. You may have to finesse the first few corrections, to get the dog to understand the meaning of the correction. He already has experience with being redirected from inattention back to your face, now the correction will serve to motivate him to keep from looking away. When he is comfortable with this sequence: inattention, correction, refocus, reward, and release, you can then start demanding he continue watching without a release after he is corrected for inattention. Now you can begin to demand longer and longer periods of attention. Remember your routine of heeling is long; he must be able to focus for at least that kind of duration. Build slowly, always varying the lengths of attention, some long, some short, so you don’t bore him or you. Now you can start adding more distractions, new places, etc. slowly to generalize this attention behavior. Remember, use minimum force to motivate the dog to respond, but be ready to increase the level of the correction when distractions come into play. When the dog learns to look back at you after a correction, and when you see him working to avoid a correction when distractions are available you are ready to move to the next step. Up to this point we have done nothing spectacular, but teach the dog a command, and teach him how we enforce his compliance with that command. There is the teaching phase, correction phase, and proofing phase. This should be very standard stuff. In the teaching phase, no corrections were given, just help. In the correction phase we teach the dog that compliance is mandatory. In the proofing phase we teach that compliance occurs in all contexts. This is where the dog learns to generalize the behavior. Don’t forget that

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this part is critical (see part 1 of this article in the May issue). Many trainers mistakenly think the dog knows something before it is generalized. Goal #3: Attention while moving. “Heel” means: “watch me while we walk”

The dog is in heel position, looking up attentively now, and you are ready to start moving. Remember now, this is a brand new context for the dog. We must go back to helping him. The correction we have taught him is for looking away only; however it has been in the context of standing still. When we start moving the dog may or may not want to look where he is going. We don’t want him to drop his head when we start. a.

Begin in slow motion, except for the first step.

With the dog beginning in proper heel position, take food from your mouth with your hand, but keep it near your mouth. Talk to him. Verbally pump him up, bend your knees a little, as if you are going to spring forward. Lower the food to his mouth let him nibble on it, and while he is nibbling, command “Fuss-watch me”, (This begins the process of chaining the watch me command with the fuss command), and overexaggerate the motion of stepping off with your left foot. As you do, simultaneously draw the food up and forward from his mouth then back to your lips as you heel just fast enough to keep him going forward and focused on the food. You can remind him to “watch” to keep him from looking off. Go only a few steps, then release and reward him. Try not to correct him if he looks away the first few sessions. Try to refocus him by lowering the food to his mouth, and then drawing it back up. This is a new context, so try to help him before administering corrections. Now, the first couple of times will be a cluster of bad timing and mistakes. Don’t worry, just start over. When he seems to get the idea and draws his attention to your face following the food, and keeps focused on your face as you step off then you can reincorporate the correction for watch me. You will also want to stop using your hand holding the food to draw him forward. b.

Step off with him looking at your face, no hands.

Start in heel position, show him some food between your lips, and drop it to him for a few catches in heel position. Then show him another piece, and repeat the step-off, over-exaggerating again, giving him “Fuss-watch me” as the command. If he comes with you properly, looking at your face, staying in position, reward him with a drop. You are going in slow motion here so he should be able to catch it. If not you can halt first, giving the sit command and dropping then releasing. If at any time he looks away, use the correction we have taught him: correct the attention, then immediately reward and release. Then move to the following sequence: correction – refocus continue heeling with some verbal praise acknowledging his proper response.

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c.

Generalize.

Now your dog is heeling attentively! But do this only for a few steps. Your job now is to slowly increase the number of steps, until you can heel 20 – 30 paces straight without him looking away. Then do this under more distraction, just 20-30 paces at a time, no turns yet. We will discuss heeling skills in the next installment, turns, halts, etc. As you work with him, don’t forget to praise warmly when he is heeling correctly with attention, looking at you. Talk to him; use your voice to reinforce him, not just the food. These are the first steps in the attentive heeling program. There is nothing earthshattering here. Other trainers have previously discussed these techniques, in one form or another. I think the key point here is that we have taught motivationally, allowing the dog to become comfortable in the learning process, yet we have set a standard for compliance. We have made the exercise clearly mandatory to the dog. Motivation, Compulsion, and Competing Motivations There has been a movement in dog training to motivational training, and a recent excellent article in DSM by Deborah Palman explained the virtues of training motivationally. However, I think many novice trainers believe that you are either a “motivational-method” trainer or a “compulsive-method” trainer, and there is nothing in between. Many trainers are making lots of mileage out of knocking any method that demands compliance, by maintaining that it causes the bond to suffer, or makes the dog nervous, or many other criticisms. What I think gets left out is that there is more to conditioning behavior in dogs than the teaching process. In fact, while I believe that the teaching process, i.e. where we introduce the dog to new behaviors on command cue, should be completely free of compulsion, I do not believe that a dog can be trained completely reliably by motivation alone in most circumstances. Detection training comes to mind, but here we stack the deck in our favor, selecting only those dogs that have few competing motivations to retrieving. What do I mean by competing motivations? There are many things that motivate your dog to act. Food, sex, biting, playing, prey behavior, and defensive behaviors are some of any dog’s motivations. When training motivationally we try to pick a reward that strongly motivates the dog so he will work to attain it, such as a ball, jute, food, etc. It is, however, important to realize that the dog’s motivation for this reward will vary in the presence of competing motivations. Here is an example: My first schutzhund dog refused to out of a slipped sleeve. Out off the man, no problem, but out off the sleeve in his possession? Forget it. Another trainer suggested that I take a piece of hotdog and whip it under his nose to distract him off of the sleeve, then I could reward him for outing the sleeve with the food. Now, as novice as I was, on its face I thought this suggestion was foolish. Even though that dog would take your fingers off for food in a normal situation, I pretty well knew that my dog’s preferences ran something like this: Bite work, breeding, food, toys, etc. I knew he would not let go of the sleeve for food, he liked the sleeve better. Needless to say it didn’t work. But straight compulsion didn’t work either; I didn’t want to fight him for the sleeve, so I 113

changed the rules of the game. After the helper slipped the sleeve, instead of requiring an out, I said, let him have it he wants it so bad. He ran around blinds, up and down the field carrying it, and then I realized he liked the fight better than possessing the sleeve, so I taught him to bring it back to the helper after running around with it, and then called him out, off the helper. Problem solved: I could reward with a slipped sleeve and not get into a dominance fight. I solved this problem without force by using the concept of competing motivation to my advantage. He liked playing with the helper better than playing by himself. Often we train obedience with food motivation or a toy as motivation. Suppose a competing motivation appears, like another dog (I see this one all the time in my clients obedience dogs), or a new person they want to greet, or a squirrel, or for a schutzhund dog, a dressed helper. You cannot expect the promise of a food reward alone to hold the dog’s attention, if for that dog it cannot compete with the distraction! A correction can usually compete with these competing motivations however. We can change the intensity of the correction to match the situation, when we often cannot do the same with enough flexibility with motivations. Teaching the dog limits on his decision-making power is not a bad thing! I don’t want him thinking he can make the decision to break a stay and chase a car. Teach him he can make decisions in the learning process, he can learn from wrong decisions. But we must demand compliance to learned behavior if we are to be competitive in schutzhund. There are dogs that are so handler focused, so biddable that there is little compulsion needed to proof them. That is terrific if you have that kind of dog, but most of us do not. By teaching the dog that exercises are mandatory, we set limits on his behavior. It does not mean that the dog will be lower in drive, unhappy, or will resent you. If applied properly, when the dog understands the exercise, and we have taught him that he may not make the decision to disobey, there is no reason for him to be “ruined”. In fact compulsion is a natural force in his environment. Momma will use negative reinforcement, the pack would use negative reinforcement, and nature itself relies heavily on it. Use common sense, and don’t be afraid to enforce commands. If your dog is too weak to accept discipline, he may not be strong enough for competitive dog sports. And further, by teaching him that he can bounce back from a correction, he becomes stronger in character. This is your job as a trainer, not to hold a grudge, but to discipline, and then forgive and move on. This can make the bond very strong in fact. This is a very clear component of pack behavior, as anyone who watches dogs knows well. Discipline must imply acceptance, always.

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Appendix 4: Off-Leash Training & Progressive Use of the Electronic Collar Every new trainer desperately wants to know the secret to off-leash control. How one gets there is not so apparent. In on-leash training, it is clear that the leash is there to enforce the commands, but what happens if the leash comes off? The behavioral basis for off leash training, just like on-leash training, lies in conditioning. A dog’s response to commands off-leash must become a habit. If the behavior is a habit, then there should be no reason the dog performs the command any differently in any different context. The question then becomes how do you perfect the habit, or condition these off-leash behaviors, without a leash? Typically there are 2 approaches to off-leash training. The first is the long-line method. Once the behaviors you want are conditioned with the dog on a short leash, switch to a long line, and let the dog drag the long line. Then the line is there to grab, and enforce commands. It becomes part of life, and the dog drags it everywhere. The problem is, if you live in a house with a landscaped yard, the leash will get fouled in trees, or in the woods on a walk. It can be cumbersome. If the dog gets 30 or more feet away, you will have to run to the leash to enforce commands. This presents a bad-timing issue. The second approach is to train the dog using an electronic training collar (E-Collar). The electronic training collar is gaining more and more widespread use and acceptance in both pet training circles and working dog training, with excellent results. The e-collar often gets bad press, especially from pure-motivation dog trainers. I believe these criticisms are based on false analogies and appeals to emotion and have no basis in fact. As with any training device which is designed to administer an aversive stimulus, it can be misused. But rather than condemn the device based on isolated misuse we should all learn and teach more about its proper use. It is important to establish guidelines regarding how and when to employ it, and with what kinds of canine temperaments. When it is an appropriate tool to achieve the goals we have for our dogs, it is unsurpassed in its ease of use and efficiency in meeting those goals. Some decry its use simply because it is a form of aversive stimulus. Their argument usually is formulated on the grounds that aversive stimuli in training will “break the bond” between dog and handler and cause the dog discomfort and he will associate you with that discomfort. I believe this can be true, under certain circumstances, and especially when the collar is used as a teaching tool, rather than a tool for administering positive punishment (corrections), for competing motivations that interfere with positively reinforced learned behaviors. The benefits to using the collar to deliver aversive stimuli are many. Primarily, it allows the trainer to teach that unacceptable behaviors do have consequences; regardless of how 115

close the dog is to you, or whether the dog is wearing a leash and is tethered to the trainer. It allows for consistent levels of correction in a wider variety of contexts. Dogs trained to off-leash control can go to the beach, swimming, hiking in the woods, and still remain under control should some competing motivation arise.32 Further, one can administer the aversive without becoming physical with the dog. By necessity, a leash correction requires the trainer to make hand and arm movements, which can cue behavior. In addition, the e-collar allows unemotional delivery of corrections, and lessens the association between the handler and dog with the negative stimulus, for dogs with temperaments that are soft in nature. In fact, many people think that soft temperaments are poor candidates for e-collar training, and in my opinion, just the opposite is true. Dogs that are sensitive to the handler can be corrected on very low levels of stimulation, and the handler is not physically delivering the correction. In this article we will explore how training is done with these devices. Electrical Engineering 101 Electronic training collars (e-collars) are comprised of a collar receiver that goes around the neck of the dog, and a transmitter that is held in the hand of the trainer. The trainer can choose how to deliver the stimulation, either by pressing the “nick” button or the “continuous” button. In “nick” mode, the transmitter delivers a pre-timed burst of stimulation on the order of a fraction of a second. In continuous mode, the collar delivers a continuous string of these pre-timed bursts as long as the button is held down. In this mode the collar usually has a fail-safe allowing only 10 seconds maximum stimulation. The stimulation delivered is a very low amperage electrical charge, which stimulates the nerve endings in the neck. It feels exactly like a static electricity shock you might get from wearing wool socks on a carpet and then touching a doorknob. We have all done this, and felt startled, but we know that it is impossible for it to hurt us. One feature of getting a static electric shock is that one usually doesn’t want to repeat it. This is the essential feature of low amperage stimulation that is useful in training a dog – the dog learns to do what we want in order to avoid the unpleasant sensation. To understand how an e-collar provides an unpleasant stimulation, yet doesn’t damage sensitive tissue; one needs to understand a little about electricity and how it generates power. Electrical current has two essential features: voltage and amperage. The power of an electrical current is measured in Watts, and is the product of voltage multiplied by amperage. If we think of an electrical circuit as a pipe with water flowing through it, voltage is the force of the water pushing through the pipe, and amperage is the volume of electrical current flowing through the pipe. E-collars have high force but ultra low volume. Thus if the amps are low, even if the voltage is high, you can have high force behind the electrical current, but a very low output of power. It’s like being shot with a water pistol 32

See my article Control and attention….for a discussion of the Problem of Competing Motivations.

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versus a fire hose. A water pistol has a large force on a tiny volume of water. A fire hose has a high force on a high volume of water. Many people make a false analogy between e-collars and getting “shocked” by the kind of electricity one would find in a house. House electrical current, or that from a car battery for that matter, is high amperage. High amperage means there is a high volume of electrical current, which can actually do physical damage. E-collars do not carry high amperage, and thus are unable to cause physical damage. The manufacturers sell most modern electronic training collars as stand alone training systems. Their instructions include procedures for employing the collar as a teaching tool, to teach the dog new associations between command words and behaviors. This is done through using a behavioral consequence known as negative reinforcement. Reinforcement is any consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior. Negative reinforcement requires removing an unpleasant consequence to increase the likelihood of a behavior. To do this with an e-collar, one puts the collar on a low setting and presses the continuous mode button, holding it down. The trainer then guides the dog into the behavior (e.g. “Sit”), or waits for the dog to figure out what behavior is required, and when the dog places his rear on the ground, the trainer releases the button, thus removing the unpleasant stimulation. The dog makes an association: sit removes the unpleasant feeling, thus increasing the likelihood of the sitting behavior. There are, however, a few built in side effects to this approach. First, in order to remove the unpleasant feeling when the dog achieves the intended behavior, we must first induce the unpleasant feeling. This also provides an association: new learning can be unpleasant. Depending on the temperament of the dog, this can have no impact whatsoever, or can have a dramatic impact on the dog’s behavior and desire to learn. Some of the trainers using this approach tout the fast results, and resulting calmness of the dog. When in reality the dog is stressed, and on the verge of shutting down, because he doesn’t understand until he has had many repetitions what he is to do to escape the unpleasant feelings. The result is he is afraid to do anything that might bring on more unpleasant feeling. All learning is stressful to a dog, but by a matter of degrees. When the dog has no idea of how to escape the unpleasant stimulation, he likely will shift into a defensive mood. When in a defensive mood, a dog has three options: to choose to fight against it, to choose an avoidance strategy, or to displace (shut down). The goal of negative reinforcement training is to have the dog figure out that he can avoid the unpleasant feeling by performing a very specific behavior, e.g. to sit. When considering this particular behavior out of the myriad choices of behaviors, one can imagine that the dog will go through a number of behaviors that don’t work, since he hasn’t been taught which behavior actually will work. Some trainers call this “exploring behaviors.” I see it as a hole in the method. Why not teach the dog a set of behaviors that are likely to come into play, in a non-stressful way, before applying unpleasant stimulation. In fact before using

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the collar at all, why not train these behaviors motivationally, then use the collar as a form of positive punishment? Punishment, in the animal behavior context, is any consequence that reduces the likelihood of a behavior. Positive punishment means we apply an unpleasant consequence (e-collar stimulation) to reduce the likelihood of a given behavior. In this sense, we will positively punish all unwanted behaviors, and positively reinforce all trained behaviors. The e-collar then becomes a tool for what we normally refer to as correction, rather than a teaching tool. This avoids the majority of the stress of the old method of negative reinforcement training, and results in negative associations only with unwanted behaviors, and positive associations with all trained behaviors. There may be times when negative reinforcement is a valuable approach to teach a particular behavior in a particular way. However I still believe that teaching the dog the route to escape the negative consequence will make the training proceed in a less stressful way, and consequently it is easier for the dog to choose an avoidance strategy that will work and end the stimulation. One training concept often trained with negative reinforcement is the retrieve of the object exercise in any of the protection sports: schutzhund, ring, or PSA for example. The reason we train a retrieve with negative reinforcement is to obtain two important goals: First, the dog must think of retrieving as work and not play. A dog that retrieves only out of play may have many other competing motivations, especially dogs of this caliber that do protection sports. Let’s say he likes to bite the decoy more than retrieve. All the dog needs to think, then, is there is the promise of bite work, and he may choose not retrieve at a crucial time. Second, play retrieving also brings with it many characteristics that are judged negatively: fast to the object and slow to return, mouthing and playing with the object, nosing it, pawing at it, etc. The force tends to make the dog think of the exercise as more urgent and important than any possible competing motivation. The force also makes it less of a game, and diminishes the likelihood that the dog will play with the object or drop it like he may with a play toy. Given that there may be valid reasons for using negative reinforcement training, then, why not make the entire exercise easier for the dog to learn, rather than more difficult. There must be a better way than allowing the dog to “explore” random behaviors. Thankfully, there is a better way. Teach the dog to hold and grab the object motivationally (it may not be possible with some dogs that have no desire to retrieve, but this is a big minority) first, to give the dog a sense of the exercise. So, whether you are teaching new concepts by positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement, there is ample reason to attempt to lay a motivational foundation to the required work. The next issue is, how do we do it, and then how exactly do we add the ecollar into the training in a way that it is very clear for the dog, and minimizes stress, and maximizes performance.

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The Concept of Pairing Corrections E-collar companies, and some of the e-collar trainers now teaching seminars on its use, often begin their introduction to using the e-collar by saying that right from the beginning we can teach your dog without ever using a leash, and standard on-leash training is out of date with the new e-collar technology. It is much easier to introduce positive punishment in the form of a leash correction. Leashes attached to training collars have 2 components of interest: force and direction. A leash tugged gently in the upward direction, after a dog is taught motivationally (positive reinforcement & negative punishment) to sit, is a very easy way to deal with noncompliance to a learned behavior. The leash provides a reason not to choose to ignore the command to sit, and it also provides guidance on how to correct the inappropriate response. Each command has an associated leash correction, on which we can vary the force, and provide feedback to the dog on what exactly was required by the command. We teach what we refer to as guiding corrections to introduce the dogs to leash corrections (their first introduction to positive punishment). Guiding corrections have very little force but apply guidance to the dog about what he did wrong and how to correct himself in the future. He learns therefore what each of the leash corrections mean, before they become a truly aversive stimulus. Once this is complete we morph the guiding corrections into standard leash corrections when commands are not properly executed. This is just increasing the level of the force until it is enough to positively punish the unwanted behavior in the given context. Once the dog understands the meaning of leash corrections, we can introduce the e-collar as a new correction. To do this we employ simple classical conditioning to teach the dog, in a given context, that the e-collar stimulation (an aversive stimulus) means the same thing as the leash correction. The problem is that e-collars employ only force and not direction, the stimulation comes from the same direction all the time. Some trainers will move the collar box around the dog, up on the top of the neck for the down correction, under for the sit correction, etc. I don’t do this either, as I believe it makes the dog wise to the placement of the collar. Before I describe the procedure, I would like to mention that for me, the e-collar is best used as a correction for the action commands of heel and come initially. In fact for any pet dogs we train, those are the only corrections we give on the e-collar. This makes the context very easy for the dog to process. And for the average pet dog owner, if a dog breaks a stay, the dog can be called back to the handler and the come enforced with the ecollar, and then the dog is placed back in the stay. As working dogs progress through the heeling, we will introduce corrections in other contexts using the collar, but they are few. Most other training can be managed without resort to e-collar corrections. I do use the e-collar paired up with a verbal reprimand so that I can get more out of my verbal corrections. But to understand this we must explore the concept of pairing corrections. 119

Classical or associative conditioning is what we rely on to switch the correction from a leash correction to an e-collar correction. Classical conditioning relies on the research of Ivan Pavlov, the Russian researcher who discovered that an initially neutral stimulus (ringing a bell) when paired with an unconditioned stimulus (one we don’t necessarily have to teach the dog – like salivation in the presence of food in Pavlov’s work) would elicit the same response as the unconditioned stimulus. He discovered that the path to this result is that the conditioned stimulus must closely precede the unconditioned stimulus in time. We apply the same approach to the introduction of the new e-collar correction: The correction we wish to condition, that of the e-collar, is placed in time closely preceding the existing leash correction for heeling. The leash correction for heeling is a 180-degree turn with a jerk-and-release correction on the training collar (pinch or choke – I prefer the pinch). Thus what we do is as follows: when the dog shows an undesirable behavior (say, forges out of heel position) the trainer makes a 180-degree turn, nicks the dog on the ecollar, and follows that with the familiar jerk-and-release correction on the leash and training collar. The dog will soon learn that if he forges or goes wide, the e-collar will stimulate him, and that means get back in position. Over a period of sessions we look for anticipation: the dog reacts to the e-collar correction after it is administered, and before the trainer follows up with the jerk-andrelease. This anticipation clearly shows that the dog understands that the e-collar correction now means get back in position. The trainer can now eliminate the leash correction and eventually just carries the leash until the dog makes few if any errors. At that point the leash can be discarded, and the e-collar correction controls any unwanted behavior we may get during heeling. Notice that the heeling behavior itself is already well established before we go to the e-collar. Thus good associations are made with correct behavior, and the only negative associations are associated with inappropriate behaviors. It is easy to extend this simple philosophy to any correction you make that involves a leash. The come command is a natural extension. Further one can add the extra dimension of the verbal reprimand into the heeling and come corrections. Just before the nick correction on the e-collar for unwanted behaviors, use your “no” command – I usually make a nasty grunt, it doesn’t matter what it is, just that it precede the e-collar correction, making a further classical association. This gives power to your verbal reprimand – it is backed by the compulsive power of the physical e-collar correction. I use this to deal with many other situations, such as stay commands, and corrections for sit and down, but especially if I see the dog is about to make a mistake, the reprimand “nips it in the bud” before a physical correction must be given. Correcting a dog before he makes a mistake is much more effective than correcting him after the fact. But you must be a good trainer able to anticipate the errors before they are full-blown errors.

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Conclusion E-collars offer us an efficient method of correction, for many behaviors, and especially for dealing with competing motivations. The E-collar can be employed to teach a correction for inattention in competition heeling, simply by pairing the “nick” prior to the familiar correction on the prong collar for a “watch” command. In my opinion, teaching using negative reinforcement is outdated. We must remember that stress induced during the training process is cumulative, and by using the e-collar correction which is very effective as an aversive stimulus for all commands, allows the accumulation of stress which can affect performance. Make learning exciting and fun, by teaching new associations motivationally. Then, after these good behaviors are established, demand compliance to these trained behaviors by using thoughtful compulsion with an e-collar.

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References Raiser, Helmut (1996). Der Schurtzhund. Armin Winkler Publishing. Bradshaw, Jerry (1998). Defense Training the Young Prospect. The Malinois Handler. August/September. Bradshaw, Jerry (2000). Drive Development & the Hold and Bark. Dog Sports Magazine. January. Hilliard, Stewart. Ph.D. (2001, 2002) Seminars at Tarheel Canine Training, Inc., October 2001, Dec 2002.

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