If you were going to train a Siberian Husky in bite work what approach would you take? - Page 1

Siberian Huskies have high prey drive, but how would you channel that into the bite suit. I am not interested in comments about Huskies being an off breed for bite work and to go get a Malinois or GSD.

What I am curious about is what approach would a seasoned trainer in bite work or decoy work do to get a Siberian Husky to bite a decoy aggressively with a full mouth grip. I believe this breed (as well as other Northern Breeds) has unique traits that an experienced helper would need to study up on in order to exploit its strengths and minimize the breeds' weaknesses.

Thank you

Don't know anything about bite training, but if someone can train a Standard Poodle to be a protection dog, then why not a Husky. And yes, many years ago a guy trained a Standard Poodle for his wife to attack on a command from her. Poodles are smart dogs, but they can be deadly as well. Almost feel sorry for anyone that Poodle attacked, cause not only would they never see it coming as it's a Poodle, but that dog loved to bite and was very reluctant to let go. I swear in a past life that Poodle was a Pit Bull.

Uber - just because a dog may have drive to chase/kill a cat or squirrel does not mean that it will translate into the drive necessary to take on a man wearing a sleeve or in a suit. There are exceptions in most large breeds, and I have seen a fair number of "off" breeds doing schutzhund, including a standard poodle that was bite-trained (Lunastar - was that in WA state?). The only way you will know if your dog is capable of doing bitework is to find a club with a knowledgeable helper that can assess/work your dog, or to find a trainer who can do this. Of course, if you want to do sport, the other disciplines within, like obedience and perhaps tracking, will need to be trained as well. If you are looking for a protection-trained dog only, then do your research diligently because there are a lot of so-called 'trainers' out there that can do more harm than good and separate you from your money very quickly.

Koots,

No interest in having a protection dog. Only interested in the Ring Sports.

My curiosity is whether a husky could be channeled through defense drive.

Uber - usually, the dominant drive is used to initiate, then one channels into the non-dominant drive, if possible. A good helper/decoy will work with what the dog presents.    You did not mention anything about defence drive, only prey drive, so I am guessing that is the dominant drive of your dog. The rest of my post still applicable, whether you want a sport (Ring, IPO, PSA, etc.) dog or protection dog.

Not use a Siberian Husky--they were bred to specifically not show aggression to humans. In WWII, the military tried to use Malamutes and Huskies as dual purpose dogs--freight and protection. Out of 1000, they could get 6 to bite.

AjuaqShowDogs,

Could you please attach a link to the study or at least cite where you found this info? I am aware they were used in WWII, mainly for freight.

I don't know how knowledgeable you are of the ring sports, but most dogs in the ring sports only bite someone in a bite suit and see it as an advanced game of tug. Training a dog in personal protection is a whole different matter that I am not interested in.

Lastly, I am not interested in making a husky aggressive towards humans and I believe the vast majority of ring sports dogs are not human aggressive and have well-rounded temperaments. Ring Sports are a sport.

Uber - I don't know how familiar you are with Ring sport but I have trained in it for a bit (with a Mal) and am familiar with many dog training disciplines.

You said- ".... what approach would a seasoned trainer in bite work or decoy work do to get a Siberian Husky to bite a decoy aggressively with a full mouth grip." Then you said - "My curiosity is whether a husky could be channeled through defense drive."

If a dog has sufficient prey drive of the correct type, then it MAY be able to be trained in Ring sport.   As I said in my original post, try to find a [Ring] club in your area with a decoy that can help to assess/train your dog.    That is the ONLY way you will know if YOUR dog can be trained in the sport.

 

 

 

My thoughts on Huskies (which may or may not be correct!) It seems to me that any animal which hunts prey will likely have a bit of defence drive, as if they are taking down large prey, the prey can turn on them and bash their brains out.

OTOH, the wolf blood that's in the husky can also cause a dog to be cautious and spook at new things. A wolf that lacks suspicion of new things is pretty soon a DEAD wolf!