I crossed the line!!! - Page 2

My SAR  team does not allow sch titled or trained at all....I am working to correct that. The majority of teams see it as a liability. Our insurance is high enough as it is. Then you add on top the misguided fear that a sch  on a search (being a gsd) goes into an area where a missing person is found alive. The person is already fearful(due to their situation) and even though the dog is wearing a vest that marks it as a SAR K9, the person "freaks" (numerous variables contribute to behavior change in a lost subject) and tries to ward the dog off with a stick, branch or whatever......the fear is the dog will attack to save itself.

Several of my schutzhunds have been doing therapy work for years. Our oldest dog, Diva (nearly13) for a few years went to work every day with my sil who worked at a school for children with ADD/ADHD/HAOBD. She would assist in finding the children when they would "stray" from the grounds. All of my dogs went to work with me when I was the residential director for a human service agency and ran programing for adults and children with developmental disabilities and other challenges. The ONLY time I had a problem with any of my dogs at work, is when an employee got ticked off at being fired, and had the nerve to pound on my desk. Under my desk was my SAR K9 (who flunked sch) who came out barking and ready to defend me. Luckily, she is well trained.  I often had teens from DCYF that I provided housing and programing for runaway, we used a couple of my sch to do the tracking on those kids, before I would send my SAR dog into the area.

My current competition dog, who is currently only a sch1 has been to more nursing homes, children centers and children cancer wards, than my SAR K9 has. She earned her TDI before she earned her sch title. In this day and age, there are so many nursing homes and such that ask for well trained dogs to come into the facilities.....they don't care about TDI or DS. I run the local humane society, I have numerous volunteers who come in several times a week to take dogs that are ready for adoption to nursing homes. These dogs are not TDI or DS, they are just good dogs, that make some one happy for an hour a day. As long as the person holding the leash can read a dog, and the dog is clean, I have no issues with a dog, ANY dog going to do therapy work. If my SAR K9 enjoyed bite work, which she doesn't, I would still work her in bite work, knowing full well, the added obedience makes my dog better! 

I just searched this subject because I was wondering if my dog could do therapy work. My old therapy dog is too old these days and I'm trying to decide if I can find the time to do it with another one. I just looked up on Delta's website and they say dogs trained to bite even in dog sports will not be accepted. This current boy has his BH but will hopefully have his 1 soon (if I can get off my lazy bottom and track him regularly:-)) He also has his CGC. Just was wondering...

 

 The biggest probem going out there is the largest group of these people doing SAR work and instructing SAR people have such a minimal undestanding and abality to understand drives in a working dog. There are some people that do SAR that truly understand drives and training but they are the exception not the rule. Where I live it has been my amuzement to experience several different groups "training" there dogs and the giggle i get listening to them examine and pick apart peoples dogs and training it is funny when you realize most of them have no clue non at all and the little turf wars that go on that also is amazing... just my 2 cents  

My first GS dog Judd, I started in Schutzhund,  then I worked him in Search and Rescue for about 2 yrs.  It was just the local county where I live, but our training directer knowing he was Schutzhund dog and unknown to me set up a search specificly to see how Judd would react to a person with what appeared to be a bite sleeve on. 

We were doing a wilderness search and I was assigned to a specific area,  Judd located the person (Our Training Directors Husband)  Within a fairly short period of time,  when I located the person, he had his arm all wrapped up almost like an injury or a cast (resembled a sleeve) and Judd didnt do anything but lick his face.  She wanted to see what his reaction would be if someone appeared to have a sleeve on.  He did fine.  Judd an extremely level headed working dog. 

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/390254.html

Needless to say, the two best dogs we had were both Schutzhund dogs.  They had the tracking down from Schutzhund and could also airscent.

Good luck,  this was quite a few years ago, and the requirements seem to have gotten strickter.  

KIM

I think the dog in question was Uno Bullinger. Brew was indeed a VERY good dog in the work and truly beautiful, deep black and red.

Yum yum!

SS

Pia,

   Where are you located?

                       Pia (my name as well! LOL)

k9sar

It is hard to say without seeing the dog itself.  Does he have good drives?  Does he chase and grab the ball if thrown?  What is he actually doing?  Does he not carry?

You may want to go back all the way to the beginning.  Put the dog on leash.  Get excited and get the dog excited.  Use a flirt pole or a rope with a rag/tug.  Get him to grab the reward and immeditely run him in a somewhat tight circle.  Don't give him the opportunity to drop the tug.  Praise him up while you are running him.  Let him know what a good boy he is and this is what you want.  After a few circles, bring him into you and do several things randomly.  The first few times, you should call him in, pat him on the side and give him some praise and go back into the circles.  Throw in a few games of tug of war and back into the circles.  After a bit of this the out can be throw in and back into working the drive.

A dog that thinks that the reward will be ripped from his mouth will bite harder.  The one thing that you have to remember about this philosophy, is that you may not even be to this point yet.  I don't know.  I am only going by what you have provided.   If the dog doesn't carry, the dog needs to learn that first.  Then you can work on the grip.

My girl Naya is Therapy Dog titled, Through THERAPY DOGS INC. Which is DIFFERENT than TDInternational, I went with TDInc. Because I called them and they had no problems with Naya having bite work training on her, but I did have to inform the tester, and she had to do a little extra examinations to see that no patients would be put at risk.

Something to think about.