Bite Work training before pup is a year? - Page 3

hmm. thats a good question too.. Therapy work is soothing and calming for dogs..(and owners)  .. I loved going to nursing homes and seeing the elderly light up when they got to pet a dog! And we arent as 'frazzled' and trying to accomplish anything but good manners !!

Big smiles Swingfield.  That is the work/ training I know.  Max is doing that and he is coming along better than I could ever dream.  I do not talk about him much, as I have few questions about him. 

It is Cirberus that I am virtually clueless about, thus most of my questions are about her.

I will try to post an update thread on Max and try to get in a few pictures of him in action over the weekend.

Now this is my opinion.. and everyone varies in their beliefs.. but I 'believe' that  a dog should see all its going to see by 4 months of age.. I try to live by that mantra.. wheelchairs, stairs, small children (especially at playground.. talk about screaming and running and teaching they arent prey to be chased) , old people with walkers are a good example with patience, white people, black people.. all people.. (no my k-9 isnt prejudiced.. he hates everyone) lol... I seriously believe that the window slowly shuts.. we can get by it.. but it seems to be a slower process.. You can see the wheels turning in their mind when they get older and come across something they saw as a pup and approach it with much more confidence.. so get him outside and just GO !! you both will learn a lot from each other!! sherry Glad to know Max does the good work too !!

Fawn,

To be very direct bite work is not something to be 'dabbled in' especially with a young dog and a completely inexperienced handler.  

You could wind up confusing your pup in ways that will affect her ability to thrive in other areas of training.

If you want to pursue bitework, then you NEED to find a club you can go to and work with a qualified training director and a helper.    The BH, obedience and even tracking can be done (to an extent) on your own and with input from videos and books but bite work is an ART and to do it right you need someone hands on with you, helping you as a handler while the helper works with your dog.

Despite what it looks like on the videos, there is SO MUCH MORE to helper worker than just putting on a sleeve and holding your arm out to the dog. 

To support what Slam has said, unless you are in a position to dedicate yourself to going to a club, take the pressure off yourself and Cirberus and focus on your BH, Obedience and perhaps Tracking.

Ok... so second question, same topic though.   Would, say waiting until she is over 2 years old, just way to late to even consider starting bite work? 

My family and I have started the process to move back towards the city when my son graduates in 2014.  As you stated, much of the other areas I can generally do on my own.  Once we move closer to the city, joining a club will be so much easier and I can attend the trainings and classes that are during the week.

Each dog is a unique indvidual and some dogs can take to the training at any time.  It will depend upon the dog, it may be more difficult than starting with a puppy and you may have to find the right sort of club but it can be done.

What you can do in the meantime, which will also help your obedience, is pick up the videos on building drive and working in drive.    

But being able to go to club regularly would be much better than trying to do it on your own, especially if you are not sure in your own mind that you want to pursue this with her.

It you really want to try it, I would get the dog evaluated by a good club/helper ASAP.  A lot of people don't do much if any bitework before a dog is around 2, but usually that is for a good reason, and the dog's other training in other phases has also been tailored depending on the overall goal for the dog.  But this again assumes that the handler and club have a good idea about how the dog works and a plan for the training.  I personally would not wait just for the sake of it.  I'd get the dog evaluated and if it becomes apparent that the dog needs more maturity, then I would wait and tailor the other training with that in mind (not doing stuff that will cause conflicts later on when starting bitework).  Even if you aren't starting bitework until later on, you still have to be thinking about it now, if that makes sense.

VKGSD,

Not trying to dispute your sound advice but I would suggest that there is a difference between *thinking* about protection work and *understanding* it.   

Without someone with experience there to help walk Fawn through the why of protection work it could be even more confusing for both her and the dog to just get snippets here and there and especially anything on the internet is suspect!!!

Wouldn't it be better for her to focus on the concepts of drive and obedience, which she can learn from some very good videos and then apply to her obedience and tracking work, then have a one time evaluation and try to build a protection work foundation by herself until she can get, regularly, to a club?

I'm just thinking that this is a case where 'no training' is better than 'bad training' in this one phase.  

If she can wait till she has access to a club she can go too regularly, I would think that would be better, especially since she could get an evaluation from one trainer and then wind up at a club that trains an entirely different way.   That would really confuse the poor dog.

RLHAR, actually I agree with you, just wanted to point out that she might *not* be able to go back to bitework later on.   There are many good reasons to wait but the other training that is done in the mean time will also influence how the dog works in protection later on.  By waiting you are not protecting a dog from having more issues, is what I meant.