Obedience in protection work - Page 1

Hi,

I like to know when is it appropriate to introduce some obedience in the protection routine?   In the beginning, it seem the right thing to do to encourage the young dog to be enthusiastic coming into the field.  The dog is usually barking with excitement when leashed up from the booth of the car to the field.  Do you allow this behaviour or would you steady the dog and correct this behaviour?  At what stage in protection training should obedience work be practised/ introduced?

I have seen handlers rewarding a roll bite/ ball  to instil obedience heeling (focus on the handler) as they bring the dog to a particular position in the field, say before the search for the blind.  Is this acceptable for a young dog

I am not sure whether I have addressed my question properly.  Please enlighten me.  Thanks.

G

As always, it depends on the dog.  A "softer" dog may need all the encouragement to bark and go nuts to show him that yes, good boy, you're doing exactly right, be CONFIDENT going after that helper.  Build the drive and enthusiasm and as he develops you start adding in the obedience.

An extremely confident, tough dog can have the control exercised on him sooner, because he can take it and it may even serve to make him MORE eager to get to do his job.

Also, if you are working with a quality helper, the helper should have a feel for what will work best for your particular dog.

Hi TessJ10,

I would agree with your last statement about entrusting your dog to a quality helper/ quality trainer/ quality club for feedback and advice.  What if you have to rely on your own wits to figure out what is best for you and your dog?

From the other threads I have read, some young dogs are overly enthusiastic whether they are prey driven or acting defensively from the start, I would not know.  However,  I do not particularly want to kill any drive with obedience when it is young.

I figure if a strong foundation to bitework is established, perhaps some control can be introduced. Righly so or not, I am unsure.

As Bancroft said, "I've come across a whole range of opinion from yes, lets start putting some control in early to absolutely not".

Anymore takers please?

I like the control on this dog.

www.youtube.com/watch

Thanks Bancroft for sharing.  If B.Flinks likes the dog himself, that dog at 13 months is definately promising.

I am surprise there isn't as much input for this thread!?!  Is it so obvious?

THis is one exceptional dog. Like mr. flinks said it him self, this is not what you will find in all dogs, dog like that comes ones in a liftime. Now going back to your question. Let your dog guide you, if you have high drive dog introducing obedience is not a problem, but make sure that obedience is introduce in a fun manner. Every dog is different so there is no clear answer.

Hello snaiper69,

Should I start calm obedience entering the field only after the dog has established a full and calm grip or it does not matter with a high drive young dog? 

Just that I feel bringing a young dog into the field for the foundation bitework and subpressing it with obedience work would add more frustration to the task at hand.

as had been said so many times already,   every dog is different.  you really need someone expierenced to evaluate your dog.   age, drive, recovery from a correction all play a part on when, how often, how much, ob you would do with your dog.

for me i dont add ob to protection in the way you are describing.   i make sure my dog knows his ob everywhere.    then when i take him on the field, its no big deal.  he knows that when i say sit he will have to sit, heal means heal.  who cares if he knows that bite work is going on.  ob is ob. do it when i say where i say.  of course  there is a hell of a lot more to it than what anyone can write on a messageboard,  but i would not recommend this with a young dog, say under 18 months or so.  once again, this cannot be overstated,  every dog is different.  there is no set time frame for when a dog is ready to advance in its training.  get with a good trainer, club, etc. 

i dont know anyone who has ever trained a dog to  a schutzhund title by themself. 

john

I would wate till you establish full and calm grip. I don't belive in obedience till the dog is welle stablish in its fundation bite work.