Your Opinion - Page 1

I hope i can put this in the right way so it is plain for all to understand even if not in the Sport, and i am now talking about the IPO Sport, Let us say that your Dog has run the 6 blinds to the Helper and then it must Bark and Hold that we know it must do at this stage, So we go onto the Escape. after the down of the dog and the attack, The Dog then must guard the Helper until the handler reaches it and the judge tells them to move. Now this is the question and it applies from this point on up to the Long Attack or whenever the dog has to guard the Helper
Do you expect or want your Dog to Bark in front of the Helper or do you prefer your Dog to SIt and guard silently without any movement at all.
That is the Question how do you Guys see it
Steve1

For me this depends on the dog and its temperament.
Some dogs love to bark, some love to focus without any noise, some aren´t able to bark at all - I handled all kinds of them.
As long as the focus of the dog is on the helper and the dog is concentrated, it doesn´t matter in IPO.
For a spectator a barking, jumping dog is spectacular, but it´s not important for the sport in itself.
Only thing I don´t like to see is a dog lying in front of the helper ( I tend to think: Why? Does the dog leave the helper without down or not? )
But after all - only my personal preferences - and a lot depends on the foundation work - the most prey-oriented dogs already learn at puppy stage to bark and hold - so it´s the way they develop.

what she (susie) said
from the wayback machine: ​http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/forum.read?mnr=168929-active-vs-silent-guard

Good question Steve1.....As a helper, I prefer an active guard though I have seen a handful of very nice silent guards. I believe the silent guard came about because of control issues, which brought about the dog being concerned about it's handler thus all the frequent head checks....which really muddles the picture...IMNSHO!

Have to agree with the others, very few silent guards have impressed me,
I like to see a nice powerful active guard. 

I also prefer an "active guard" but there are some dogs that get overloaded so close to the prey that they simply don't bark.  With some the silent guard can still be very intense and the dog is ready to re attack.  I have seen dogs that naturally go silent, mine is one of them when guarding.  He is focused and waitng to strike.  During the hold and bark he is active, intense and very strong but after the out he is quiet and focused with no head checks.  

Some dogs are trained to "platz" after the out to keep the dog clean and avoid the dog getting pushy and dirty.  

My Jimbeam son is naturally quiet guarding...never tried changing it as he is intense.....What's up Jim.....

Hello Ron, how are you?
 

for every dog that has control issues covered up by being kept silent, there are as many that are made to bark so they can do something or they'd bite or leave.  an intense guard is an intense guard I personally don't care what they do.

As a handler I prefer the "silent guard".. Xena does a silent guard naturally. Here is a pictures of her silent guard..


I have 2 reasons I prefer the "silent guard"... The first is that the dog is stationary and has a better chance of getting a full grip on the reattachs. Second, the dog conserves energy. I have seen some dogs barking get weaker towards the end of the routine (IPO3).

However, if I have a dog that naturally does an "active guard" then I will let the dog do it that way. Nothing is worse that seeing a dog that naturally wants to bark and is trained to do the Silent Guard. they tend to get vocal and cost points.

So in closing, like I mentioned I prefer the "silent guard" but will work with what the dog gives me naturally.

Just my .02 cents