… Previous I call this my colored dot concept. Let me be clear here, this is totally made up and only an aid to help people understand things a little better. As you all know (if you don’t you should) dogs are macrosomatic animals. Loosely translated that word means, large nasal cavity. All animals that …
Tracking -books, -videos, -articles, and -seminars have one thing in common. They are written, produced or taught by people. That factor also presents the biggest flaw in tracking: The human perspective on the subject. As people, I believe we have to accept our position in tracking. We are to a large degree spectators to this …
Lodi Police Officer Dee Dee Dutra said goodbye to her partner for the final time last week. I called to ask her for an interview, but the wounds were still too raw. A week after it happened, she couldn’t speak about him without tears seeping into her voice. I would have asked her how it …
First off, the dumbbell is an incredibly important part to the obedience phase of a schutzhund routine. Out of a 100 point Schutzhund 1 obedience routine, the dumbbell is worth 25 points. In the Schutzhund 2 and 3 it is worth 40 points out of a 100. This just demonstrates the importance of a good …
At my seminars, I like to address specific training issues the dog handlers feel is their dogs’ weakest point in protection. I would say that with the dogs who have already had some protection training, the single most mentioned problem is the issue of gripping technique. The most lamented concerns are a shallow bite and …
Continued from Part 1 As promised, here is the second part of my article on prey drive promotion. Naturally, I won’t start at the beginning of prey drive training again. I am going to make the assumption that the reader has read part one of this article in order to continue my discussion. There are …
Following my article in the Nov/Dec issue I was asked to continue discussing the drives used in protection training in short articles. I will use my translation of Helmut Raiser’s book Der Schutzhund as a reference in my discussion. Let’s begin practical training for protection work where it should begin: with prey-drive promotion. Let me …
The term, drive, when used in dog training is a departure from the behavioral scientist’s understanding of the concept. In the early days of research into animal behavior, scientists attempted to place theory into strict, even mechanical, descriptions of behavior, much like a mathematician or chemist. These early experimenters postulated that drive was the energy …
You take your dog out of the car, attach his harness and approach the track. The dog takes the scent from the bandanna left at the start and, nose down, begins tracking along the edge of the parking lot. After 50 yards, he turns, enters the parking lot and passes several parked cars. He makes …
“My Stake Out Test” is designed to test the dog to see what drives he operates in during stressful situations. It’s designed to find my idea of the “perfect dog” for police service. It is designed to break the spirit of every dog that I test. I will apply so much pressure that only the …