Gunnar's Training Today

[DanL]

I took Gunnar down to the working dog club this morning to meet the trainers and have them give a preliminary eval of Gunnar. I have to say, they have some impressive dogs. There were 2 Bouvier's that were owned by the guy who runs the club, a Rottie who is a patrol dog, 2 Malinois, both which were awesome, but there was one that just blew me away with the way she hit the decoys, she literally launched herself at it. Then there was a guy with 2 different GSDs, another guy with a very impressive GSD, and another guy with a white GSD who is on his 6 week eval period.

Today was just a test to see if he has the temperament and ability to merit a 6 week evaluation period. What they did was tie him to a long line which was hooked to a fence post, then get him to go after a large hand held tug, to test out his prey drive. He was a little apprehensive his 1st go round, but when the guy got behind the blinds and would crack the whip, that got his attention and he started barking some. The 2nd time, he understood what was going on. This time the guy used a soft sleeve, and Gunnar was going after it much better, grabbing it and holding on good, fighting with the guy, shaking it when the decoy gave it to him as a reward. He was launching himself after it and fighting at the end of the rope to get closer. All good stuff. He was definitely more into it, giving his high pitch excited bark.

The next step is we sign up for a 6 week evaluation period. We won't do any tie back stuff, instead, I'll use a long line and work with him as a team, doing stuff to build prey drive even more. Each week we'll progress as much as Gunnar is able to. After the 6 weeks, the 2 trainers will evaluate he and I, and if they think he can continue, they'll offer us a membership into the club.

So, we'll go for the next 6 weeks and see how he progresses. He said not many show line dogs will make it (Gunnar is a West German show line dog), but he was encouraged at how he did today. I figure, nothing lost nothing gained, at least we can try.

One cool thing, they have some GREAT equipment for sale, at super reasonable prices. I got Gunnar a 2" wide leather collar for 13 bucks, a leather "traffic" loop for 3 bucks. If he makes it past the "audition" I'm going to get him a harness they have, it's got the padded front, durable leather straps, and a built in handle, for only 45 bucks. They have 33' tracking leashes and 6'6" training leashes for cheap as well.

[Red_ACD_for_me]

Sounds great Dan! I am interested to see how he does :) Caiza would do great in protection work because he does it without the training skills :lol-sign: Meaning that he is very drivey ;) . How old is Gunnar.....2 :confused: Is it ever to late to start training for protection/schutzhund work? I messed around with a K9 officer I know who has stuff in his backyard and he taught me and Caiza a few things but I never pursued it any further. I am seriously thinking about taking some classes with Caiza again though but the trainer I was looking into I have heard both good and bad things about him so I don't know................

[elegy]

cool! sounds fun. i hope you and gunnar both enjoy it.

[Doberluv]

Dan, that is just so interesting. It must have been so cool to watch him progress from being a little bewildered to getting onto it on the next try. I do hope you enjoy these next 6 weeks and hope Gunner is able to continue. But like you said, either way, it will be a very fun and interesting experience. You'll learn a lot. I hope you will keep us updated week to week or whatever you have time for. I'd be very interested to see what all you're doing and how Gunner is doing. This sounds great!!!

[DanL]

Red, Gunnar is almost 2 1/2 now. I'd think the only thing that would hold back a dog from beginning this training would be if they are physically unable to perform due to age. One of the dogs at this club is 6 and is doing great. The trainer told me, it doesn't matter if the dog is 2 months or 2 years, you have to start at the bottom of the ladder and you can't move up a step until you are comfortable with the step you are standing on. Most of the dogs in this club are in the 2-3 year old range. There was one GSD who was 11 months and was very impressive. I don't see why you couldn't introduce Caiza to it. What will make him successful is a balance of drives. They use prey drive to build a lot of the skills, and as they progress they bring out defense and fight drives, but that comes later in the training. Baby steps right now for us!

Elegy, I really hope he passes this eval. He had so much fun, and so did I. The other parts of training they do- tracking, etc, are all things we want to try.

Doberluv, it's going to be very interesting the next few weeks. One of the guys said, I'll be surprised at how fast he grasps the concepts. Like I'll be looking at Gunnar and saying, this isn't the dog I brought with me. His dog wouldn't even go after the tug or sleeve the 1st day, but as soon as the bite suit came out, he was all over it. Now he's doing more advanced attack situations- through windows, over walls, etc. He's been doing it about 2 years now. I'll be sure to keep giving updates, and hopefully I can drag my wife out to take some pics for us too.

I have to say- based on what I saw, Gunnar is easily one of the better dogs there as far as obedience goes. I'm hoping his solid foundation will carry over to the rest of the training. Their dogs were so hyped up to get at the decoy they would break stays, not down, and practically ignore the handler. If they were not on leash before being released, a lot of them would have just gone after the decoy. Not good! They were talking about this before the session and had decided they were all going to work on basic ob stuff prior to doing their protection training.

[whatszmatter]

I titled a dog that I didn't start training till she was 5, she's now 8 and titled and still going strong. I'll show her again this fall for fun, she loves it and my new dog won't be old enough yet to trial, so I gotta do something. If the dog has what it takes, its never to old to start. You might not go as far as if you started earlier, but who cares, just get out and do it.


Good luck, have you been doing rag and tug work at home? if he hasn't had this type of work before, just because he can bite a soft sleeve doesn't mean he should, you know what I mean. There is a lot in grip development and mental steps the dog has to take before engaging a man with a sleeve. If those steps are skipped, no matter how old the dog, problems can arise later.

Of course I'll never be able to know what's happening over the internet and some dogs progress really quickly and are able to take steps faster and some aren't.

Wait till his forward drive for the decoy is greater than any drive he has to please you, then you'll find out where the balance is in training. It's always a fine line in devolping power and drive, and keeping it under control. It's fun and addicting, and takes time, lots of it, to do well.

[DanL]

Whatz, I've done rag work with him since he was a pup. I have a rag stick that I let him chase around and catch. We still do it now because he loves it and it's great exercise. I use a tug as his main reward at ob class too, since it's easy to deal with vs a ball and even that becomes a mini lesson for him, getting a good bite, letting him win, and giving me a good out when we're done. We do a lot of tug work at home too. I think it was strange for him at 1st to do this game with someone else, since he doesn't really work with anyone else but me. The guy working him said he was doing well on the bite- not "pianoing" up and down the sleeve, getting a good firm bite and holding. At 1st his bite was too much up front, but the 2nd time around, he was getting good full bites.

I tell you what- when his drive to get the decoy is greater than his drive to listen to me, we'll be at a point I never thought we'd reach. It'll be interesting and fun, thats for sure!

[Aussie Red]

Impressive Dan but if this guy who posted the other thread truly believes what he was saying he will be here and you will get your chance. LOL
Opps this some how jumped disregard it was to be on your body building thread which I was reading when I posted this come on Chaz what gives this is twice I have been on one thread and jumped to another while posting. Sheesh

[whatszmatter]

once his confidence goes up you won't find him taking shallow bites too often. The first few times is expected even when you go from a pillow to a sleeve on a dog that's been worked regularly. IN the dogs mind, that is a big step to some. They get unsure and bite shallow. Its' not a bad thing, just natural. a full calm grip is always the goal in sport and nice to see.

Good work at home. you probably developed his grip and drive more than you realize, now it just needs to be molded. I"m telling you, once you get hoooked, it's all over. You won't have any free time anymore, nor will you want it. Just wait, if you get a chance to be on the other side of things, your wife might never see you again, unless she's handling the dog :)