Can I bring my dog over to bite you?

This was an actual question I asked today. It turns out that one of the K9 guys who teaches where we go for agility/OB on Saturdays lives literally around the corner. I may have mentioned before that he's one of the 2 guys up there who really like Gunnar and whose dog was recently retired. He already misses training the dogs, and he had mentioned last weekend if I ever wanted to get together and train, to call. He gave me his days off, so I gave him a call today, and that's what I said "Can I bring my dog over to bite you?" He says "Sure, that'd be great!" :lol-sign: So I took Gunnar over and he got to bite Fred a few times. We're going to get together as much as we can and do different things- tracking, article searches, bite work, etc. He couldn't believe how strong Gunnar was, he kept saying that over and over, so I was happy about that. Gunnar did well today. A new decoy, new environment, and he jumped right in. He got 3 bites the 1st time, then we put him up for a while, then brought him back out. I always say to him "where's the bad guy" and it gets him all hyped up, and this time, he pretty much pulled me into the back yard and was barking before he even saw Fred. Good stuff!

His Mal is 7, and she was retired because both her knees are bad. He said at one point she'd go OVER a van to get a guy. She's a little thing too, maybe 50lbs, and sweet as can be. I put the sleeve on and let her get a few bites on me too, which was cool as I've never been on that end of the dog before. Most impressive was her call back. He had me stand at the other end of his yard, he sent her and I put my hands up when she got half way to me. She peeled right off without him saying a word and returned to him. He said he didn't think she'd do it as she hasn't been training for a couple months now.

It was a fun way to spend my lunch time!

Sounds great. I love how into Gunnar's training you are.

Wow that's awesome! Are you thinking about competing with Gunnar or is all this still just fun training type stuff?

I met a Mal over the weekend at the dog park. Nice dog, pretty drivey. Out of a breeder over in Missouri that breeds police and S&R lines.

That's awesome. Nothing like a peer telling you your dog is awesome to put a prema grin on your face.

Great for Gunnar but I'm also happy for the girl that she got to do something she enjoyed.

BP, I'm really lucky that I have someone so close who really wants to help me. I can jump in the van, go over for a few bites, and come home inside of an hour.

Zoom, we're not looking for competition. This is an extension of our Sunday protection training- more practice=more confidence for Gunnar, more learning for me. Fred said his Mal was real drivey for a long time, then she settled down.

adojrts- I'm in no way a peer to this guy. He's a real world dog handler, I'm a weekend warrior. So in a way, it's even better to hear him say good things about my dog, because I know it means something coming from him.

Yes Barb, me too. I was more than happy to help her out. She had fun and was just as nice to me after the bites as she was before. I hope to be able to work with her regularly.

Lol, we have had Rocket bite some of our friends, and most really enjoyed it.
She bit me too, when hubby did a presentation for the grade school when nobody else was available. The kids just loved it. For a whole year I was recognized as "The Mom that got bit"
Every school in two counties know Rocket, but they forget hubbies name.
Gunnar sounds like he is doing very well! Makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, when I see a well trained dog.

That's awesome to have such a knowledgable and experienced person so close to you! Good job!

Agreed, much better, must make you so very proud (I know I would be).
Now I am curious........as to whether you change your mind about competing or not in the future. Some people do, some don't but it is hard not to when people whom you highly respect keep telling you how brillant and awesome your dog is and that you should be competing. Good luck no matter which road you decide to take.

Lynn