I think that some of my replies are not coming across as clearly as I thought they'd be.
I don't condone this guy's training method. I've said that already. I also don't think this method is required to train a police dog. I'm not sucked in by him at all. All I meant was that if this guy HAS a past history of training military or police dogs, and that is the only way he knows how to train, that's how he's going to operate regardless of who he's training. The people who take their dogs to him are the ones who have to understand where this guy is coming from and make their choice. Like it or not, for every Steve White, there are 10 of this guy. That's the reality of the situation. Hopefully someday that will change, but for now, it is what it is. He's obviously got plenty of people who like what he does, regardless of what we think. The guys I train Gunnar with were telling me how they've seen it done in Europe, where a hardass police dog here is most likely a reject over there. There is no baiting with a ball or treat to get a dog to jump a fence. They tell it to jump, if it doesn't they fling it over. It takes only a couple times of the dog landing on it's head to realize that if it jumps, it doesn't get hurt. From what they have told me, this Richling guy would be a kitten compared to how seriously things are taken over there. And these are the guys who produce world champion dogs in the ring sports and personal protection associations. We can tell them all day that they shouldn't train like that, but the results speak for themselves. Most of their dogs would be way too much for any of us to handle.
Doberluv, my attitude has not changed since I started doing working stuff with Gunnar. Just so you know, the guys I train with are not abusers or yank em' crank 'em trainers. Do they use adversives? Yes, when needed, like any tool. They do not rely on them, and if a dog has to have a major correction, it's also followed up with a positive reward. They are all about positive reinforcement and having your dog feel good about itself and letting it succeed. If they were not like this, I wouldn't be there. I have always been of the mindset that there is no one perfect way to train, and you have to evaluate the dog, the handler, and what you want to get out of training to decide what methods you are going to incorporate. In the venue that Gunnar is learning, there is an element of danger involved. Some of these dogs can do a lot of damage to a person, and being able to react and correct, even with adversives, is something that might have to happen from time to time.
I've always thought a working dog was a level above any dog that is doing things for fun. Sorry if that offends those who are doing advanced obedience, agilty, Schutzhund, whatever, but those things are all a game. It doesn't mean I don't respect people who do that. Most of you have dogs that are far more advanced than my dogs are, and I know the hard work you put in to reach those levels. My dog is doing this stuff for fun as well. He's not going to get a job doing protection or patrolling from the training he's getting.
To me, the main difference between working dogs vs agility/sport dogs is this- a working dog HAS to be 100%. People and animals depend on how the working dog performs. The working dog is out there all day on patrol, herding, guarding livestock, whatever their job is. Most of the cops I know who are K9 handlers have to put their dogs in crates when they get home. They are so drivey that even after a 12 hour shift, they will not settle down, so crating them forces them to relax and get the rest they need to go out there and do it again tomorrow. For those of us who do agility, competitive obedience, or other sports, our day ends when we leave the course. To me this is the difference between a dog that works and a dog that plays. Yes, both do it to please their handler, but in one, the life of the handler or the life of livestock, or in the case of something like a bomb dog, many lives can depend on the dog's performance. With sport dogs, there is no repercussion if the dog fails at its task. He gets to go back to the beginning and do it again.
I'm not sure how I can be saying that people who do not have working dogs but have pets are 2nd class citizens. My dogs are pets, not working dogs. I never tried to put myself above anyone else here, and I apologize if my posts came across that way.
