Without seeing him and being there it's hard for me. There's so many ways they can be "wrong" and so many ways to fix it.
Some dogs just have the cadence they have and I can't figure out anything to change
is he "slow"? is it hectic? no real rhythm? squaky?, just clacking jaws and no barking?
as for ways, ideally some defense with another helper is great, but we dont' always have access to that. If you do I prefer to get it from the "helper"
Depending on the dog, some do better with a barrier in front, some just transition nice from tight line to lose, some need some mental pressure, some not. I have one Dutchie, not mine personally, that if you're making eye contact or try to physically pressure him, he doesn't give a crap about it.
I dont' pay attention to him and he starts to get pissed and his barking gets really nice, like he's saying "hey **** head, I'm right here, pay attention to me" and that's how we got his barking and cadence nice in the blind.
Sometimes doing drive switching , two collars, flat and prong, two lines and having the helper go from prey to defense while you manipulate the lines, tight on flat for prey, barking stops. helper stops and pressures the dog, tight line with prong (adds irritation, associates with helper and pressure) and can make great barking.
This is all from a distance, when barking is what you want, release for a bite. I do this playing hide and seek around the blind, but not in it at first. But some dogs are allowed to bark themselves closer to me, meaning they bark nice, the handler lets them move forward in their cadence. Some dogs bark me in. As they bark, I work my way closer when they're barking nicely and if they stop, I stop, too much garbage and I back away. they learn what brings me in.
But like I said earlier, there's a lot of ways, but a lot of variables that will tell me what to do. and sometimes I just guess and hope if works
without seeing him or how old he is, or where he's at in training, I can't really give a definitive answer. I see you're in Des Moines, that's quite a hike from me, but I will be in IA city sometime the end of this month or beginning of next. My SIL lives there and we'll be visiting for a weekend, and another nephew is going to the University of IA there too, and I can always find time to sneak away and train dogs
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