Within this series of articles I will be covering the beginning work
relative to raising a competitive working dog. The goal of our foundation
work is to raise a dog that is strong and confident, active in his drives
and highly motivated. In the previous issues I related an overview on the
type of temperament we search for in a puppy, the genetic background the
puppy should ideally possess and an overall opinion on how the puppy should
be raised and socialized. In this article we move into motivation of drives
in our young dog.
We want to establish three things in our young sport dog. Food drive,
toy drive and you as the light of their life. We can manipulate their environment
to obtain these goals. The level of drive attained in a dog depends first
on their genetic background and second on the level and quality of drive
we as handlers pull out of them. It stands to reason the more drive a dog
has inherited the easier our work will be. Only so much can be done with
a dog that lacks food drive. Only so much can be done with a dog that lacks
prey drive. We can work around these shortcomings, everyone must in some
way, as no dog is perfect in all drives. However if we raise them in a certain
manner we can pull out as much drive as possible.
To enhance food drive you will want to keep your pup lean. Feed him
at set times, do not free feed. A dog that can eat at any time is not a hungry
dog. The inherit food drive will waste away because it is always satisfied.
Our young dogs must be lean and fit. No roly poly puppies. Unnecessary weight
pulls the drive out of a dog, saps the energy level and is stressful on their
young bodies.
Toy drive is built by limiting when we play with certain toys. Just
like with food, if the ball or jute roll is always there where is the interest
in it? Balls, sacks, jute rolls should be special items brought out only
when we work. They should be put away before the dog is tired or satisfied.
From the beginning you should be playing tug with the pup. Using
a kitchen towel or jute roll. Playing gently at first build up the amount
of roughhousing the pup can tolerate. Acclimate the puppy to discomfort gradually
and offer him new challenges to overcome. Have the puppy climb over you,
on you, make weird noises. By pushing him away, pinching his toes and whiskers,
pulling his skin. Always reward the tolerance of this discomfort by letting
the pup win the toy. As they grow older and tougher the physical side of
play should increase and the level tolerated before reward heightened. Always
initiate these wrestling sessions yourself and you decide when they are over.
If you allow the dog to decide they quickly learn how to manipulate you,
not a productive outcome. Our goal is always a dog ready to burst with drive
at our command. We control when and how this drive is released. I would not
tolerate random biting. If you play wrestle your dog will learn to temper
their grip - or you can put on more clothes. If you are uncomfortable letting
the puppy bite you, use the towel or sack instead. The point is to teach
the dog to use their body against you, to tolerate discomfort and to work
for the toy. If you teach him as a young dog the more physical he is, the
more he tolerates, the more he is rewarded you will see the results on the
protection field. In this manner you raise a dog that is comfortable with
full contact, that gives the helpers a workout.
From the beginning we want the puppy to grip with a full mouth and
fight for the toy. Very young pups have trouble with coordination and fast
movement. Their little bodies aren't advanced enough to move quickly, aim
properly or follow fast movement. Adjust your level of play to the dog's
level of maturation, the dog must always win, must always solve the problem.
Try to only release the toy when he is full. If the dog is hesitant to reposition
to full, make the prey alive in his mouth again before trying once more.
This is best done with a sweeping wave like motion from side to side. While
on the grip stroke the dog on the sides, over the head. Teach the dog to
be calm on the grip, teach him that being this is a positive thing. Praise
him for his efforts. When the dog is calm and full release the toy with much
fanfare. Be excited and proud of your dog. Show him what a prize that is.
Encourage your dog to bring the toy back for more play. The dog should be
having a good time in this play activity. The handler should be having a
good time which reflects back on the dog's behavior. I would discourage and
avoid allowing the dog to take the toy off somewhere on his own. Some dogs
are very independent of their own nature. If we encourage the dog to always
bring the toy back for more play, show the dog coming back to us is a super
thing to do we will help avoid that haughty independence. Playing with two
toys is one way of dealing with this problem.
Once the adult teeth are in begin to backtie your dog to a fence.
Working with a sack or towel begin teaching more active prey drive. Reward
with a grip for active barking and drive. Work the grip against the backtie,
teaching the dog to handle the collar pressure and set the grip. If the dog
slips off the grip go into more missbites, more action and fewer or no grips.
Tight line builds drive. Frustration builds drive. Make the dog work for
his reward, expect and demand that he snatches hard for the sack. When on
the grip always continue to be physical with your dog. Slapping the sides
and withers, driving into them then pulling back to a tight line. All the
motions helpers do when working dogs you should do yourself. Make the dog
work for his prey, if he isn't coming to the end of the line snatching at
it, barking, expressing drive - no reward. Drive him nuts, tease more and
put him away. Eventually he will wake up to the work. Prey work is run, stop,
bark, run. Over and over. Dog not barking? Run more. Move farther away from
the dog. Wait for a bark, then sweep in and reward for it. Yes your neighbors
think you're weird, so what. Learning to "turn on" your dog will eventually
be used in obedience. Our dog must work in drive in all three phases of
Schutzhund. You are lacking in technique if you don't know how to activate
that drive.
After a few early sessions on the fence your dog will know what is
going to happen once he feels that line. Begin to wait for him to bark to
start the action. This is very important and will be used all his life on
the protection field. It is the essence of the hold and bark exercise. The
dog barks at the helper to make him move so he can get his reward. Once you
release the sack to the dog encourage correct sleeve behavior by cradling
him, holding him by the collar or having him stand or down. Calm behavior
with the sack is what we want to see. Talk softly to him, praise him soothingly
for his behavior. As soon as he releases the sack action begins immediately.
No dead time. Hold the dog by the collar and kick the sack away. As the dog
releases the sack use the aus command to begin showing him the meaning. No
pressure just a word in conjunction with a behavior.
Put your dog on the fence working him in this manner before he ever
works at the training field. Bring him out, let him watch other dogs work.
But do some preliminary work yourself as well. You are setting his foundation,
you are teaching him the basics. When he is ready to work on the club field
he will be familiar with many of the movements from the helper. He will know
what is expected and will gain more confidence because of it.
Dogs mature at their own individual rates. You need to gauge the
level your dog is at and can handle before moving on to the next. Some dogs
are able to work at the club at 6 months. Others need more time. The dog
dictates the rate we work at. Only give him what he is ready to handle and
conquer. The young dog does not need to work in protection every week. Allow
the dog to grow up, have some fun, track etc and bring him out to training
on a schedule that reflects his level of skill and maturation. Once a month,
every other month. Frequency depends on the dog. Rottweilers tend to mature
slowly, even if they display defensive or aggressive behavior towards the
helper at a young age, other parts of their development may not be at the
same level making the dog incapable of dealing with their own drives and
the stress involved with those drives. Taking the time to teach the dog proper
grip, developing his drives, making him strong and confident in his work
will pay off the rest of the dog's working career.
Specific to Rottweilers in the work are issues with the stick and
commitment into the man. By stroking the dog's head while on the grip, slapping
his sides and praising him for doing good you teach him that these types
of movements are no big deal. He should then think little to nothing of the
stick when introduced by the helper properly. Obviously most stick problems
are related to temperament. But it is not unusual for even fairly strong
Rottweilers to at least notice the stick hand if not properly introduced
to the concept. Again I have to go back to raising the dog to tolerate, work
through and conquer physical contact on and around his body to get, keep
and win the sack.
Commitment into the man, not slowing down on the long bite, striking
hard and with confidence. Rottweilers will usually do as little is necessary
to get what they want. If we bring our expectations up and require that they
work hard for the grip, they will always work hard for it. Make the dog miss
by a tiny margin then watch how hard they try the next time. Our helpers
should be fast on the escape bites, safe on the long bites and have good
skills to work tight missbites on the post. If the drive is there, Rottweilers
should be worked in prey drive. As they mature and gain aggression they should
be taught how to channel from one drive to the next. To see the threat and
channel to the sleeve in prey. This is a major segment of flying catches
on the long bites. Good helpers are hard to find but these issues require
that you find them. Slow, out of shape, lazy helpers produce slow, lazy
Rottweilers. Slow and lazy does not get you on the podium. Slow and lazy
will not catch the escape bite. And poor helper work in the catches of the
long bite teaches our dogs to slow down. We are lucky that our breed is capable
of getting jammed without being permanently injured like a Doberman for example.
But being jammed by helpers will show its effect in your dog's performance.
With this article I had in mind a dog with good to excellent prey
drive and a clear head. Dogs with marginal drives and temperament are a whole
different subject and require more remedial training. Always look at your
dog with honesty when evaluating his drives, temperament and potential. There
is no perfect dog, they each have their own individual issues to deal with
and work through. It is not possible for me to get extremely specific in
these articles. I am forced to go with a general picture of the type of dog
I am writing about and for. As well as the handler. Anticipating every scenario,
every potential reaction from the dog is also not possible within an article.
Please keep these things in mind when reading.
