May 20, 2014
I have a 2 year old GSD that is almost ready for her BH title, but she becomes too aggressive with the handler/decoy on purpose. Any ideas on how to fix this?
Full Question:
Hi,I have a 2 year old female GSD that is almost ready for her BH title. I say almost because when she bites the sleeve or decoy, she becomes extremely aggressive. When she goes to bite, she starts growling and tries to shred the sleeve or suit or she tries to pull whoever is on the receiving end to their knees. She has gotten a hold of the handler/decoy few times on purpose also. Her obedience is excellent, but this level of aggression isn't acceptable for a Schutzhund trial. You can't touch her at all when she's on the bite, or you will risk getting bit. Any ideas how I can fix this?
I am also the only civilian to own a puppy from this specific litter, all her brothers and sisters are military/police dogs. I don't know if that helps any, but Raven isn't the 'normal' Shepherd so to speak. Thank you!
Ed's Answer:
I know exactly what you are talking about and have seen it more times than I can remember.
This kind of aggression should have been recognized by your decoy or training instructor.
Your dog has what we call thin nerves. This type of aggression is triggered by nervousness about what’s going on during your bite work session. The training to deal with it involved calming the dog during bite work. There should not have been any defensive work on this dog until it was way, way into training. All of the dogs training should have been in prey work.
If you care to learn, the DVDs that we sell will teach you this. Get the DVD on puppy bite work that I did with Michael Ellis. The fact that your dog is 2 years old means nothing, its foundation is screwed up. So back up the training and work on the foundation again.
I don’t know if you and your dog understand rules of play, if not then get this and work on it, The Power of Playing Tug with Your Dog. The fact is this is the very beginning of the foundation for bite work.
When the dog is done with that then The Foundation of Puppy Bite Work.
When you are confident that the dog knows the rules of play then use this work yourself: Teaching Protection Skills without a Decoy.
Regards,
Ed Frawley
This kind of aggression should have been recognized by your decoy or training instructor.
Your dog has what we call thin nerves. This type of aggression is triggered by nervousness about what’s going on during your bite work session. The training to deal with it involved calming the dog during bite work. There should not have been any defensive work on this dog until it was way, way into training. All of the dogs training should have been in prey work.
If you care to learn, the DVDs that we sell will teach you this. Get the DVD on puppy bite work that I did with Michael Ellis. The fact that your dog is 2 years old means nothing, its foundation is screwed up. So back up the training and work on the foundation again.
I don’t know if you and your dog understand rules of play, if not then get this and work on it, The Power of Playing Tug with Your Dog. The fact is this is the very beginning of the foundation for bite work.
When the dog is done with that then The Foundation of Puppy Bite Work.
When you are confident that the dog knows the rules of play then use this work yourself: Teaching Protection Skills without a Decoy.
Regards,
Ed Frawley
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