We will have myself and another ASR certified decoy on hand in McKenny,VA this weekend training getting ready for trial OCT 20-22. We will also have some great competitors on hand also, so if you have never seen ASR or need some help there will be plenty of people qualified to help and all eager to help a potential ASR member. If you were thinking of coming and missed the ASR workshop last month. You can come out this time and get some last minute help. This is informal, and really just friends getting together to do some ASR training since we have a trial coming up. If you missed it and want to learn more about ASR or want to come out and have someone evaluate your dog please come on out. Don't be shy, we're all family in ASR. Directions to the field are at the below link. We will be starting Saturday at around 11:30a.m. If you have any questions or need help with directions email me at cjduhon@msn.com

Directions to the field

Some ASR stuff (video, I'm the decoy, Handler is Ken H)
Dog is downfield in the back of a truck, my good buddy Ken Hungerford and his dog Atos

Turn your speakers up for this cannon (357 blank) <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Ken Hungerfords Atos doing the standing gun. A fairly passive decoy, who is standing still shooting, not much prey in that, I love it.

How cool! That Atos is dynamite. He hit so hard, he about knocked you off your feet! Great videos.
Maybe one day ASR will be out west as well. From the website it seems it's only in the east right now. Does ASR differ from other Schutzhund clubs? (I'm not familiar with Schutzhund so not even sure if I'm asking the right question, hope you get the gist of the question.) I'm wanting to get into protection with my GSD pup later, but my hands-on knowledge is nil.

Little furry missiles <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Too bad it wasn't a couple months ago when I was up there. Maybe when you do some in NC where I have a place to go.

Howard

I have a question about when the dog is barking at the decoy (don't know what that's called, but dog is barking and holding at bay basically). What does it mean when the dog's tail is wagging? (It's so hard to ask questions when I don't know enough about the sport to know which questions to ask, so forgive me in advance if it's a dumb question.) To me it seems the dog is having fun, is this still prey drive? Do police dogs wag their tail when holding a "real" bad guy at bay?

Sandy, this dog Atos, operates mostly out of pure Fight drive. Trying not to get to difficult, it's like pergatory, not heaven and not hell, just "some other place". This dog does what he does, not out of prey or defense, but simply because he loves to fight those who oppose him and he absolutely loves to fight. So it's more on a scale leaning towards prey. But prey can be shut down in extremely defensive situations if the dog has a low defensive threshold. This dog loves fighting you whether you fight him in prey or defense he doesn't care, he just wants to fight. I probably did a crappy job of explaining that in what I truely mean, but I tried to not get into so much detail or language you couldn't understand. When your dog is in a defensive situation like in the video when the bad guy is still on his feet, never showed the dog he was in pain, and is still hovering over the dog in a challenging manner (Weapon up, hunched over the dog, staring angerily in his eyes) and the dog continues to provoke a fight and is happily wagging his tail about the situation. That is a very good sign. Dogs that are severely stressed out while on a bite, most of the time will hold their tail still, not always but is a sign you should pay attention to your dog very closely. I'd then slip the jacket or sleeve and make the bad guy run away to relieve stress if that becomes the behavior of the dog. I like for my dogs tails to go 100MPH while on the bite. Good sign <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />.

Upon looking at the video again just now, allow me to point out something else about what you are seeing. On the gunfire scenario, at the end notice the dog "outs" then "Downs" just as he is told. Knowing this dog as I do, he is very obedient to his handler. Notice as I continue to to remain in a challenging posture, he breaks his down, and goes into a bark and hold. He sees that I am still a potential threat because of my posture, yet he can't bite. That gets frustrating to the dog, so he then attempts to provoke me into moving because he knows only if I move in an attempt to run or attack he or his handler is the only time he can bite without a command. He sees I still am prepared to fight, and he very much wants the fight.

Maybe an analogy...some of the people who are into sports...they're 'playing' while they're doing it and they're having fun, but they get pretty darn serious about it to the point that someone can get hurt.

Chris, you did an excellent job of explaining and making it clear. I've done a lot of reading about the sport, 99% here on Ed's site and forum, so am learning about the different drives and more. I read one particular thread where the language and meanings were totally over my head, but I found it fascinating to (try to) follow. I've also scoured the net for videos like you posted, and watched closely for the "hit" and the wagging tail as well. Out of all the videos seen, only one other dog besides Atos hit that hard and with that intensity. Actually it seemed Atos hit a few degrees harder and was extremely fast. But the other dog didn't wag the tail at the bark and hold like most all the other videos, which made me wonder about the tail.

Atos' obedience was flawless when told out and down, and I did notice that he broke the down on the gunfire video and wondered if Ken's command just couldn't be heard. So thanks for addressing that. I like that fight drive.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading what you wrote, and the videos as well. Ever think about writing a book for newbies, or at least articles? You write and explain beautifully and thoroughly. If you ever do, let me know. I'll be first in line to buy, either book or articles. I'm serious. Details such as you explained are important to know for those just coming into the sport, or anticipating to in the near future as I am. I appreciate details, actually thrive on knowing the "why" of something. It makes everything so much more interesting and helps lift the fog.

Sandy,
I haven't blushed like that in so long. Probably not since my 6th grade teacher who I had a crush on, told me I was handsome one day, LOL. In my mind I am a much better hands on than writer. I tend to know what I'm thinking or looking at and can do it but usually when I try to put it into words it comes across not quiet what I meant, LOL! I'll leave that for Ed, and continue to just offer my opinion and view on things. So we can all just continue to share what we know, or "think we know", LOL!! Thanks very much for the words of encouragement.
~CHRIS DUHON

If you like his writing you should see him on the field with his favorite dance partner, Atos.

He actually makes it look easy. Now that's talent!

 Quote:

Sandy, I haven't blushed like that in so long. Probably not since my 6th grade teacher who I had a crush on, told me I was handsome one day, LOL.

<img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
My view on your writing is - some people have a gift for teaching and don't even know it. Attention to detail and knowing your stuff and loving it, coupled with what I see as a teaching ability and being able to write it down as you did (you wrote it clearly and it was wonderful in detail), well it gave me clear understanding of the particular scenarios on the videos and at the same time really encouraged me. That's what a good teacher does. Ok, I won't make you blush any further <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />, but I really think you have a lot to add and should one day consider adding to the sport and people's understanding of it by writing about it.