What is the advantage to using a tug? Can a dog be protection trained without one? And if and when the dog begins to bite, is it a good idea to let them "win" the sleeve? Thanks.

Bite work should always begin with development of the prey drive. It is the basis of all future training in that it will be used to releive stress later in training. The tug is used as a prey item. You should always end each session with the dog wining the tug to build confidence. Check out Ed's First Steps in Bite Training. It goes into this in detail.

I don't really understand the use of the tug. I've read much about building prey drive and heard many explanations but some things remain unclear to me. What does using a tug really have to do with real bite training? There are so many ways to build confidence in a dog that don't involve a tug. Does the dog really view tug of war as a game? What kind of message do you send to the dog if you let it win a game of tug?

Also, why is a tug used to release stress? There used to be a police k9 in my neighborhood that was often used for demonstrations. What always struck me was that after the dog was sent after someone then recalled, it just sat calmly at the handler's side. There was no toy used to release stress. It appeared the dog just knew how to handle it. Can dogs learn to cope with stress?

Great question. The most important and complex thing to understand in training a dog to do bite work is understanding his drives and how they interact with each other. I feel that is one of the main things that separates Ed from all the other so called experts. Is his total understanding of them (and ability to teach trainers like myself). It is not the tug that relieves stress it is the drive that you put him in while on the tug. Prey drive is the most comfortable drive to be in for a dog. It is a stressless act for the dog. Defense on the other hand is the most stressful. His hair goes up. He starts to growl. His posture changes. In other words he fears for his safety. At it’s highest threshold it is the start of avoidance. But working his way through the stress of defense is a necessary part of bite work. How do you not cause a dog to go into avoidance or kill his nerves from being overly stressed? We relieve it with prey work. And if done properly the threshold increases each time making it more difficult for the dog to go into avoidance. Eventually if his genetics are right and this is done correctly drive interaction occurs where he will get the intensity of defense with the ease of prey. Wala...fight drive!

I understand what you're saying and I have another question. If bite work is done properly, doesn't a trainer know when to stop so the dog doesn't go into avoidance? Why would you put a dog into prey drive to relieve stress? There is some type of stress in everything so I don't think prey drive can be stressless. Doesn't the absence of stress itself relieve stress? Shouldn't the dog learn how to handle stress?

Vince,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm interested in getting a puppy for protection work. I presume this type of training is also used for protection work. Am I correct? If so, then I believe you are saying that eventually the dog will bite with intensity and remain committed to the fight in real life situations through prey-drive training. Is my understanding correct? I again presume that you have your own dog(s) and that your dogs were trained in this manner. Have you tested the training by having a "bad guy" come through your front door in order to see how your dog responds?

The reason I ask is that there are obviously different theories on how to train a protection dog. I just want to make sure that the philosophy my dog trains under is one that has a proven track record.

Thanks again for your feedback; it's much appreciated.

Using a tug to turn on the prey drive of a pup is part of rearing the working dog. This as well as growing the behaviors of play, social interactions with people and exposing the dog to many different situations is all part of rearing a dog in a fashion where the dog can be trained to do protection training later on. It sets the stage but really isn't protection work. The same style of rearing a pup would be best for tracking, detector, search and rescue, and a large number of other endeavors with dogs. It shouldn't be looked at in the upbringing of the dog as "training". It is too general for that. You are trying to stimulate the appearance of behaviors you can shape later on to become the tasks we're interested in.

Catherine:

In its purest form a dog does not see prey work as stressful. It’s a game to the dog. Learning to deal with stress is one of the main objectives in bite work training. We teach the dog to use aggression to deal with stress. The more aggression he uses the more we let him win. At first it could just be interest, then a bark, then a bite…ect. Increasing what we expect as the training sessions progress. Should an experience helper know before a dog turns and runs into full avoidance? Sure. There are many signs that lead up to it. It is the helper responsibility to work his way up to a dog’s threshold and let him fight his way back. And yes the absence of stress is sometimes used as a reward for dealing with stress. But that interrupts the training session. By switching back and forth from defense and prey you can relieve the stress without stopping the bite work.

Patrick:

Yes Schutzhund, Police service and Personal protection training all start with the same bite development work from there the emphasis and methods begin to change. And yes what I explained is no new revelation. It is used by most trainers. As I said before what sets a trainer apart from another is his ability to understand and manipulate these drives to develop the dog.

Kevin:

Point well taken. But weather something is training or imprinting or preparation for training is a mater of semantics. It is never the less necessary.

I think I'm getting a bit off topic here, but I have another question!

Why do you need to 'turn on' a dog's prey drive or "stimulate the appearance of behaviors you can shape later on to become the tasks we're interested in"? If a dog has the drive to work, don't you just need to work with its natural talent and not shaping it? Some of the other things seem a bit superfluous to me - like worrying about how much prey drive your dog has. What does that really have to do with how well your dog will track or protect?

I've read much about the importance of prey drive and spoken to trainers about it but they haven't explained it - its almost as if they don't really know why they're doing it.

Vince - I didn't see your post before I posted.

I see what you're getting at but I just don't understand why you'd want to switch back and forth between seriousness and play. What does that really teach the dog? For bite training for protection work I don't understand. A dog can deal with stress and can learn to handle increasing amounts of stress, can't it? Why does it interrupt the training session if the dog is just relieved from stress by the absence of stress? Is it really realistic training to be playing while your training? Shouldn't you train as you would work?