I learned a very long time ago that PSDs are driven to automatically do certain things that can be very dangerous to their handler, no matter how good the bond is between the two. It is merely an issue of identifying the problem, then training said problem out of the dog.

We all know that some (or a lot) of service dogs perform their duties while on "Autopilot" with little input from the handler, or the thought of the handler even being in the picture from the dogs' point of view. In a certain handler protection scenario this can be potentially deadly.

Years ago, while kicking around some new ideas concerning real life training scenarios, someone (not me) came up with a situation that happens on the street now and then. It concerns the protection of a fallen handler who is on the losing end of a fight ie; on the bottom, or underneath the bad guy.

Pretty much every handler there that evening, including me, felt that our dogs would engage the bad guy as soon as the dog arrived to protect us. Boy were we wrong!

We set the scenario up by muzzling the dog and leaving it in the patrol vehicle. We set up a mock confrontation wherein we would drive up to an alleged suspicious person, exit the vehicle, then make contact to conduct a field interview. During the course of the interview, the bad guy would attack the handler and both would end up on the ground, the handler being on the bottom.

Every dog involved automatically went ballistic as soon as the fight started. Once on the ground, the handler would release the dog via remote door opener while fighting the bad guy. No protective equipment is worn so the dog has nothing to divert his attention to the task at hand. Let me tell you, a muzzle in the head hurts!

Every dog in the group attacked it's handler. One hit the bad guy first, THEN hit its handler. After getting whacked by the dog a few times, and the handler yelling at the dog enough times, only then would the dog turn off the autopilot and strike the bad guy.

We tend to forget the natural order of things in the K9 world. In this situation, the natural thing for the dog to do is hit the guy on the bottom. Simple yes. Rarely trained for. You bet. Deadly in the real world...absolutely!

So, problem identified. It is only a matter of more of the same type of scenario training to get the dog to actually LOOK at what he is doing. Thats all. Further work wherein the handler position was changed up sporadically found the dogs actually appear to be assessing the situation as they arrived. Every dog responded positively to the training. Such a simple thing but most handlers I know don't train this scenario.

As in any other type of training, this should be done on a fairly regular basis. Has any other handler on here tried this? And if so, what was the outcome?

Howard

Good training Howard. I think I will try this tonight at training if I can get the others suckered into it.

Do you mind sharing how you remedied the situation?

Hi Trevor,

It's no big secret really. Basically all we did was expose the dog to that specific scenario. Although there was a problem, it was only a matter of conditioning them to react correctly to what they already wanted to do, protect the handler.

The dog's intent initially was not to injure the handler, his instincts caused that issue. Once he realized that he had to actually determine who was who in the mass of arms and legs, only then did we see improvement.

From the git go the dog is fired up in the car because of the fight. When he comes out of the car he momentarily loses sight of the handler. Upon arrival of the fight his instinct was to hit the person on the bottom, not to look and see who the actual person was. Every dog that finally realized he was attacking dad would kind of freeze for a moment then focus on the other person. It's only a matter of conditioning the dog to do what you want. You use the dog's desire to protect the handler as your training tool. The dog will learn it on his own. Repetition fixes this issue.

Not every dog automatically switched though. A couple of the dogs would hit the handler, realize "oops!" then hit the perp, but his instinct made him shift back to the handler again. The dogs were a bit conflicted until more training was done.

We went in baby steps. Once the dog was good with a certain body position of the handler, we would change positions. Handler on top...both persons on their side, both on their knees, one standing over the other etc, etc. until you could actually see the dog's mind working as he approached the fight scene.

So many times I've heard handlers say that their dog won't bite a uniform (Cops), thats BS. Don't think that your dog knows you because of your uniform if you're getting your ass handed to you by a bad guy. Specific scenario training is the ONLY way to know for sure how your dog moe than likely react when the real thing happens. It's not a gaurantee but the odds are good that if you train like its real, then the outcome in real life should mirror your training efforts.

Let me know how it goes for you guys. Should be interesting.

Howard

I'll include that scenario in training and see what happens. Interesting to say the least.

DFrost

Cool. I'm very interested to know the results. Any training that ensures the survival of the handler is a definate plus.

Howard

 Quote: Howard Knauf

So many times I've heard handlers say that their dog won't bite a uniform

Yeah, Right!!

Rule One - The safest place to be around a PSD is BEHIND the handler!

Good work Howard, excellent training.

Rob

Hi Rob,

Would be interesting to hear from your side of the pond on this one. Have your guys tried this? And what was the outcome?

Howard

Howard, how would you read this: during a PPD training session a few months ago, the decoy fell on me (an accident of course, but I fell flat on my back with him on top of me). Lear had a hold of the bite suit on the guy's leg and kept pulling the decoy. I couldn't read anything at the time, I was just amazed I had been knocked down and was trying to get up in the midst of the pain in my hip and dizziness in my head. But I looked at Lear, he was looking at me and pulling at the guy's leg.

I don't know if this was because he already had a hold of the guy's leg or if he switched to the guy's leg, it all happened so fast I don't remember what Lear's position was on the bite when I fell. From what you say, there was a chance he would have come at me since I was under the decoy?

Hi Sandy,

Yes, Lear already had the suit. I'm sure to him it was just part of the game even if it was different, so he held on. In my post above I explained how we don't use any equipment other than the muzzle when doing this handler protection work. This is done to prevent the dog from targeting the equipment and gives us a gauge in how the dog will perform in a real street situation.

Also, most times when the dog is released from the vehicle he loses sight of the handler. He'll run full speed to the fight with nothing but good intentions in mind but his natural instinct to pile onto the bottom guy is what we want to prevent. We want the dog to "Assess" the situation before attacking instead of just doing the natural/instinctual thing.

Ask yourself this though.....how might things have turned out if both you, and the decoy were wearing a suit? You've never done this in training (I assume) so the dog very well might have bit you. Whether both parties are wearing a suit, or w/o equipment is when the truth will emerge in how your dog will react.

Assuming Lear is highly prey driven, once on the bite it may take a lot of pressure for him to transfer (in regards to the other thread) and that would spell disaster had he bitten you instead of the bad guy. Thats why this training is so important in my mind for handler survival. The same can be applied to a PPD as well. There can never be enough real life training for a dog that is trained to protect in real life.

Howard

"Rule One - The safest place to be around a PSD is BEHIND the handler! ""


Ha ha, isn't that the truth. Ya try to tell folks that in roll call training etc, but do they listen...... NOOOOOOOOO

Darn that's a tough lesson to learn the hard way.

DFrost