I contacted a mondioring group in my area because I was curious to see what it is, and see people participating/training in the sport (in real life rather that on youtube, lol). I did some reading from the USMRA website, and was wondering about the bite-work components.

I understand that teaching a dog to bite will not make it prone to bite someone randomly- I guess I'm wondering, once learning to bite the sleeve on a helper (or whatever comes first), does it change daily life and interaction with the dog at all? Once a dog progresses with bite-work what if the dog's nerves are found to be too weak for the responsibility? or is it all in the handler?

It seems like teaching a dog to bite is a huge responsibility for the handler and the dog.

Just wondering if anyone would be willing to shed some light on the subject. I guess I'm thinking (and these are a lot of what if's here) what if I decide mondioring is something I want to work at, what if we get to a level where my dog is doing bite-work, and will I be comfortable with it? what kind of extra control or measure if any would I be living with? Obviously if it's not something I'm comfortable with for whatever reason there are lots of other things to work towards with my dogs I'm just thinking in the future-

Hope this doesn't seem like a ridiculous thought process- I'm planning on going to a training session tomorrow night so I'll probably have more questions following!

Carolyn, Mondio is difficult and very rewarding. I have just started learning with a fantastic trainer.

Any bitework has responsiblities. Most training utilizes drive has responsibility attached. Even if a dog has not had anything but a tug and ball used for reward and tugging, with no bitework, the drive for the item can pose a risk for someone who has no idea how the dog has been trained and teases them with a tug like item or a ball they can get accidentaly nipped or bitten.

A lot of work done in ringsport/dog sport is prey based and the dogs are often focused on the equipment. Not all, mind you, but a lot. The woman I've worked with, her dogs are great.

IMO dog ownership in a general sense requires responsibility. If you know your dog there shouldn't be an issue.

I agree with Jennifer. I also want to add that this is why I feel that this (bite work training) should be done with a reputable trainer to guild you (and not just you, but any person new to this work). S/he should be able to give you a realistic and quite valuable evaluation on your dog, but also you training abilities.

A good trainer (should) would not allow you to put dangerous training on an animal that could not handle it, or a handler that can not, for what ever reason. One should also be adamant that a high degree of OB is trained first or concurrently and that the dog is not put in a position of being “dangerous” but instead a higher than average level of control.

I do feel that you do add an element of risk by teaching a dog, even just in prey/sport, to bite, but with the right combination, man is it worth it! The prey work is fun for most of these dogs, and the intensity is incredible. Be willing to live with a dog that has been taught that being in that state is rewarded. (Just that in itself can be dangerous! )

Also keep in mind that often, but certainly not always, the type of dog that is generally successful at sport work is a difficult dog for 90% of the population to live with, especially untrained. They can be destructive and persistent, and need to do SOMETHING almost all the time. This can often get them in trouble when their needs are not met. There is a lot of pride that comes with taking that intense dog and working well as a team and giving the dog a job that they can feel good about (and then finally relax! ).

Carolyn, the Lone Star club has by far some of the BEST ppl in the country training there! I have had the pleasure of working with some of them and they are absolutely like a big family. There decoys are phenomenal and most if not all are decoys that decoy for most of the trials. Great, great bunch of ppl. If you work with them I reserve the right to be jealous!

PS. Mondio is a blast...the exercises can be pretty tough and there are a lot of them in each phase but definitely worth all the hard work.

I agree with Jessica that bitework does have responsibility attached and you need to be very aware of your dog and the situations you are both in but unless you are doing civil work or have a civil dog, bitework training alone doesn't make your dog more dangerous than joe dog. All dogs have teeth and can bite, bitework introduces control. The danger comes with a handler that doesn't or cannot control their dog or improper training etc.

I also agree that finding a good trainer to work with is very important. I was not saying that there is no risk involved but if you know your dog and are a responsible dog owner and handler to begin with it is easier to step up to the responsibility of having a dog trained to bite.

Exactly! It’s not so much the training of the dog, but the type of dog that this training brings out, and the handlers ability to deal with it. As with most training, it develops confidence and “know how,” but it only develops what was already given to the dog at birth. If the dog that can’t handle it, it should not be trained; and only an experienced trainer can tell you. (And it sounds like you have a good group of people to work with!)

I find it fun! My mom thinks it is stressful and a liability. And my friends think I am crazy. It’s just not for every one. To each their own…

Thanks ladies- that was exactly the type of input I was looking for.

To be honest I'm not sure if either of my dogs would be right for the sport... one doesn't seem to have a lot of drive, the other seems to be pretty nervy (he spooks at stuff easily). Plus they're already almost 3 yrs old. From what I understand most dogs are trained from puppy for this type of thing.

But that said, I don't think there's any harm in going to watch, and the woman I spoke with did say that they were introducing an obedience component that we may be able to participate in if the traditional mondio was not for us.

Thanks again!

A trained dog is the safest dog to have around.

a: you know what the dog can do and you know where his "on" and "off" buttons are. So you know how and when you're dog is going to react
b: the dog knows what he can do. It's like a black belt in karate. He'sn't going to start a fight but he knows that when something happens he'll be on top of it. So he's much more at ease.
c: having a trained dog is a joy to have around (except , judging the amound of blood at my doorsteps, the guy that tried to enter my home last night)


Greetings

Johan

 Quote: Johan Engelen

c: having a trained dog is a joy to have around (except , judging the amound of blood at my doorsteps, the guy that tried to enter my home last night)

Cool. Taking a bite out of crime.

Coming from someone who started bite work with a dog that ultimately did not have the nerves for it, I can tell you it did not create a threat here at all. In fact, it made her focus more on everything I taught her afterward. I stopped doing it before she had been stressed in training, so I don't know about someone who either doesn't notice or doesn't care the dog is not cut out for it. But, like I said it made my dog focus better on life and me in general. S&R, OB work, just a better more disciplined dog all around.