I have a 11 month old GSD that I am training for patrol work. On a certain training day. I was working on Bark training, trying to get him to focus more on the helper not the equipment. When the helper stepped out of the blind about(about 40 yards away) he gave a quick defensive bark, and then turned to me and wanted to play. He would not stay focused on the helper.

1. Is the reason why he is doing this is, because of his age, or will he begin to focus more on the helper as he gets older?

On this same training day, I took him out for his bite training, as i was walking him to the training field he appeared to be a little jumpy. as I opened the gate to go to the field, the gate made a noise causing him to jump. he did not run away. he was just startled.

2.Could this be a sign of weak nerves or a sign he needs more environmental training?

The Dog does really well when biting the sleeve with a helper, also when the helper puts a little pressure, he dosn't back down. His bite stays firm.

Please help with these questions.. I would appreciate it!

It does sound like avoidance . He's young yet . Things should still be fun with him . Back off on the presure . As for the environmental problems , it could of been just one of those things . Has he done it at other times ?

He's pretty young yet , with what you've seen , if you got him from a vendor can you replace him for another dog ? He may just need more time to mature but you won't know til it's too late and you've put in alot of time and work .

Too many folks judge a dog by how it bites equipment . The thing to remember is many dog's get condition at a young age to bite well on the sleeve . They are also conditioned very gradually to the stick , bottles , streamers , all sorts of stuff . So when people see the dog on a bite and not being effected by a stick or something else they think the dogs dealing well under presure when in fact the dogs under very little presure it's just something it had been gradually accustomed to .

Good luck .

 Quote: jim nash

Too many folks judge a dog by how it bites equipment . The thing to remember is many dog's get conditioned at a young age to bite well on the sleeve . They are also conditioned very gradually to the stick , bottles , streamers , all sorts of stuff . So when people see the dog on a bite and not being effected by a stick or something else they think the dogs dealing well under presure when in fact the dogs under very little presure it's just something it had been gradually accustomed to .

Exactly. Don't write the dog off yet, IMO. You didn't say he was cowering and peeing...just not focusing. It does sound like avoidance, but it's also possible he doesn't even understand what he's supposed to be doing. He is young to judge too harshly based on only this lack of focus. You are getting ahead of yourself trying to get him off equipment when he's not really even "on" it yet. JMO.

FWIW, I judge a dog based on how quickly he recovers from being startled, not necessarily IF he gets startled. Anyone, man or beast can be startled. Pay attention to the recovery. Does he remain jumpy, or quickly revert to normal as soon as he sees the source of whatever startled him. Of course, I am talking about the occasional jump, not a dog who spooks at anything and everything.

Thank you for your information.

Do you know of a test that can be used to see if a young dog( in my case 11mths old) is able to be used as a patrol dog or personal protection?

Im new at this training and I dont want to destroy my dogs working ability

I am certainly not qualified to say anything about patrol dogs… but I was recently reading an old article about how the Austrian Army chooses dogs when they don’t have time to go through lots of testing and training. They would have a helper run out into the woods 30-50 yards ahead and hide, unbeknownst to the dogs. There they would begin to break sticks and generally make noise, but no talking. The dog that was willing to leave its handler and run blind into the woods to investigate the strange noises were chosen. The VAST majority would fail out. This test was performed on adult dogs… Just found it an interesting test…

Sorry, back to the subject at hand.

What does the K9 master or TD say about this pup?

That dog is not ready for a test . Too young .

I think there is a link on this website to selection testing dogs but that's just for mentally mature K9's .

Things have changed with getting PSD candidates . With the demand since 911 it's hard for most to get mentally mature dogs . We now must work with younger dogs and progress slower in our PSD training program , prepare them and hope they have it when they reach maturity . Sucks bigtime .

When our pool of candidates were older and mentally mature we used a selection test similiar to the links on this site .

If you have the ability to get a mentally mature (could be from around 1 1/2 to 2 years , depends on the dog) and can run it through a good selection test that's your best bet . Your dog is not there yet .

The best you can do with this dog is gradually work on building it's confidence and gradually expose it to environmental things the dog may have to deal with in PSD work . Grates , slick floors , stairs , etc. .

I'd have to see the dog to give a valid opinion but just from the little I heard he's way too young (mentally mostly) to do much actual PSD type training yet and if he shows more environmental issues that's not a good sign . Try to get a more mature dog even if at most it's around the same age but mentally more mature . Otherwise progress slowly with this dog and hope for the best because it's a just a gamble it this point with that dog .

Well put Jim.

DFrost

 Quote: Jim Nash

The best you can do with this dog is gradually work on building it's confidence and gradually expose it to environmental things the dog may have to deal with in PSD work . Grates , slick floors , stairs , etc.

I don't think this can be emphasized enough (great post Jim)GRADUALLY being the operative word.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP ITS REALLY HARD TRYING TO READ A YOUNG,BUT THATS JUST PART OF LEARNING. AROUND WHAT AGE WOULD YOU GIVE UP ON THE DOG FOR PATROL WORK IF HE IS NOT PRODUCING?

What does the training director say?