Ok, most of you guys are going to really going to question my intelligence on what I'm about to say:

(I put this here because my dog is KNPV--didn't know were else to put it?)

Yesterday, I had to do a K9 demo for a local elem school. It had been planned well in advance (three months) due to the fact that the school didn't get a demo last year due to procrastination. Well, two handlers (myself and another) were going to do a dog demo. Bite suit and all for this school. It was "career day" so the SRT (SWAT) team was also supposed to show. Here's what happened:
fellow handler didn't show due to emergency surgery for a perianal hernia on his dog. Cool--can handle that.
The SRT team just didn't show.
THere were no other police officers there to help me and my dog (his vet was there, but declined to get in the bitesuit! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> SO......
I put the bite suit top on and took about 12 short hits from my dog. I had no problems. The dog attached, released, etc etc...and the demo was a hit. My dog throughly enjoyed biting me ( i could tell) but didn't show any dominance against me or anything different than his normal every day thing after we were done. (we then did a narc search and also had no problems)

I've had this dog three years now, and the bond is there. I USED to have to dominate him during all training sessions, but have not had to use any harsh corrections for almost a year now. A few "pay attention" corrections are all that is needed for him now.
I KNOW that I shouldn't have taken hits from my dog--it messes with the whole dominance thing. BUT I was so angry at the lack of respect or caring from my fellow officers for this program that the schools worked hard to do, and they had actually done thier part and did what we asked by scheduling well in advance--that I took care of it by myself with my dog.

Did I just screw up? (I am proud to report though, that although he is the smallest of our three noids (he is 62lbs) he bites harder than one of my fellow handler's dogs--a dog that outweighs him by about 12-15 lbs!

I don't think it is a big deal.

Thank you. That does make me feel better.

And like I said. The dog had a blast.

I agree with VC. As long as you have a good relationship with the dog, and there are no more dominance issues, then it should not be a problem.

The only one of my dogs that I'll do that type of thing with is my PH1/PSD female. She's extremely stable, and knows that when it's 'dad' in the suit, it's just a game. I throw the jacket on and let her 'play' quite often, in fact.

The others....wellllll....I'd just as soon not ever let them get the idea that it's okay to bite dad...EVER <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Erica, I know of a K9 sergeant in Salt Lake who takes hits from his dog regularly in a training setting. He says that is a great way to see and feel exactly what is going on. I don't know about demos, but if he is taking hits in training then I would think that the demos are no big deal. The dog knows what is going on........ <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I do demo one of my own dogs. He's primarily my girlfriend's pp dog, and we live together. I dot't, however do it with my own personal dog, allthough I will play "tug" with him with a sleeve. I don't do any true aggression work. I think that all that being said, if your dog is well trained in obedience, and has a clear head he will understand the difference.

Well I'll be the Lone Ranger on this. I think it's a bad idea for your dog to ever think it's OK to put his teeth on you. This is especially important if it's a personal protection dog or a police service dog.

It's not just a matter of dominance it's a matter of him now thinking that it's OK if you're acting like a decoy, something that can easily happen if you're fighting a suspect. .

But I'm curious, what would you have done had he refused to release his bite?

You screwed up!!!!! What were you thinking??? What does the weight of the dog have to do with bite pressure??? What did your demo teach the kids??? Why are you doing bite demos at elementary schools??? Smart vet. So now, if the dog shows you any dominance problems put the e-collar on and correct yourself. Angry emotions have no place in dog training or demos, police service dogs are suppose to be real………

I'm with Lou on this one... taking bites from your dog is a big no no with me. It sends too many mixed signals to the dog. We spend alot of time working on targeting our dogs in training and are working alot on proofing our dogs with the handler being in combat type contact with the decoy. I think it could cause confusion in the dog that could end up with you taking a nasty bite on the street. The one person you never show any agression towards is dad. I also think the more time you spend desensitizing your dog to equipment the more problems you might run into with this practice.

Someone also mentioned bites at school demos. I would also skip this paractice. There is enough that your dog can do that you can focus on to wow the kids than bite work. Also, some kids are terrified of dogs and I would not want a kid leaving a demo with a negative memory from your visit of a dog biting a decoy.

Ok, to clarify...we are *required* to do demos. The chief thinks its a must.

Actually, the kids enjoyed it--I had been there a week previously to do and drug and alcohol talk. The kids got to pet the dog. Now I know that thread has come up before, and a lot of people think civilian (or any) interaction with a PSD is a very bad thing. I could see the evil liability that goes with that, but my dog is a "hand slut". He loves to visit.

I think some good came out of it though. I got thank you letters back from some of the kids. Most of their comments were, "thank you for showing us that Karlo is a nice dog off duty, but means business when on duty" Some kids even wanted to pet him AFTER they saw the bite demo.

But it shows kids what the dogs can really do. We did a bite and narcotic demo--showing them exactly what the dogs will do.

But I won't make it a habit to take hits from my own dog.

Alan, I was just proud that my little noid carries a wallop with him.

Lou, Good point. If I really thought I would have problems at all, I wouldn't have done it.