I think this question is primarily directed at those with experience with both PPD dogs and sport dogs, but I welcome any input.

I presume that good sport dogs should also be good PPD dogs. Is this generally true?

The reason I ask is because I took my PPD dog to a practice for a K-9 sport competition and my dog didn't seem to really be interested in biting the bad guys. I couldn't believe it because he's always LOVED to bite the bad guys. I think you call it "fight drive". Yet at my home, in my car and even on strange ground he's done very well. Probably I haven't worked my dog enough lately nor perhaps well enough when I was working him.

But have any of you had good PPD dogs that didn't show up on a sporting field? Or do I have more work to do? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

This is no answer to this question given the information you have provided.

What breed of dog is it?

HOW was the dog trained?

When was the last time you trained?

What protection sport did you try out?

What aspect of bite work wasn't the dog up for?

When you mean "protection" around the house and car what are you talking about?

You may have let your dog's training laps to far. Your dog may have been primarily trained in defense and doesn't understand prey or some types of bite work. Your dog could be below the power curve and not cut out for the work. You could be a complete crackpot and posting from a mental hospital.

Give some more details and talk specifically about your dogs protection training and then I'm sure you will get a bung load of very good training information.

(Don't take the crackpot thing too seriously. . .lol)

Hey guy, you're only half-right. I'm not in a mental institution. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

My male GSD is 2.5 yrs. old. I don't know what the sport was, I was there with a friend of mine who has since moved. And he was the one that used to do a lot, but not all, of the bite work with my dog. I've done some reading on this board and from what I gather my dog was only trained in defense.

It's been a year since I've done any bite work with him. Too long? My dog didn't go into avoidance at all. He'd go up and sort of mouth the suit and then was totally disinterested. It was like he knew it wasn't for real. And the fact that my dog used to do very well in his bite work is proof to me that he can do it.

I suppose I need to find another trainer to do some bite work with him. But I don't really care if he can do sport work or not, but I DO care that he bites someone if I tell him to, no matter what my dog thinks. :rolleyes:

Oh yea, as for your other question, we did bite work in strange places as well as home invasion and car jacking scenarios. So it wasn't like he was only confident at home but no place else. He was very confident anywhere I took him.

So what do ya think? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Defense training?

If your dog is confident and stable then you might be ok. He either didn't understand what was going on or he doesn't have the drives to work.

You need to do a few things. Get the Video "The First Steps of Bite Training". And I strongly recomend that you begin working on a prey foundation with your dog before you do any more "protection" training in defense.

It is incredibly important for protection training to have a solid prey foundation.

Explore some of your local resources like Schutzhund clubs and maybe profesional trainers.

Take a look at some of the books out there and other information available.

I've never seen a good PPD that had a pure defensive training program, nor one that could be controlled. It -F-s the dogs up.

Defensive work is a necessary part of the process, but prey work is where the foundations of bite training skills are formed.

You can do a lot of the work on your own if you know how, unlike defensive training.

I also suggest the Flinks video Drive, Focus, Grip. (I don't work for Leerburg either)