I'm new to this site and this is my first post - so if I have posted this in the wrong category, forgive me. But I am a Working Dog Handler with a new Recruit dog I'm trying to get up to speed. Obedience training and Obstacles - whilst frustrating - are entirely workable, but I am having real trouble bringing out the aggression in my dog. He will only bite the sausage/puppy arm/whatever when under considerable stress (defence drive), eg. the agitator actually has to flank him or hurt him in some way to get a response. I have tried Prey Drive, Play and having the agitator attack ME to stimulate a response - to no avail. He stands his ground, but just isn't interested in the agitator no matter WHAT he/she does.
Defence drive will only last so long, as he seems to regress if the "pressure" remains constant for too long a period.
My question is: Am I fighting a lost cause? Should I just cut my losses and give this fella away? He's a beautiful dog and "looks" every part the Working dog, but I think he'd rather be a "House Dog". Is there anything that I could try to perhaps stimulate the response I desire from him? Any assistance here would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.

You have to hurt a dog to get him to bite?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Give him to a good home.

Samantha, I recently had to wash out a dog similiar to yours from a 440 hr school. Even though the dog was young (15 mos old) his progression was almost nil. It was very hard to get any real aggression or focus out of him, and just when we thought the little light went on in his head..he would digress to the point of having to relearn what he learned that week. At some point I knew he wasnt going to work out so we replaced him.

Howard

how old is this dog? what are his lines? what is he purpose for being trained? How long has the dog been in training? These ?'s may help others to better share their opinions. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

When you say "aggression", don't you mean prey drive? If not, why would you want to bring aggression(defense)out right now without a solid foundation in prey? I wouldn't try to train with defense without the foundation or confidence he would get from prey drive work. Sounds like trouble to me. I'd find a dog with prey drive or work only on bringing his out. There's a better way to train than with only defense/compulsion/table training.

Alison Voore

Right now I am trying to get my dog to show ANY sign of interest in "attack arm" training. When "Prey Drive" exercises have been attempted - he has shown no interest whatsoever, but stands his ground. In my line of work, there is a requirement for the dog to "bite and hold", and myself and other colleagues have been racking our brains to see if there is some way to stimulate ANY kind of drive in my dog. In my job, there ARE defence driven dogs although prey drive IS truly desired.
Also, to allay any kind of fears of maltreatment - by "hurting" I never meant that I or the agitator "beat" or "mistreated" my dog. Quite the contrary - building his confidence has been absolutely crucial thus far as I believe he has been mistreated in the past before being recruited. By "Hurting" I really meant "Flanking" and similar exercises, but I notice that I had already written flanking and followed it by "hurting", my mistake - I will endeavour to proof read my posts better in future <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />!! I do not believe in "beating" or other such practices to get a dog to respond. I'm just fast running out of time and looking for other ideas.
I am unsure of his lines as he is donated, but his purpose is as a Working Dog/Guard Dog and therefore active bite work is imperative. I'm also unsure of his age, but approximately 2-3 years is the "guess-timate".
If any of you have any ideas, or if from the sounds of things you believe I should just cut my losses - I'd appreciate any advice.
Thanks for your time!

Im confused.Are you a professional?Because you arent looking at this objectively.if you have a time frame and things arent working then get a new dog.Plain and simple.Sport people can afford to"give their dog a chance" and help him along.A working dog either makes the cut or hes gone.Just my opinion.

Samantha,
Your dog sounds almost identical to the first dog I was forced to actually work on the street <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />. He was the most fierce sounding thing on four legs, but when push came to shove, he ran. Cut your losses now and look for a proper, well balanced candidate. You will not have to work near as hard with a dog who has the proper drives. And you will save this current 'pet quality' dog a lot of unecessary stress. Good Luck.

I AM a professional - but unfortunately, dogs are extremely scarce here so no one can afford to let a dog go "just like that." However, I am on a strict time frame - which doesn't help my cause at all.
I believe it better to cut my losses.
Thanks for the advice.