Unfortunately, it takes TONS of practice to become just a halfway decent helper - years to be really good at it, so only practicing twice a month wouldn't be of much value to me cuz you would never reach an acceptable level of competency, but of course that is only my opinion. If a club is in a hurt for helper work, it might sound good to them.

Well i would go 4 times but only bring my dog twice and on those days I would like to help out when not training my dog then on the days I dont have him with me i would only help. You think I would be asking for too much? I really do want to compete and as I said before I am training my boy almost everyday.

It's certainly worth asking. All they can say is no thanks. Might work out for you.

Nope no flaming here. Just the facts...lol

the clubs I know of, don't charge weekly fees to the helpers. Now of course, being a newbie it might be different, as they are going to spend as much if not more time with you as a helper than with a dog. But as Lee says, never hurts to ask.

Ok I just made an appt for teusday to meet with a club and they are going to evaluate my dog. I will ask and see what they say.

Slow down, Sparky. Evaluate the people before you allow anyone evaluate your dog. There is a lot of hard earned wisdom in the previous posts. Best of luck to you and let us know how it worked out.

If you got the time the DVG is holding a trial helper seminar in St.Louis in August. The instructor is very good. If you get a chance it would be invaluable for you to go.They will give you a real good foundation on the basic mechanics to helper work.Just remember, don't be stubborn and jump the gun. Take your time and do it right. There is no sense and hurting you or your dog due to impatience.As long as the genetics are there, there is no real rush to start bite work.

I'm going to the Command dog center in New Hartford CT. I went there last year to see the Nationals. They are going to have a trial in about two weeks which I am also going to attend.
I wish I could go to St. Louis but I can't afford to travel right now.

What all the experienced trainers have said here is true, you can't do your own helper work. Mostly.

However...... I would remind everyone that Bernhard Flinks stated at multiple seminars that you can work your dogs bite on a sleeve or a tug while he is back tied *if* you know what you're doing. Bernhard in fact recommended this as a primary training tech. for several of us at the New Mexico seminar due to our lack of reliable helpers at our home clubs.( not a problem for me anymore as I am lucky enough to have a National level helper at my club now. Who trains us for *free* <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> )

I'm saying this with strong hesitation due to Edgar's inexperience in bite work. I can see how a mistake in presenting the sleeve to the dog could in fact injury the animal and ruin any future training. Helper work needs to be taught by an experienced helper to a novice - it isn't something you can pickup from a video or book. And it requires practice to improve.

Have been watching this for a few days, and had a couple thoughts on the subject.

For this dog it would have been a huge mistake. There are 2 problems I see. One is the breed. If you can't get a Mal to bite, get another dog. The bigger issue with Mal's has more to do with getting them to out than to get them to bite. Second is the age. At 11 months old I would be afraid that the dog would learn that it is OK to put a serious bite on the owner thather than using it to learn technique.

I have used a sleeve to teach my own dog to bite the sleeve. The circumstances were that the dog understood the game with the tug, but not the sleeve. I had taught her rag and tug before and she just wouldn't transfer to the sleeve. So I taught her to play with a sleeve with me. When we need to make a transfer to a harder sleeve, that was a different color, I had to do it again. Here is the rub at this point, once she learned that it isn't a game, that were are dealing with a serious issue and biting is to protect against "bad people", she won't bite a sleeve if I have it on. She will still play with other toys, but not the sleeve.

This is exactly what I wanted to see, I just can't play with the sleeve anymore.