John ya know i misunderstood thought you meant a dog psychistrist.I would just like to say that there are people who claim to be a helper and those who have trained to be a helper through Schutzhund USA (the way i trained) ask the helper if he has the Sch USA helper book. You dont want a backyard helper if your gonna compete.

Hah! A dog psychiatrist! If I could only figure out how to get a pup to lay on the couch long enough...

Yes, the helper you are working with is EVERYTHING.

lmao well i thought it was funny to one tryed to get me to pay them $200 to look at a dog I had, I laughed my ass off.

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are people who claim to be a helper and those who have trained to be a helper through Schutzhund USA (the way i trained) ask the helper if he has the Sch USA helper book. You dont want a backyard helper if your gonna compete.

Isn't USA's helper program for the purpose of developing trial helpers and not trainer/helpers?

Not trying to minimize trial helpers at all, and I have seen some very good trial helpers that are also good decoy/trainers.

At least in my neck of the woods we have some excellent trainer/helpers that are not certified for trials. I would not call them backyard helpers by any stretch of the imagination.

Knowlage is power
I have seen helpers mistake defensive drive for prey drive and work a pup in defense and think they did somthing.You have to ask yourself "I just payed $2000 for this pup am i willing to take this chance". Bite work is a game for the dog not a life or death situation.Watch a dog doing bite work in prey their wagging their tales woo-hoo this is fun . Then watch a dog in defense Hackles up watching the helper instead off the tug. this dog will end up biteing someone or bite dirty in the blind if he even stays in the blind.Helper seminars are great the dogs are usually retired dogs people come out off the wood work to let their retired dog get a bite.Teaches the helper how to respond to different situations without damageing what you the trainer has worked so hard to get to.So for me it is not worth the risk.I am not saying that the only good helper is a trial helper Im saying a proven helper is one that allways wants to educate himself but not at a new owners expense.

Anyone who has trained with me will affirm that I take no chances with my dogs. Think I have even been accused of being paranoid a time or two.

Some of the best helper/trainers I have worked with would not be able to show a current helper book. Will and Mike from this board are two. Another that comes to mind is Col, many years ago he decoyed at a national level but I wouldn't even hazard a guess to how long his certification has lapsed.

I know some very good training decoys that have trial certification and I know other ones that I would not allow to catch my cat outside a trial situation.

I am in no way discounting trial certification or trial decoys. I think it is important for newer people to realize that trial certification does not necessarily make a training decoy.

What I have done is attach myself, well ok-stalk--people that I respect and have been in the field for a while. And I run things by them constantly. I'm not really disagreeing with you and I think we are saying the same thing. Find the very best, that you can trust to work/train your dog! I do know that there are a lot of people on the board that is brand new to protection work and I guess I just want to overkill the point that trial certification is just that---trial decoy. Does not make a promise of anything else.

Currently, I am working with a certified WDA helper. I did not know he had this certification until just recently. Couldn't care less. What I care about is his experience and his ability to work and read dogs. The fact that Ed knows my helper and that he is the one working Bernard Flinks dog Itor in the Drive and Focus DVD does not hurt either!

Thanks Betty - being certified tends to impress the people that haven't been in the sport very long and will call helpers that let their certification lapse after 25 years in SchH a "backyard
helper".

But I'll keep offering the club my "backyard" helper skills....

K9 concepts off Georgia huh hmmmm any affiliation with Gary Hanrahan? Well sorry you feel insulted was not meant that way it was only an opinion not fact

 Quote: Doug Williams

K9 concepts off Georgia huh hmmmm any affiliation with Gary Hanrahan?

Huh?