Back to my additional question about the dog anticipating the release when I touch her collar.

She releases on command very well, in fact I rarely have to tell her to release more than once. Yet when I want to choke her off the bite, she will typically release before I can actually get the proper grip on the collar.

Why is she doing this, and what might I do to correct it?

What have you done to keep this from happening. This is the very first stuff that is done on the pole.This is what bite development is all about. The dog needs to be back tied or on the pole and have the helper take the bite and then backout and put tension on the line while you give calm praise and rub your dog for maintaining the grip. When the helper puts slack in the line step away from your dog and give some verbal praise when the helper puts tension on the line again go back to stroking and calm praise again.If the dog lets go of the grip prematurely the helper should agitate and give the dog a miss(frustrate the dog)go away then come back and start over. If your dog is 22 months old she is getting close to being old enough for true defense work but before that, you need to have her biting correctly.There is alot you can accomplish on the pole and you need to get that squared away before you start worrying about stressing the dog.The dog needs to have confidence in what it is suppose to do before you ask it to do it in a stressfull situation.

Well I have a question and perhaps an answer. The Question:

Why would you want to have to choke the dog off a bite? The dog has learned to out on command, why not just use it?

The answer is that you have taught another out command. When you touch the collar the dogs knows it is supposed to out. So it does. This is one of the hazards of dog training, teaching a command that you don't intend. It comes from doing something with out thought consistantly enough that it becomes associated with a command the dog knows and becomes a command on it's own.

So this isn't necessarily a bad thing? By choking the dog off of the bite isn't that keeping the drive at its highest level as opposed to commanding the dog to release? Maybe I am misinformed....I understand that the drive is weakened somewhat when the dog is commanded to release.

The drive can be weakened if the dog thinks he is wrong for biting. The out can be weak if the dog thinks it is the end of all the fun. I hate to keep bringing up the pole but I do think you are ahead of yourslf in the bite work if you are having some of the problems you have described in the past.On the pole you can build a strong full bite that the dog will not let go of also you can teach the dog that outing on command means another bite and that outing prematurely means frustration and the helper gets away. The pole just gives you control over the situation to isolate certian areas of the bite work and develop them.

I actually work with her on tie back.....apparently not enough.....I have a training session scheduled tomorrow....we'll work primarily on the pole and see how it goes.....

I would have to agree on the suggestion to work the dog on the pole more. In fact I wouldn't be in a hurry to get off of the pole. I know scenarios are more interesting but a lot of good foundation work can be done there. A skilled decoy can work the dog in prey and defense. Stick hits and all kinds of pressure can be applied with the security of the back tie. Scenarios such as a struggle between you and decoy can be done just out of reach of the dog. When the dog has reached his peak the decoy can step into the reach of the dog. You can keep the sessions short and end with a run away bite. You can also work into the heal position and back out so as to not cue the dog that she is going to be outed.

Drew,
The pole, or tie back is a good bite builder. When you think she is ready, or if she hits a training "wall", try a tie back with a huge bungie cord. Ive used this on a couple of dogs with very good results. It isnt as hard on them physically when they lunge and it is more forgiving if the decoys puts too much pressure on her too soon. The dog soon learns what it takes to stretch the cord and will adjust herself accordingly. Also, the decoy has a large window in which to pull and it allows the dog to feel the progressive resistance while being pulled on the bite. Additionally, if she goes to readjust the bite the sleeve is suddenly snatched away and should frustrate her enough to have her bite harder........Howard

One more thing, Makesure the helper is fleet of foot. Ive found that the dog will go low for the bite to keep their feet on the ground. Also, they will bait the helper to come in so as to avoid fighting the bungie.. H

Sounds good gentlemen.....I actually have the setup to do the bungee....infact, I use it when I am doing maintanence in prey drive.....we'll use it tomorrow with a foreign helper....and go from there.....thanks for the advice.