I hope this is posted in the appropriate forum.

I have been watching the sequel to B. Flinks DVD, titled "Prepping Your Dog for the Helper". We have moved onto our favourite game of fighting the tug.

She fights enthusiastically in drive, and comes flying towards me for the tug. Her grip is firm, and I can swing her side to side in a half circle. She maintains grip when I drag and walk with the tug. Due to my petite stature, I can't swing her off the ground in a circle. To deal with this my husband participates when possible. When he does this particular drive work, he is able to swing Janka off the ground in a wide circle.

Does it impinge on training if the secondary human participates in this training? As is, I am the sole handler when we do herding together.

The one thing that concerns me is, I notice while firm, her bite is shallow. You know how Itor has the tug or sleeve gripped deep into his mouth. Well, Janka holds it shallow. She mouths occasionally when we do the pause, almost like she is trying to get a better grip.

Will the shallow bite cause her to be mouthy since it does not seem 'secure'? How do I teach her to have a deeper grip? Am I moving too quickly?

We still do drive and focus training daily, although I started incoperating the fight work with it.

Also, when should I upgrade to a bite sleeve? Or a bite bar?

If your dog has a "firm but shallow bite" while on the bite tug, do you allow her to counter so as to deepen her bite?

What could I do to let her counter?

I can think of alot of things. First how old is she? Second and nothing against but is a female. How are you training? My sport PSA dogs are to push the bite get better when can. Shutz to make one good bite and hold.Some dogs just don't take it to the tonsils, my late doberman had an aligator grip but was shallow he was also very weak on nerves. maybe I should reread your post but does she pull away with tug or come in. More info is needed to get educated advice I am also not a big fan of spinning a dog in the air especialy young dogs.

To encourage the dog to counter, stop pulling on the tug for a moment and hold it still. This should encourage your dog to use that as an opportunity to get a deeper grip (the prey item has stopped fighting momentarily). It's important to ensure there is no tension in the tug during this moment. My pup will counter everytime I do this and this technique is mentioned in the 2nd Flinks DVD.

However, if your dog does not counter consistently, it could be a genetic thing. Ed alludes to this when he talks about the puppy temperament test in "Raising a Working Puppy."