as i have posted before, i have two gsds with very different behavior. Now the problem here is how the male dog is doing the bite. He does have a good strong and full bite but i am in doubt in the he should approach the sleeve. he runs in the direction of the decoy, but he jumps from very near to get the bite on the sleeve. how can this be corrected? if the decoy simply moves backwards when he sees the dog getting nearer should this work?

Without seeing this its hard to say what is going on. Possibly the dog was fed the sleeve consistently in the initial training or your decoy has consistently jamed the dog.I dont know if your dog is slowing way down before the bite or what, its hard to say without seeing it.If the dog has a big full, hard , condident bite maybe your decoy needs work on catching a dog smoothly. Once again its hard to say without a better description or seeing it.

yes, he slows down before the bite. what are ways to get the dog smoothly?
thanks for your help david.

Hi Jose,

Like David said, it is hard to tell without seeing it. If your dog is hesitant to the bite you want to make certain you are not over pressuring the novice/weak dog. I think a simple “circle in/run-bye” kind of bite work training is a good place to work out most hesitant bite problems. It allows your helper a place and time to adust the level of pressures the dog is facing while giving ample room for the dog to get comfortable while the prey drive is being tweaked. This covers the hesitation problem if the dog has some fear issues.

In this situation the dog barks in prey and the helper moves on the bark in a submissive and “wild chicken’ way --- (arms and sleeve flapping) while in full retreat. Most dogs will get a kick out of the “button’ they can push on the helper.

If it is because the dog has been jammed/hurt in other ways and is hesitant because of this the “circle in bite” scenario lets the dog and helper have a bite zone. The area at the end of the dog on a 10-foot tie out (flat collar) is this ZONE. The helper moves in an elliptical almost football shaped pattern away from the dog on the dog’s initiative bark and then at an shallow angle meets the dog with his ELBOW pointed at the dog while being firm to the helpers side.

When I say Elbow it is the helpers actual elbow and not the “sleeve” elbow. This will give the dog a good bite surface. The only thing the helper needs to do then is know the range with is constant just don’t cross the Bite zone area + 6-12 inches to adjust for the distance between the dogs head and the helpers size. The

A few circle in bite practices without the dog and another person to simulate the dog’s bite with their hands at the dog level will help you will get it down. 3-4 circle in bites done each day for a week should give you a marked improvement on the dogs strike while improving your helpers bite work ability if this is the problem.

thanks for your suggestion, dennis. he is not hesitant to the bite. his reaction is something more like "damn it, i'm to close to the sleeve!" and then he takes the bite.
thank you all

Either way this should help. It is a timing error on the helpers part or a targeting problem the helper created if the dog is strong in prey and bites full and hard...still it is hard to say without seeing him.

Good luck <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />