I am having trouble getting my male to get close on the Bark and Hold. He is very intense during the exercise he just doesn't get close.....he stays about 2-3 ft away. He used to tear into the Blind and take a bite....we have taught him not to go all the way in....what he will do is go in hard and fast, nudge the deocy to get a bite then backs into the B and H. When he does hit the breaks and get into the exercise it is an awesome sight. Any suggestions?
Just out of curiosity, who corrected the dog for getting dirty you or the helper? Also, where are you in relationship to the dog as he comes into the blind? In the middle of the field from where you sent him? Or, behind him as he is in the blind? I'm just wondering if there may be a little conflict there from the corrections.
I have seen this before, and it went away. I guess its like the dog has to figure out where his parameters are, and sometimes they stay out a little to be able to hold themselves. It is the decoys job to trick them into coming closer for the bite. I never cared for the really close b&h so I didn't do much about it and most of them ended up really close anyway. Some of them really get a kick out of hitting the decoy on the escape and they stay back to facilitate this. If it's early in the training I would do more with the dog myself and a tug to get him close and there could be missed steps, sometimes decoys get carried away cleaning them up ect. Hard to tell if it's any of that stuff w/out seeing it.
In the original post I read that the dog has a problem. he bites instead of holds, anticipates a correction and then stays 2-3 feet back.
First i assume this is a sport dog, as 3 feet back is appropriate for a service dog. It really isn't a big deal in sport work either as long as it is clean and intense. Maybe at a International level trial you might get nudged out by a closer guarding intense dog, but if the dog is not barking reliably in the blind, what does it matter??
First, what ever type of correction must be for NOT BARKING and not a correction for biting. If you are correcting for biting then you are not fixing the real problem.
The dog must understand that it receives a correction and/or no escalation if it doesn't set up and bark.
Better during this stage to have the dog back 2-3 feet to make sure the timing is good, the dog performes correctly and the decoy isn't so jammed up he/she cannot perform correctly.
Once the dog is solid then set up circumstances where the dog will have to bark more closely, on a table, in the back of a truck, at the edge of a curb to encourage the dog to step on step closer and then the decoy can escalate.
habdler standing around pulling, hanking, or decoy moving is second rate training at best as this will be the cue for the dog not an immobile decoy.
Of course, if I saw the dog I might have an entirely different answer.
Here is what my dog was doing.......coming in hard and fast during Blind Search nudgin decoy for a bite backing away starting bark and Hold.
He was corrected with a tap under the chin(by decoy) and that cleaned up the nudge after a few sessions.
The Bark and Hold is very clean and intense. So what we did was put Him back on the long line. We gave him a few bites for clean work......then we ended the session with this......
Dog came in for bark and hold....if he came in close for Bark and Hold...he got his bite...if he didn't come in close the helper was allowed to escape without the dog getting a bite and ended session. He did the latter of the two. They siad that this would frustrate him enough so the next few times he will get closer and not allow the helper to escape w/o getting his bite.
I will let you know how this works after next session. Thanks for your input. It is greatly appreciated!
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