My GSD male has recently developed an unusual habit. When released to chase down someone, I have had the helper turn on him after running away, most of the dogs I train run hard toward the helper, & at the last minute, slow down & jump at the sleeve, this dog WAS no different until recently.
He has figured this out: - He runs flat out at helper, at the last minute when he used to position himself for the jump, he continues at full pace & jumps off target, whilst flying past the helper, he grabs the sleeve & uses his own weight to rip the helper off his feet, almost dislocating his arm!
I wondered (at first) was it an early sign of avoidance, but the dogs posture, tailetc say no, plus he is chasing in prey.

I really dont mind but the couple of helpers I have are now hesitant about catching a 45 kg (90lb) flyball.

Any body seen other dogs do this?

Without seeing what is happening and going by what you are saying, I would say possibly one of two things is going on or both. The dog was never really taught how to target and the last second turn is throwing him off. Or he is avoiding some. Most of the time when a dog had been doing "courage" type tests OK and then starts to go to the outside, something is bothering him, he is trying to avoid body contact, he still wants to bite and does, but keeps his body to the outside of the helper. Maybe they (your helpers) have been making it to defesive for him? Do some back ups with him or some last second "suck ups", up into the air kind of thing, not some much pressure and see what happens after awhile. You also have to say different dogs have different styles, but from what you are saying, he was doing them fine and then he started with this to the outside stuff. So, I would think something happened in training and now he is avoiding a little. Just my opinion.

Sounds more to me that the dog has figured the fastest way to put the helper on his butt and win the fight. I know that most people prefer a dog that can bring a agitator to the ground quickly.

Just my 2 cents..

We have seen this after the dog has been worked on a bunjee. One even learned to use the bunjee to pull him in to the agitator with a sling shot effect. With one dog I watched last night that does something similar, when the agitator catches him the agitator swung him in a circle in the air when the dog made the bite. He takes a huge bite and hung on as he was swung in a circle about 4 times with his feet off the ground. He is still young (around 1 year) and 90 lbs.

It sounds like this dog is just modfing his technique to provide a harder hit and make a take down. If this dog is as smart as it sounds like he is and you want to have him stay on his feet. have the agitator move when he jumps so that he can't reach them. I would guess that he will modify his targeting to accomidate the attempt by the agitator to avoid him.

Doug,
I dont think he is miss targetting or avoiding, when working in defence, he will go into the suit no problem, he will rip at the abdominal area of the suit even when the helper is wrestling him off, rolling on him or whatever, he doesn't give up. When the helper has been pulled off his feet & lands on the ground, the dog starts dragging the helper along the ground, anything to get that prey item.
Ragewalker, you are probably right, last night, he was doing the same thing with leg bites, running past the leg grabbing and slingshotting his body weight to bring down the helper, I'm sure I heard him laugh when he took the legs out from under my helper & landed him on his back! There is no pressure in these sessions, once the hanlder is down, the dog just prey barks at him to get up & have another go.

Richard, I have never worked him on a bungee, I dont have one, & we have tried stepping out of the way & letting him fly by, he re attacked from close by. He at times used to jump at the handler & use his body like a sack to pound the helper down, he seems to prefer the "fly by" as we have now called it.

I dont think thats a great problem, for the dog & me it's fine, helpers are getting a bit soar though.
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I am going to have them keep the sleeve close to the ground for a while, when the dog is not in the air, he is easier to handle. Thanks for all the feedback though.. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

K9 Force
Yes I have seen this, 1 of our police K9 does this all the time. We did a couple of things that worked.

K9 Force, sorry: the things that worked. 1. The helper not feeding the sleeve to the dog (keep it close to the body), he missed alot and started targeting better. 2. We use a full body suit and will never give him the arm and sometimes use a wall so he won't try to go to the front of the helper. however the #1. thing we did seem to work the best. By the way he has had a successful apprehension/bite of a fleeing felon going over a fence. The bite was of the rear thigh area.

Boro 197, thanks, I will give it a try & see how he goes over a bit of time...