I have a 1 year old female GSD from czech working lines that I am training for PP. She has been imprinted since she was 8 weeks old and has been doing bite work ever since (in one form or another). If it comes to PP, there is something I really like about her and that is her courage. She is very friendly with people and not afraid of objects, surfaces, sounds or anything for that matter. In one of our classes we had a small swimming pool filled with Coke cans that we made the dogs jump in and walk through. We even had them run through it in order to get to the bite. All dogs were hesitant to some degree to go through the cans except for my dog who just ran through it with no problem.

However, the problem is her bite. You could consider it full mouth but it's WEAK. As the sleeve is presented to her she always bites it but she lacks the desire to really go after it. She barely pulls on the leash as the agitator closes in (even though it looks like she is pulling), she doesnt have the fire. After she gets it, she shakes it hard and guards it. She does want it but she just doesn't bite hard.

She wont bite a bite suit and she is not protective at all. It almost looks like she has too much courage to think that there is anything harmful out there. She pursues her flat basketball like it is the devil himself. She exhibits all ther intensity that I would like to see on the sleeve. run after it full speed, jump on it, as she shakes it she rams it to both sides of her body almost flipping herself over. She does the same with a frisbee. I can see that she can be intensive but how do you redirect that into bite work? Can that be done?

I tried to give as much details as possible and will be happy to give more...but does this dog have a future in PP work as she matures...? What course of actions should I consider taking now? Any help is appreciated.

Janet,
A 1 yo from Czech lines is a baby, she may look something like an adult, but she is very much a puppy at this age. She sounds like she may be getting stressed, tho it's hard to say via keyboard. There are others w/more PP experience here that can help you. What I can tell you is, that if she were my dog, I would go back to the earlier stages of prey/rag work/play until I figured out exactly what was happening.

It is very hard to tell without seeing your dog and the quality of your helper. Assuming that you have a good helper, the bite on a dog is mostly genetic. A good helper can bring a dog to its genetic capability but never more than that. Your dog is young and remember that the job of a PPD is to scare off an intruder. Not necessarily to bite.