i like the harness in that the dog is not choking himself off. better barking - sometimes. no worry about an accidental correction or bring the drive down, however.....there is one thing i like better about a collar. after the dogs grips the sleeve, tug/whatever and is running around with it, the collar can do a 360* around the dogs neck, so if you have the dog on a long line it does reduce the chances of the dog getting wrapped up in the line. with the harness, you have to be constantly aware of the line so it doesn't get wrapped around the dog's legs and cause an injury.

I never worry about the dog getting tangled, it's me that has the problem. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I also prefer the harness because personally it doesnt restrict the barking, but I think its best to see what the dog reacts to the best. I notice with my dog that she has more of a bite drift because of the tension on the harness.

I bought the 2" Agitation collar from Ed and it is a really nice collar.I use it all the time with no choking problems at all.

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I bought the 2" Agitation collar from Ed and it is a really nice collar.I use it all the time with no choking problems at all.

I don't doubt that a collar is a great agitation tool and poses no problems for most dogs. I know plenty of people who use collars, some people prefer it because its just what they have, some people prefer it because they have a reason to, other people just grab whichever collar or harness is easier for them. My personal reason for liking the harness is because my dog is more willing to pull at the decoy when he is on a harness - he will pull at the decoy wearing a prong collar too, but naturally his performance suffers.

A dogs corrections always come from his neck, so keeping his agitation restraint away from the place corrections normally come from seems kinda logica. It's also easier for me, as a handler, to accidentally issue a tug on the flat collar that could be considered a correction by the dog, in fact, it's happened where he's in for a bite, he's already not 100% sure about this "biting people" thing even though it's on a sleeve, I screw up - then he lets go n won't bite the helper again (if he does, he's got zero intensity) without me either pulling him back n re-sending him, or the dog turning around to look at me because he thinks he got "corrected" then have the helper smack his butt with the sleeve to make him spin around n bite.

In my non-expert opinion, especially for a dog that may be a lil slower to be brought out than young hardcore working dogs that bite "out of the box" as someone put it... and especially for novice handlers such as myself, it's supposedly a very common problem to see handlers jerk their dogs back too hard when they are just trying to keep tension on the line, it's a better bet going for a harness. One decoy gave me excellent advice by telling me to keep the line "springy", let it give a lil then slowly bring it back, back n forth, it worked very well.

I agree with Jeff Oehlsen that targeting is the decoys job - and having played decoy for a short while, I can say it's not the easiest thing to do because the dog I decoy for seems to end up on my wrist no matter what I do, n damnit, it hurts <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> So if your decoy has trouble getting the dog to bite where you want him to, maybe it's the decoys problem, and he, like I, need to work on the whole targeting thing.

ok, short little re-buttle here. And then I'll be back in the printing room making up the flyers to kick off our Ring Revolution...

I disagree that targeting is the decoys job entirely. In a mature dog, sure... But in a puppy that's just plain hectic, you can't tell me that to feed the leg correctly will ensure a good bite. At least in my experience that's not the case. A young "high drive" pup tends to come in for the bite quite hectic. And before you say it, yes, he's dragging me in for the bite, he's not off leash or even moving quickly. Logic would state that a correctly fed target and all should be well if the pup is coming in at a nice easy pace but I find my pup likes to jump up a bit and go high. This isn't acceptable for me and by using the collar I can keep him low so his options are limited to a better spot. I appreciate that you don't want a dog who only has one spot to bite (read schutzhund sleeve... hee hee) but at the same time, the young dog should be taught proper technique first, and then be taught to vary his target based on the pressures being applied by a good decoy.

I'm gonna stick to my preference for a nice wide agitation collar here.

Viva La Revolution!!!!!!

Grant

Stay in the printing room, dangit! if your dog is wanting to go high on drag ins, have your decoy stick his foot out at the last minute, keeping the dog low, and keeping with my original theory that the decoy targets the dog. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

The drag ins really pump them up and your baby is what, 5 months? might be to young for them. Practice targeting low with your decoy by having him stick his foot out first. That should keep the demon down low. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />