Andres asked;
You wrote,
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When doing real world or tactical obediance I often (not always) end that training with a prey item . Once again though , I mix it up and vary the type of rewards and vary it based on the individual dog .
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When do you give the prey item.?
I don't train every scenerio as 100% realtity based . I change the amount of realism based on what I'm trying to accomplish. Do I want to work on tactical obediance , searching , alerts , Manwork , tracking , etc. ? I vary the degree of realism (distraction) also depending on what I want to accomplish . I also break down my training into smaller specific tasks in those training areas also. I may just work on downing on articles , quiet during the K9 warning , alerts , etc. .
Example, I work late at night if it's slow crime wise and there is no one else to assist me I may just find a building and do tactical OB with my K9 (no badguy present). I may reward him for coming back to me at a position of cover or reward him after he has been in a long down behind cover and I have move from several positions of cover when I return to him . I also correct him for disobediance during these sessions .
I always balance my training though so the K9 doesn't think all of this is done only for the prey item reward . I can do the same exercise with a badguy visible and reward after a certain command is done properly . It's the variable reward system . The dog doesn't know when he will be reward ed . It many be the 1st , 5th or 10th command or task he prefomed correctly before he gets rewarded .
Andres asked;
What other rewards and when?
I use prey items , praise , play , food and man as rewards . When depends on the situation and what I want to accomplish .
Andres asked;
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The potential bite or confrontation and driving off of the badguy should be(IMO) and are the primary incentive with the dogs we train . But , if the real world scenerio ends without the dog getting that reward (bite , drive off) then a prey item can many times be a good second option .
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When do you give the prey item?
This is a scenerio where the badguy is not there . In this scenerio it may have a high degree of realism , minus the badguy at the end . The K9 will be rewarded for a specific task or command performed correctly . The reward isn't given for ending the search for the badguy and finding nothing or as a replacement for the badguy . In this case it's just another variable reward coming at the end of a search for a certain task he performed correctly . Could be for returning to me , downing while searching . The K9 could also be rewarded multiple time throughout this scenerio . It depends on the dog and what I want to accomplish .
Andres stated;
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What you have described is a poorly planned training scenerio with poor training and tactics .
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Yes it is. It just helps me illustrate the point that if you give a prey item to reward an action, within the appropriate time frame for the dog to consider the reward FOR THAT ACTION, you can get in trouble, second, that if a dog has a prey item in his mouth, and you need that dog to respond to a handler threat, the dogs first reaction will be to chomp down on the prey item, and third, that if the prey item is given outside of a very short time frame...it no longer rewards anything...and is just stress relief.
I agree a prey item should not be used in this scenerio but there are many others where it can be . The handler in your scenerio rewarded the K9 when it's task and scenerio wasn't complete . Reasons for this could be the Handler didn't have a good concept of how to reward His K9 in this situation or the training objectives of this scenerio were not explained to the handler correctly .
People are always giving examples of how certain pieces of K9 equipment(bitesuits , muzzles , prong collars , e-collars , sleeves , etc.) are used improperly to prove why they shouldn't be used . What they usually are proving though is that they have a very bad unstanding of how these pieces of equipment should be used .
Re: A spanner in the spokes...
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