It is not fair for the dog or the handler. In my opinion, this is not the time or place to find out that a dog does not have the fight drive to carry himself through this kind of situation. I wonder what goes through the dogs mind when they get hurt for the first time in a real fight? What will happen to an improperly trained dog when he is sent after a suspect that is prepared to fight the dog even though he is being bit? I often wonder what these sport dogs (or improperly trained service dog) think when they realize that this guy is not a helper, he is really pissed and he is fighting seriously. I approach this matter by offering a question. Now to the question of a service dog being hit with a stick. This is the difference between the two styles of bark and hold. Even though he has confidence in his ability to beat the suspect in a fight, he has an Adrenaline rush because he knows this is serious work. The dog will bark with a deep throated challenge but still may have the hair up on his back a little because he knows that he may be going into battle. So the picture of a service dog approaching a helper (or suspect) is one of forwardness but balanced with caution. He should stand back out of harms way and bark with the intention of notifying his partner (the handler) that he has found the suspect. The dog should not sit directly in front of the helper in a sport style of a bark and hold. The police dog should approach the helper in defense or fight drive and not prey drive. So the bark and hold of a service dog is not and should not be approached with a "baiting mentality." A fighting partner is not going to bolt and run like prey, he is going to stand and fight. A fighting partner can hurt you and must be taken very seriously. The helper is not prey, he is a "fighting partner." To understand the reasons why this is the case, one must begin by understanding how the dog must view the helper in police work. On the surface this would seem to be a logical position to take, but in reality it's very bad advise that is often given to new inexperienced undereducated police canine handlers. Most sport trainers therefore feel that all corrections should come from the handler. They say that the dog should never feel that he is being corrected by a suspect. Sport trainers incorrectly feel that there is no place in police dog training where the helper should be correcting the dog. When that happens the dog will chase the prey (helper) and bite. If they bark hard enough or long enough, the helper is going to be flushed into an escape. The dogs approach the bark and hold exercise as a "baiting game." In other words, they look at the bark and hold as a challenge to the helper to move. Remember that in sport dog training, the majority of the dogs view the helper as their prey. These stick hits are viewed as "helper corrections." The purpose for these hits is to teach the dog that he will be hurt if he does not bark at the helper when the helper is standing still. The helper simply hits the dog (usually across the front legs or right between the ears) when it takes inappropriate bites on a standing still helper. In sport training, the stick is often used to "clean the dog up" during the bark and hold exercises. Sport dog trainers use stick hits during a trial to stress the dog and thereby test his nerves. To fully understand this issue, a trainer needs to know how and why the stick is used in sport training and then how and why it is used in service dog training. In effect they are right, but for the wrong reasons. Many undereducated sport trainers like to expound on the reasons why "their stick work" is the wrong type of training for police service dogs. The confusion stems from sport dog trainers applying their use of the stick to police service dog training. I was not aware of the fact that there was so much confusion on this subject.
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