| This depends largly on the dog and the trainer. There is no question for me that serious PP work can be done similtanously with sport work such a SchH as long as the dog has the desired genetic incl drive, nerve etc and the trainer doing the work is capable of working a dog to it's genetic potential.
In recent times a lot has been written about a sport dog's lack of ability on the street. This has come about as a result of trainers locking a dog in prey (where the dog is only doing the work due to a desire to grab the sleeve and is in no way focussed upon the man) so that it is able to get through the desired routine even when it does not have the required nerve to do such work. A dog that is locked in prey can sustain much pressure as it is totally goal focussed about getting it's prize. However once the sleeve is removed the dog is useless as it will never have the required strength nor training to do the work. The same is also true with a strong dog that is only trained in it's prey drive.
However this is not always the case. A number of trainers still want thier dogs to do the sport as well as do the work on the street. It is all in the training and the dog having the natural inbuilt genetics for such work. Dogs like Stromfonts Brawnson are examples of this. This is a SchH dog who is also a Police dog working on the streets and was the 2000 US Police Dog Nationals winner. Work him and tell me he is not serious.
As too what should you do well it depends on what you want. I train all my dogs for PP as this work for me is of a higher level and makes the dog capable on the street. However all my dogs train for sport routines as well and I have a large focus on the Hold and Bark as I find it is a very important training tool as well as a real test of the dogs charater. A dog can be capable of both.
Mick  |