to leak, or not to leak....

[laurlitt]

Up until recently Maddie's protection work has been about building up drive off the field and once on the field before getting to the bad guy... It's quite clear that she doesn't need this type of motivation to get going and it's time to 'cap' these drives with obedience as we start training for the 'routine'. The first few sessions (in a platz while bad guy is getting ready for session) she was squirming and doing a lot of high pitched whining/'leaking' and the occasional bark. This has been fixed and we allow NO 'leaking'. After about 1/2 dozen sessions her platz or sit beforehand is very calm and quiet. It certainly helps to cap those drives and then when the game starts she is 'explosive'. From my little experience of dealing w/ this I think the less leaking you allow the easier the obedience portion of protection will be.

We also have a Mal in the household and I'd love to know how to CAP him (w/out doing physical harm!)... Mojave's mom... I feel your pain (and you've got two of them!)

[Mojave's Mom]

Originally posted by laurlitt
Mojave's mom... I feel your pain (and you've got two of them!)

The older Belgian is too old to care anymore :o :( She's 10.5 and "dad" says although she never had the "mouth" that Diablo has, she WAS full of the same energy....which explains why they got to such a high level in agility (MX, MXJ) I just thank god that through loads of consistency he is now tolerable in and out of the house, and most importantly, when we want him to work. Long, hard road.

[Muckdogs]

Originally posted by valdes43
I have no idea what a leaky dog is. :)

BS



Matt, at what point are you talking about leaking? If it is pre-routine, I think it okay. If it is whining or chattering while on the sleeve, it is bad nerves or serious conflict and hence, not okay. Just my .02

[Mattweiser]

I am talking about during a routine (OB)..

Example:

helper is on the field.. you bring dog out, tell the dog "heel", and he whines and chatters at different points, primarily when he thinks he should be getting a bite...

I do not mean while bitting, but before after, in stead of, etc..

[valdes43]

Originally posted by Muckdogs
BS

Seriously, I have no idea. haha :D Actually, I believe Matt is primarily visualizing my older dog when he writes his posts on this subject! He's a pre-leaker. haha No chattering, just obsessive leaking. He's a drive or die dog, Isn't he Matt?

[Muckdogs]

Originally posted by Mattweiser
I am talking about during a routine (OB)..

Example:

helper is on the field.. you bring dog out, tell the dog "heel", and he whines and chatters at different points, primarily when he thinks he should be getting a bite...

I do not mean while bitting, but before after, in stead of, etc..

In that case, I see no problems. BUT, it is still not a pretty picture. My dog is a little like this and I just write it off to getting ramped up. I'd rather he have it than not. For me, though, the real key is to be able to cap it off when you want to. Control. We work on that quite a bit. But it is a fine line between capping and killing drive. I don't want to get on him so much that he doesn't ramp up, but then again, I don't want to constantly have to crank on him for forging and pulling. What I like to do when this happens s to break off my approach to the field and do some quick obedience and then try to go out again. It usually takes a few times but he gets the picture. This technique also works when in the routine if you have a helper that is cognizant of what you are trying to do. For instance, if the dog is "leaking" befoere the HB (and OBVIOUSLY YOU AND THE HANDLER MUST BE ON THE SAME PAGE), you can drop the sleeve, turn around, crouch down, whatever, to show the dog, nope, no bite when you act like that. After reps, the dog will learn that the quickest way to the sleeve is through controlled ob and good manners. I hate it when people don't want to work on that. They think that it's real good when the dog drags them from the truck to the field, pulling, lunging, spinning, barking, whining, and then they say, "Okay,, give him a bite"

Geeez, what the heck do you guess that promotes. A real ?????? picture of a wild dog and a stupid handler.