Step 1 – Short Sleeve

The dog in this video is 6 months old. He is already done teething.

Please make sure that you trained your dog through the Attitude/Prey section. When we teach the dog bite technique, we want to make certain he wants the sleeve.

We usually start with lightweight wedges or small bite pillow. Something that is not too heavy for the dog to carry.

We will begin as always with the Helper hidden in the blind. The Handler will activate the Helper by saying “Helper.”

The Helper will appeal to the dog’s prey drive by movement. There is no threatening or intimidation.

In the beginning, we do not expect much. We just give the dog a bite to increase his confidence level. If the dog drops the wedge, the Handler will use verbal Negative Marker and will pick it up and give it back to the dog. We do not want the voluntary release of the sleeve – 03:15 sec. Once the dog takes back the wedge, the Helper might help by tugging on the wedge while the Handler is cradling the dog. This increases the drive – 04:05 sec. You may consider attaching a leash to the wedge so the Helper can add some leash pressure.

Once the dog releases the wedge, we recommend that the Handler always kicks it to the Helper. This increases prey drive. Do not pull the dog away from it as it creates aggression. Aggression is not conducive to learning at this stage of the training.

The next step is to strengthen the grip. The instance the dog bites, the Handler comes to a complete stop and holds the leash like a post. The Helper will continue backing away while the dog holds the wedge to increase leash pressure. The tighter the leash pressure, the stronger the dog must hold on – 05:10 sec.

Next time the Helper will put the wedge on his arm – 06:20 sec. In our training system, we prefer the Helper to always mark before releasing the sleeve. In the exercise above, the Helper marks the dog’s firm grip and then releases the wedge.

We will proceed to work on the strength of the bite by holding the leash pressure for a few seconds as the bog bites – 08:30 sec. Here you saw 5 seconds.

When the Helper pulls on the wedge make sure he applies just enough pressure for the dog to clamp on. Ask him not to pull too hard and make the dog lose it. We are slowly building the dog’s confidence.

We will now show the dog a view of escape bite 10:24 sec. Once the dog bites, the Helper stays stationary. We do not want to add motion just yet. All we show is a different positioning on the sleeve.