Here is an article I wrote for Off lead Magazine for the Fall Issue in Digital Format.....

PSA Sanctioned Trial:  PSA PDC, TC, PSA 1, PSA 2, PSA 3

Sanford PSA Trial - Under the Lights!

Date: August 22, 2009 (One Day Night Trial Saturday Night) - Field will be open Friday August 21, 2009 for Training.

Judges: Greg Williams, Jerry Bradshaw

Decoys: Shawn Edwards, Jeremy Furrow, Jeff Riccio, others TBA

Location: Sanford Senior High School, Baseball Field.

Contact: Janet Dooley, TK9 Protection Sports, 919-935-9613

Hotels (Quality Inn is the Best Value)

Quality Inn (919) 774-6411 - Mention Tarheel Canine for discount

Holiday Inn Express (877) 863-4780 

Hampton Inn (919) 775-2000 

This is an excerpt from Controlled Aggression by Jerry Bradshaw....available by clicking on the link on this blog's home page....

The Patrol Test

 The patrol test begins with evaluating the dog’s demeanor as he comes into the testing area. It is preferable to choose a neutral testing area that is unfamiliar to the dog. Try to avoid doing all the testing on the dog’s home field. Remember you are testing his nerves in addition to testing his drives. We are looking for his pack sociability (how he relates to his handler including the bond in evidence, or possibly any negative attributes like hand shyness) and his public sociability (how he relates to you and anyone else unknown to the dog in the testing area). Is the dog is social or neutral, or worse, decidedly unsocial.  If the dog is very civil, and that is something you value highly, he should be alert to the people around him but confident. There is a difference between a sharp dog and a fear biter – the difference being confidence. Once you are happy with the dog’s public sociability the dog is ready to be tested.

 Defense Evaluation

 The testing begins on the back tie.  If it is a young dog in early adolescence, the dog can be held by the handler on leash. However, I prefer to see the dog work independently and as such I want the dog’s handler completely out of the picture.

We begin by testing the dog’s defensive instincts. From a hiding place, the decoy (dressed in street clothes, he may have a hidden sleeve on) comes out slowly and makes defensive contact with the dog by staring in his eyes and moving very slowly toward the dog, from a distance of about 30-50 feet. This is not training. We are evaluating how he deals with the stress of a confrontation with a stranger, without any hint that this will be fun or familiar. There should be no protection equipment in the testing area, and no warm up bites for the dog. No prey items at all should be in evidence.

The slow approach allows the dog time to think about what is happening, the posture of the decoy is to be threatening, forward, always engaged with his eyes on the dog, and the decoy must, in his mind, pretend he is going to hurt the dog when he gets close enough. You must watch the dog for his response. If he growls a low growl, and puffs air, that is a good start. But, you are looking for how the dog handles the stress of the approach, when his aggression doesn’t immediately scare off the threat.

There should be an aggressive and confident response. Look at the body language of the dog. You will likely see a mix of signals. Maybe some hackles up, snarling (short mouth), ears up or flat, tail up, out or slightly tucked. A dog in defense is posturing to look scary. Once he looks scary you then continue to apply the pressure. It is critical that you do not reward this with prey (quick movements, side to side or in and out) in any way, but keep pressing.

As you come further in, look for changes in behavior: does the tail tuck further, up ears flatten back, does the dog quit and look around as if looking for an escape? Does he back up or stay hard into the collar, his entire body coming forward? As you come forward match his reactions. Make your shoulders rise, bend forward more, lower your head and stare hard. Harden your facial expression into a human snarl. Look for how he deals with your aggression.

A dog in a defensive mood can do three things: He can fight, flee, or displace. In reality he can show a mixture of behaviors, as the pressure builds, maybe first trying to be aggressive to bluff you into retreating, and then choose displacement.[1] He might choose to flee, and run away hard into the back tie line. What we are looking for is a dog that meets threat with threat, and comes forward into the collar with confident aggression.

When you are close enough to step into the circle described by the back tie line, you can swing the hidden sleeve in for a bite or make a movement as if you are delivering a grip, and see if he bites the hidden sleeve or he clacks his jaws at your arm passing just out of his reach. You want him to turn that frustration and defensive energy into biting. Aggression must be met with more aggression, for this dog to be capable to fight in a street situation. Granted, there will be much more training to come to develop his drives, but we want a solid aggressive response to work with. We don’t want the dog to think about a way out of the confrontation.[2] If you use the hidden sleeve, work him hard and see how he deals with the fight after the confrontation. Look for weakness in the grip, and other signs that show he is not fully committed. Use lots of vocalizing, and sound real. After a short fight, weaken your fighting, and see if he wants to thrash you and punish you. Look for his confidence to rise.[3]

Prey Evaluation

If you are satisfied with his defensive reactions, now change gears and do a prey drive test. Go to a visible sleeve, or bite suit depending on the dog’s level of development. Use a lot of movement, use a whip and stick to stimulate the dog with familiar noises. Do a couple of pass-by moves, and then deliver the grip. Now you are evaluating his behavior in the prey mood. Evaluate the quality of the grip. Look for any stress that remains from the earlier defensive encounter.  The dog can become “stuck in defense,” and therefore unwilling to chase you around. If you didn’t give him a hidden sleeve bite after the defense test, he may not want to even bite the sleeve if the stress has caused him to be too concerned with the possibility of more threat to come, regardless of the decoy’s posture.

The ideal response is a change in attitude from a defensive posture, to a more relaxed prey posture. The ideal posture should be forward, with maybe a change in the pitch of the bark to a higher pitch, or perhaps silent, but straining to get the prey. The classical prey postures include the dog pulling forward into the line, front feet off the ground. The dog’s ears will be forward, and if he barks, the dog will do so with a big wide open mouth. The pitch of the bark may be a little higher than when he is in a defensive mood. He may still carry a bit of the seriousness from the initial defensive confrontation, and that is fine, as long as you are getting the response you desire. We seek a confident picture, one of a dog that wants to follow your movement, and lunge to catch the sleeve on the pass-by misses.

Once on the sleeve, look at the grip. We want a nice full grip. On one of your pass-by bites, intentionally deliver a half grip to the dog, and see if he will counter in when you offer him the opportunity. We want to be sure he is confident to press forward into the grip when the opportunity presents itself. Test him with the stick over his head, petting him with it, and give a few hits to the line on the back tie, finishing with a hit on the side while on the grip. Look for any changes in the grip with the pressure.

Further we are looking to see if the dog targets the sleeve well, coming in the middle and not to the hands or elbow. Coming low to the hand can signal a lack of commitment to the grip, by coming to an area on the sleeve that is farthest away from the body of the helper. Further, basic sleeve targeting is not something you want to have to teach a good green dog. Finally, check him with the bite suit as well. Make sure he will engage the suit. If he has never been on the suit, start by offering him a prey bite on the back of the arm, and then offer him the inside front shoulder. For some dogs, this will cause them to avoid the grip altogether. Look to see how his grip changes, if at all, when biting in the front.[4] The bite suit itself adds a lot of defensive stress to a prey encounter by virtue of the fact that the dog must come into the helper’s body much more than an outside forearm bite on a sleeve. This will tell you a lot about the dog’s nerves in general, and if he will look later to avoid more stressful encounters. Remember that we are not asking to see perfect targeting in the front inside shoulder, just a willingness to take the grip there, and be in the grip confidently. We will add more pressure to these inside bites later in training, but the dog should at a minimum be willing to take the grip there with at least a ¾ grip.

Courage Test

Once the evaluation is concluded in prey and defense, and you have tested his desire to bite the sleeve, the hidden sleeve, and the bite suit, you can do some tests of his desire to come in for a grip under environmental distractions. You can go back to sleeve bites here if you wish, or if the dog is strong take him in a prey position on the bite suit. This would be the outside of the forearm or the triceps area in the back of the suit. Good environmental distractions can include: a clatter stick barrage, a jug with rocks in it, or a hula-hoop with caution tape streamers. These are all good choices due to their unfamiliarity. Further, be sure to test the dog on slick surfaces, preferably in a large building. Large buildings that are open, like warehouses, are a much different test than seeing if the dog will work on a slick floor in a small house or clubhouse. The openness of the warehouse can be disorienting, and the echoes can unnerve weaker dogs. Test him also in a tight space or a dark room if you can. Test the dog going up open stairs. Remember you are buying the dog. It is better to test thoroughly, than to have to come back and plead your case after you tested and bought the dog. The key question is this: will the dog’s drive carry him through any unfamiliarity.

Test the dog to his limits of his age and training, without throwing the dog into any kind of avoidance. If you see him avoid something, immediately help him. This goes for any portion of the test. But remember, if you push him into avoidance, you are not going to buy him, and you should help the vendor give the dog a positive training session at a minimum. Otherwise you may not be welcome back for another buying opportunity.

Once all these phases of the test are complete, you can make your determination as to whether the dog is suitable for your training program. In every dog there will be strengths and weaknesses. What you want to determine is that the weaknesses are minor and the strengths abundant. Accept only weaknesses you know that you can work through. Keep in mind most nerve issues are genetic in nature, unless the dog is simply young and inexperienced. For example, suppose the dog is biting nicely, did a nice defensive test, and you raise the jug of rocks over his head, and he pops off then comes right back on. You try again, applying a de-conditioning technique and the dog shows only moderate concern over the jug the second time, stressing a little but not coming off the grip. The third time, he pretty much works through it. That is a dog you can work with. He bounced back.

By

Jerry Bradshaw

Training Director, Tarheel Canine Training, Inc.

www.TarheelCanine.com

A real street bite is the one thing that as police dog trainers, we cannot actually set up and practice as it would happen on the street. Because of this, we have numerous techniques that we use to simulate a real street bite. One of those techniques is the muzzle fight. 

There are numerous brands and types of protection muzzles. Be sure you have an actual agitation muzzle and not just an everyday wear muzzle. Most agitation muzzles have a reinforced steel bar framing the leading edge of the muzzle to keep the leather from collapsing on the dog’s mouth when he makes contact. This feature is crucial. The typical agitation muzzle you see is a “Dondi” style three strap muzzle, which buckles behind the ears (this is the part that secures the muzzle) and one strap that goes over the head, between the ears, and secures to the head strap. There are also “Belgian Ring” style muzzles of similar design but these often come with bite-bars covered with leather and affixed to the inside of the muzzle for the dog to grip during a muzzle fight. Some muzzles only have the two straps that fasten behind the head, and do not have the over head strap. These muzzles are safe to use if properly secured.  The over head strap is not the key part of the safe operation of the agitation muzzle. Make sure you choose a muzzle that fits the dog comfortably. The dog should be able to breathe and pant normally, and even bark and clack his jaws inside the muzzle. Manufacturers make many sizes. You should try a few different ones and settle on one that secures nicely and is comfortable for the dog. An experienced trainer can help you select the right size.

Once the muzzle is securely fastened, a safety check must be performed. The handler should grab the muzzle underneath and gently but firmly lift the dog straight up by the muzzle. The muzzle should stay securely fastened. Next, grasp the muzzle top and bottom in both hands and try to “roll” the muzzle down off the dog’s snout to mimic the pawing action the dog can make to insure that the muzzle cannot be taken off by a determined dog. Do this gently but firmly, and don;t wrench the dog's neck. Some people allow the decoy doing the actual muzzle attack (since it is his ass on the line with no equipment on) to make a secondary safety check. I don’t like doing this because it ruins the realism of the encounter to some degree. I do like having a second person (most preferably the training instructor presiding) do a safety check. I also encourage having some back-up by having a decoy with a sleeve hidden in close proximity just in case the muzzle comes off.  

It goes without saying that before doing any muzzle fighting the dog should be conditioned to be calm and accepting of the muzzle.  This part of the training should not be rushed, but unfortunately, it usually is. Put food in the bottom of the muzzle, a number of times a day, and allow the dog to dip his nose down into the muzzle and pull out food. As he gets accepting of the confinement, strap him up for a few seconds letting him eat the food like he has on a feedbag, and then reward him when you take it off. Strap him in the muzzle and do short, quick, obedience, ending with rewards. If the dog tries to get the muzzle off by pawing at it, try to redirect his behavior into some heeling or a recall, something active, rather than correcting him for pawing the muzzle. Punishment will only serve to create a negative association with the muzzle.  You can also muzzle him and let him watch some decoy work on another dog, and when he is barking in the muzzle, pull it off for a bite or two. Take your time with this part, and make it a positive experience. If you watch a Belgian Ring dog do muzzle work, you will see the dogs generally enjoy the muzzle, and willingly stick their heads into it for you to strap them up, because they are taught to expect some fun when the muzzle comes out. Take your time so you will not have a career of fighting your dog over the muzzle. Further if the dog never learns to fully accept the muzzle, he will never put his all into the muzzle work, but rather be preoccupied with always trying to get the encumberance off.  

Many times I have witnessed muzzle training where the dogs are sent off leash, and the dog and decoy roll around on the ground. I do not allow any dogs to be sent completely off leash for muzzle work or hidden sleeve work, simply because it is too dangerous to not have a way to positively control the dog. I will send the dog dragging a 15' long line so the handler can pick up and work the line. If there is no line, and if the dog breaks off the attack because he is unsatisfied or he is pawing at the muzzle, there is no way for the handler to control the session. The handler may end up chasing his dog as it moves away from him upon approach. If the dog breaks off the attack on his own, intensity can go from 60 to zero quickly. In such a case with no back line, if the dog leaves the engagement, there is nothing to do but have the decoy attempt to attract the dog back into the fight with agitation. Wrong, wrong, and more wrong!

We do not want to do this for the same reason that we do not want a police dog to only alert when he sees a decoy make movement or crack a whip. This becomes the starting cue for aggression, but unfortunately on the street bad guys may run occasionally, but oiften we need the dogs to key on passive subjects. We want the dog to bring the energy to the fight, not vice versa, and in fact, as with all our work, we want the dog to bring enough energy to the fight that we can do a passive muzzle attack and expect the dog to remain engaged until the handler removes the dog. Too many decoys even in non-muzzle work, start the session with agitation to attract the dog, rather than making the dog alert and load first to make the decoy move, or load enough to send the dog on a passive bite. If your dog needs agitation to start his bite session, you need to retrain that before doing any muzzle work. Muzzle work is proofing work for civil aggression and passive biting. For these reasons we must use skilled decoys and keep the dog on line during this training, and work with dogs that have had proper foundation in their aggression training.  

 One of the big problems with muzzle fighting is that it requires excellent decoy work to make it worthwhile to the dog. In most instances when I watch muzzle work, the dog will engage briefly, is usually unsatisfied with simply punching the decoy (the dog knows he is restricted by the muzzle because normally he would bite), and break off the attack to return to the handler or try to paw the muzzle off. This is especially true of the decoy is unskilled in doing a muzzle attack. The worst thing a decoy can do, given that the dog is restricted by the muzzle, is to not react to the dog’s aggression. The decoy must act realistically and submit to the dog’s aggression. But most decoys are at a loss as to exactly what to do during the engagement. 

If you are doing the dog's first muzzle attack, put the dog on a back-tie and do a normal bite session, with the decoy in a suit or hidden sleeve, where the dog is alerted in muzzle, and he shows aggression to make the decoy move in on him in a defensive way, and as the decoy approaches, he should deliver a prey bite pass to the dog. The dog should (if the foundation bite work was done properly) strike the target area with the muzzle. The decoy must react in a big way, falling back, and coming around for another passby miss, and then another delivery, and strike. If this goes well, hold the dog on line and proceed as below, doing a quick chase, and allow the dog to press forward on the decoy once he is struck and goes to the ground. Keep the ground session very short. Snatch the dog out, and make a big escape at the end with the dog losing the prey. Wean the equipment out of the session quickly - this is meant to be a civil exercise not a prey exercise.

Decoy Technique: One thing which I teach at my decoy seminars is to have the decoy use the dog's natural opposition reflex to keep the dog engaged. Often during a muzzle fight, the decoy gets hit on initial contact, and falls to the ground, and then the dog will come in on him again on the ground. When the dog comes in to tag the decoy, the decoy must both give ground when punched with the muzzle, but also the decoy should push the dog away, and then let the dog come in with another punch. The “fight” then involves a flow of energy from the dog onto the decoy, and then back at the dog in a pushing motion, where the decoy opposes the dog to make the dog drive in, and then the decoy pushes the dog away in a constant, flowing, but not sharp motion. This act of pushing the dog results in keeping constant tension in the forward press of the dog, and it acts like a tight back line in bite work training and causes the dog to want to continue forward in the fight. This is the nature of opposition reflex. Pushing the dog away makes him want to come forward. All the while the decoy is moving in response to the dog’s attack, staying vocal, and keeping tension on the dog’s chest and lower neck (the area that is to be pushed).  The decoy can also manipulate (pinch) the dog's skin as he pushes against the dog to create some discomfort to peak the dog's aggression. These engagements should take place for a matter of 10 to at most 15 seconds at a time, and then the handler should pull the dog back by the line and collar when the dog is aggressively pressing forward. The handler keeps a loose line during the fight, and only snatches the dog out when he is most aggressive. This should be done on a variable (length of encounter) basis to increase the dog's focus. 

A good decoy can use this technique to keep the dog engaged. The handler can snatch the dog out of the fight when he is at his peak of aggression in order to further frustrate the dog, and then let the decoy escape for a short distance. The handler will then have the dog chase the decoy for a short stretch (holding him back a little to make the dog dig hard against the back pressure) and release into another attack. The whole thing should be very fast and intense sequences of ground fighting and then frustration which can then be lengthened into longer, more intense sessions of engagement. Using this technique will help you develop a more focused and intense muzzle attack.  Important note: The handler should keep the dog from floating to the face of the decoy during each encounter (which seems to result often as the dogs get highly frustrated, and because the decoy is on the ground) by handling the line properly. This is one more reason why good solid targeting work needs to be taught on the suit and hidden sleeve. Don't allow your dog to learn something you don't want him to learn.

At the very end of the muzzle session, the decoy should escape as the dog is being held back. Too many times I see muzzle sessions end when the dog gets frustrated and aggression is low. Our goal is to keep the aggression short and intense. Once the dog is pulled from the encounter by the line, the decoy can escape behind a door, where a sleeve is waiting, or a hidden sleeve can be slipped on, and the dog then is taken out of the muzzle quickly and sent to bite around the corner of the door, where the sleeve or hidden sleeve can be used.  Sometimes just let the dog lose the prey - he doesn't need the bite every time. Mixing this technique with pure  civil aggression sessions with no equipment and passive bites on hidden equipment (hidden sleeves, hidden suits) which then result in very satisfying fights, will go a long way to getting your dog street ready.

 (c) Jerry Bradshaw, Tarheel Canine Training Inc. All Rights Reserved. Contact Jerry Bradshaw, malinois_jb@mindspring.com for permission to reprint this article.

Baltimore MD - September 13, 2008. The East Coast Regional Championships will be held at Severn Covenant Church Field on Saturday, September 13, 2008. Judges will be Rick Firrow & Jerry Bradshaw.

We are expecting an excellent turnout, as many PSA competitors are finishing their qualification for the PSA National Event in Cookeville, Tennessee on October 25 & 26th 2008. All three levels are expected to be represented, as well as PDC competitors.

Lunch will be served at the field, and there will be vendors selling T-Shirts, and training equipment.

PSA will also be raffling off a bite suit! Tickets can be purchased at the field for $25 each (multiple tickets may be purchased).

if you have questions about the event, contact Jerry Bradshaw at malinois_jb@mindspring.com. We hope to see you there!

I just returned from judging the the PSA Midwest regiuonals this past weekend, hosted by Southern Ohio Protection Sports in Cincinnati OH. I had a great time visiting with old friends and meeting some new ones.  Cory Dewberry with help from many quarters put on a great show. Darryl Richey the regional director of the midwest and PSA President  came in from Texas, and the Asst Director Matt Faccento came in from Tennessee. Christie Meyer did a wonderful job administering the trial secretarial duties, and keeping the show organized amd moving. 

There were Rottweillers, Dobermans, Pit Bulls, Malinois and some dogs I venture not to make a guess at breed competing. PSA opens its arms to all comers if they have the juice to compete. The midwest is growing and coming together, and it is nice to see. Vinnie Faccento won High in Trial, with an excellent performance with his Malinois Female, CJ.

I hope to see all of the competitors come to support their region in Cookeville TN for the 2008 PSA National Championships. Go to www.psak9.org to get information on the National Event which is looking to be quite a show. I am proud to say that Tarheel Canine will be a major event sponsor for the Nationals this year, and I invite you to come by and see our booth at the event.

On February 9th a documentary entitled "What's That About? Episode #3" premiered in Canada on the Canadian Discovery Channel. The show covers "Spy & Security Operations."  In 2007 a crew from Pixcom Productions, Montreal Quebec Canada travelled to Sanford to film a portion of the show, featuring Personal Protection Training with Trainers and friends of Tarheel Canine Training, Inc.

I want to send a special thank you to Sean Siggins, K9 Officer, Southern York Regional Police Department, PA and Mr. Scott Battle, a PSA Certified Decoy for working the dogs in the scenarios that were filmed. Sean's K9 "Jack" is featured at the end of our segment doing the longest run to a courage test in history!

Tarheel Canine's Head Trainer, Janet Dooley (PSA 1 National Champion 2007) and her K9 Zuko were featured in an attempted kidnapping scenario. Hillary Daly and K9 Zhennon of TK9 Protection Sports and PSA runner up at the 2007 nationals in level 1, participated, along with one of our personal protection clients, Sally Howell with K9 Austin in a multiple attacker scenario showing off Austin's redirect skills. Annie Schottmuller of Ponderosa Kennels in Maryland, and a former intern at TK9 participated with her K9 Zombie in a car jack scenario. Thanks to Sean's girlfirend Tiffany Slonaker or being the getaway driver in the scenarios!

The show will be featured on National Geographic Channel in the Fall of 2008, so unfortunately we will have to wait a bit to see it in the USA. I would love to hear from our Canadian friends if they have a chance to see the show. The show also features other prominant security companies doing what they do. We are proud to have been chosen to be featured as a representative of the K9 industry, as we believe we put out top quality personal protection K9s not to mention our main mission of putting on the streets some of the finest law enforcement K9s in the USA.

Thanks again to everyone who made this documentary possible, and to the professionals at Pixcom, for doing a wonderful job putting us amateurs at ease in front of the cameras!