News

Lots of new videos on the Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/TarheelK9

March/April newsletter will release at 10:00am...if you aren't recieving the newsletter and want to, please email me your address to: malinois_jb@mindspring.com

Check out the new videos on the blog's youtube channel.....

www.youtube.com/TarheelK9

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 

The new PSA message board is up and running......come and visit the chat site for the American K9 Sport!

http://www.psak9forum.com/

There are sections on upcoming events, training and behavior, videos, pictures, health and nutrition, etc....come and check it out!

Here is the link to the PSA Trial story in the Baltimore Sun on Sunday! Congratulations to all the competitors for a great weekend!

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-md.dogs07jun07,0,1458211.story

Go to.....  http://signaturek-9.blogspot.com/

Check out the interview.........

Tarheel Canine's head trainer Janet Dooley and her K9 Zuko went to Raleigh to be on G105 Radio morning show: "Bob and the Showgram" for the "Spin The Wheel Feature".

Go to:http://bobandtheshowgram.com/main.html

Click on the "Wheel of Attack Dogs" and enjoy! This is very Funny!!

Janet will be competing this coming weekend at the PSA National Championships in the Level 2.

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.

• Human Grade Protein Supplement – nearly 100% digestibility
• Antioxidant Vitamins C & E
• Antioxidant Micro Algae, “Astaxanthin” aids reproductive health, immune response, and resistance to disease.
• 1-4 Tablespoons per day in most cases!
• Quick Energy - Complex carbohydrates (Maltodextrin) that convert to Glycogen quickly.
• Glucosamine, Chondroitin, & MSM – Stimulate growth of new cartilage components and reduce pain and inflammation.
• Get High Performance from your Working K9!
• Help Older Dogs be more active and comfortable!
• Maintain or boost weight gain!
• Excellent Coat & Reduced Shedding!
• Wheat & Corn Free!

• The Canine Athlete
  (Hunting, Schutzhund, Police K9, Racing, Weight Pulling, etc.)
• Pregnant or Lactating Females
  (Has been known to double milk and increase health of pups at birth.)
• Finicky eaters
  (Makes into irresistible gravy.)
• Dogs recovering from sickness
  (Parvo, Anemia, Accidents, etc.)
• Dogs with poor digestion
  (Hard to keep weight on.)
• Dogs with low energy levels
• Stud dogs and brood females
  (Helping increase sperm count and fertility)

On March 8th and 9th a group of 13 decoys came to Sanford NC to try out for PSA Trial Decoy Certification. Instructors for the camp were: Jerry Bradshaw, East Coast Director, Rick Furrow, East Coast Asst. Director and an accomplished PSA Decoy, Scott Battle, PSA Decoy and 2007 National Select Decoy.

Supporting the camp were Greg Williams, PSA Judge, Katrina Kardiasmenos, Rick Galloway, Janet Dooley, PSA 2007 Level 1 National Champion, among others. We really appreciate those people who came to allow the decoys to work their dogs to test for certification. Without strong dogs, you can;t test strong decoys.

The camp began with in intro to PSA as we had some very new people. and what is expected of PSA decoys in terms of skills and integrity. The PSA style was described, and then Scott Battle demonstrated a PSA handler attack, and a courage test on Janet Dooley's Zuko PSA 1. The speed and power of the decoy work was emphasized to the aspiring decoys.

Easch decoy was then asked to catch dogs on runaway bites and put a drive on them so we could evaluate their ability to catch a dog safely before we asked them to so anything complicated.  This initial evaluation separated some decoys out at too inexperienced, in all likelihood, for certification. These decoys were taken by Mr. Battle to work on fundamentals of catching.

All the decoys were shown proper drive tgechniques in the bite suit, and practiced without dogs for a number of sprints.

We then moved on to catching dogs in the front, and to catching and driving dogs properly, The field was a bit wet from the rain and we had a few slips, but overall the decoys caught on quickly, and with practice by the end of the first day we say some very good prospects for certification out of the original 13.

On the second day, the emphasis was on the courage test catch. In PSA the courage test in the suit is our signature exercise. What sets us apart is our courage test, and doing it safely, as well as the power in the drives - the PSA signature pressure in the suit that you do not see in any other protection sport. The decoys started short, and worked their way to longer catches. here are a couple examples of the decoy work at the camp that were posted by Tim Roberts on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbg4D_VySu0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aMTKYWUSC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8B0fZ8z7eQ

In the end we had the following decoys certify:

Full Certification: Robert Kelley, NH; Bill Reynolds, PA; Mark Patillo, GA;Jody Butler, NC;Shawn Edwards, MD;Tim Roberts, NC;

car jack & Handler Attack: Kevin Logan, ME.

A special thank you to Katrina K for the pics to share with the everyone on the blog!

See you in TN at the next PSA Event.