Question - I am retiring my current dog and about to get my second dog. The new dog will be imported from Holland; he is a 2-year-old Dutch Shepherd. The vendor says he is a high-drive but social dog. I will be on vacation when he arrives, which will give me time to bond. What are some of the best things to do in order to bond and start the relationship off right?
Question - It seems that there are many opinions about the best feeding schedule for a police dog. I was taught to feed mine once a day and that seems to work. However, my vet says once-a-day feeding could be bad for him. Do your experts have any good suggestions for the best times to feed and how many times a day a police dog should be fed?
Question - Is there a good way to channel frustration away from the handler and back to the decoy? I have a 4-year-old GSD that I have worked with for about 2 years. He is a low-to-medium-drive dog. When we do build-up exercises, he often gets frustrated when he is held back on his leash. After a second or two, he will turn around and bite me, never very hard, just a frustration bite. When I correct him hard for doing that, he will shut down a little and
it takes some time to build his drive again. I know he is not the highest-drive dog, but he is all I have to work right now so any help would be appreciated.
Question: My 2-year-old German Shepherd and I graduated a 13-week patrol school a few months ago. Since school has ended, I have found that my dog has some environmental issues that never surfaced during training. Particularly, he is uncomfortable on any shiny or slippery floor. To make matters more difficult, if the shiny floor is in a small room (a bathroom, for instance), he is even more uncomfortable. I was told by a trainer that it will take “quite some time” to work these issues out, but I wasn’t given any methods to work them out. Any suggestions?
Answer - Ron Cloward replies: The problem you have described is not uncommon, especially with imported dogs. A lot of dogs from Europe have issues with slick floors because most of them have never been inside a building other then a kennel. The problem can be fixed in most cases, but it will take some time and effort. It sounds like it may be all one problem, but avoid trying to fix both issues at once.
The first thing you need to do is find a location such as a school hallway or shopping mall that has slick floors. Because the dog has displayed the issues of confined space and slick floors, start by using an area that is large and open. There are different ways to approach the problem. You can play ball with him on the slick surfaces. You also can use a decoy with a sleeve, or you can hook him up on-lead and run with him in the hallways.
Start with toys first and see if he will play ball on the floors. Start with him outside, off the slick floors, and transition slowly to the slick surface. As you work your way to the slick floor, do not be shocked if the dog loses interest when he hits the floor. Stay close to the dog and encourage him. This can be a very uneasy experience for the dog, so try to support him along.
If that scenario does not work, move to bite work. Using a decoy, start the same way and transition slowly to the slick floor. The decoy should run a short distance so the dog gets the experience of the slick floor, but does not have to go too far. Then begin to increase the distance in small steps. The dog may hug the walls as he moves toward the decoy. That is a common behavior, because the dog finds comfort in being close to the walls. When the dog does get the bite, make the fight strong, and if the dog comes off the bite, the decoy needs to move close and get him back on. An experienced decoy will know what to do just by watching the dog’s body language.
As you continue this process, you should find the dog becoming more and more confident on the slick surface. Now it’s time for him to experience smaller spaces and slick surfaces. As the dog overcomes that issue, take him a step further and expose him to slick surfaces and dark rooms.
Throughout your training, you should expose the dog to every type of environmental issue you can imagine. Dark rooms, slick floors, pools of water, spraying water at the dog, leaf blowers, motor scooters, bicycles, and any other thing that will not harm the dog. I guarantee, you will find other environmental issues, but training will help you identify and overcome them.
Question - I have new dog; he is the second dog I have worked. We got him from a vendor who told us he was a good dog, but not for a new handler. Because I am experienced, we figured it would be a good fit. He is a 3-year-old imported Malinois. Overall, he is good, but is showing a lot of dominance. He has tried to bite me several times and is bad around other dogs. I would like to break him of such behaviors and have heard several different opinions about the alpha roll. Some experts seem to think it is a good technique, and some say it should never be done. I don’t want to cause other problems, but I want to let him know certain behaviors are unacceptable. What do your trainers think of the alpha roll?
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