OPINION
There I Was...#64
Published on August 22, 2008 By Big Fat Daddy In Misc

dog training by you.torpedo by you.

 

 

 

 

Believe it or not, most German Shepherds have to be trained to bite people. The trainers start when the dogs are young, about 9 months, with what they call "aggravation training". The handler holds the dog on a leash while his assistant approaches in a semi-menacing manner. The handler acts afraid and yells at the assistant. A smart dog will pick up on the situation and will bark at the intruder. When he does, the handler pets him up and encourages that behavior. After a few sessions like this, the dog learns to be assertive to menacing intruders and will begin barking without encouragement or playacting from the handler. Once that behavior is established, the next step is for the intruder to approach closer, usually carrying a stick. At this new development, most dogs will start to act very aggressive toward the stick man. It usually doesn't take many sessions like this before the next step...stick man approaches and actually hits the dog with the stick. Before you PETA types get wonky on me, the hitting is not hard or painful, it is meant to stir up the most aggressive behavior and prepare the dog to actually bite the stick man. The stick man will pop the dog on the nose and face and flanks, with less force than you would expend on a two year old kid playing with matches or sticking fingers in a light socket. This infuriates the dog and he will begin snapping.

Once that plateau has been reached, the stick man dons the big leather sleeve. He goes through all the other aggravation steps and then starts smacking the heavy leather sleeve with the stick. The dog is furious by now. The handler lets out just enough slack in the leash so that the dog can latch onto the leather sleeve. Over the next few sessions, the dog learns to go for the sleeve, gets whapped by the stick and rewarded by the handler and in just a couple weeks has gone from a kennel pup to an aggressive dog who is ready to be trained to be a ferocious attacker. The dogs learn how to pull on the arm, shake the arm, drag the aggravator to the ground and to hit the aggravator from an all out run. Oh, it is a beautiful thing to see a fully grown, fully trained Shepherd streak across the yard, ears up, a 100 lb brown and black fur torpedo hitting the aggravator (who is now covered in a padded suit as well as the heavy leather sleeve)and knocking him flat. Whew...I gets vapors just remembering it.

So...I told you all that so I could tell you this. I was parked in back of the MP station on Turley Barracks in Mannheim, Germany. I left Golf, my German Shepherd, in the car, I was only going to be in the building for a couple of minutes. He loved to have something to guard...the car was one of his favorite things to protect. After the upset of his very first car ride, he fell in love with cars.

 

When I came back out to the car, I noticed Golf was aggitated; jumping over the seats, back to front and back, growling and grumbling. I should have been more careful opening the door, but he was a fully trained Schutzhund III (a protection dog third level, trained to respond to voice command without a leash and all that) and I didn't anticipate his acting on his own. But he did. Across the parking lot was an old German gentleman. He was dressed in a very nice gray suit, wore a Tyrolean style hat, and walked with a cane. And Golf went after him like he was a Big Mac. Male Shepherds rarely make a noise in attack mode. Females will still be barking crazily through a mouthful of your arm or leg or whatever. So with virtually no warning except the scrabbling sound of toenails on asphalt, the old fella turned to see my torpedo flying for his arm. He turned quickly and half stepped back, causing Golf to miss his arm but grabbing instead, the old guys suit coat and tearing a triangle hole about two or three inches across. It happened so fast that Golf hit the old man at about the same time I gathered enough of my wits to call him out. They are trained to hit hard and hold on until their handler calls them "Out" (or "Aus")...then they hold an overwatch position. If the target moves an inch after the dog has been called out, the dog immediately attacks again without command.

Golf had gone crazy, attacking without command, but fortunately he responded to the "out" command and we all paused a second to catch our breath. I looked at the old German gent who now owned me and everything I would ever have and wondered why Golf would want a taste of this harmless old man. I told Golf to recover and assume a "heel" ("Bei fuss") position. Normally when he had done something wrong, he was visably repentant, tucked tail, folded ears, head low, etc. He showed no sign of that behavior. He actually looked proud of himself. As if he could read my mind, the old man said it was the stick. My furrowed brow brought out more explanation from him. He reminded me of the aggravation training the dogs get in their youth. Something about the cane he carried triggerd the Bezerker in Golf.

We had a lengthy conversation about dogs and training, he had owned several German Shepherds and had trained dogs as a hobby for years. Once they were formally introduced, he and Golf became great friends. He thought Golf was a beautiful dog. When he asked about his pedigree and found out the line Golf came out of, he smiled and said he was familiar with that kennel and some of the great dogs that had come out of it. All through the niceties, I was sweating bullets waiting for the other shoe to drop. Finally, I couldn't wait any longer and asked him what I needed to do to make this whole thing right. He made that typical German gesture, almost a puffing blow through closed lips and said that meeting such a fine dog was reward enough. He understood that no matter how well trained a dog is, they still have the capacity to surprise us. He gave me a short lecture on paying more attention to the aggitation signs and not relying on voice to completely control an aggitated dog. I didn't exactly grovel...well...maybe a little...and thanked him and apologized over and over and finally we parted...if not friends, then at least fellow dog lovers.

As we walked back to the car and the old man headed in the other direction, swinging his cane with an occasional tap on the ground, Golf kept looking over his shoulder and grumbling. I guess he really didn't like the stick.

 


Comments (Page 1)
2 Pages1 2 
on Aug 22, 2008

Now that was a nice man!

on Aug 22, 2008

Now that was a nice man!

You betta Hong Kong believe it.  The old guy could have cleaned me like a catfish.  Dog lovers...whatchagonnado?

on Aug 22, 2008

Great story!  Wow, lucky that ended the way it did, LOL!

Last year the MPs put on a demonstration for Cub Scouts showing the dogs and what all they can do.  It was really fascinating for all the boys. 

What all the kids REALLY wanted to know was what the dog would do if the bad guy was on the roof, LOL.

on Aug 22, 2008

What all the kids REALLY wanted to know was what the dog would do if the bad guy was on the roof, LOL.

Heehee!

on Aug 22, 2008

I thought I had a cooler picture from the demonstration, heh, but nope.  Just some MPs and their doggies.

on Aug 22, 2008

Cool pictures, Tex.  I wish I had known about the kids question sooner, I could have got a shot of the guy across the street's Shepherd.  We call him the "Roof Dog" ( a play on our German roots...Dachshund, heheheee) because he goes out on the deck in the back and jumps onto the garage roof then crosses over to the front of the house and barks at everybody going by.

on Aug 22, 2008

In the PI, when a dog was given a new handler because the old one moved to another base, they put them in a 5 by 5 cage....the new handler went in and beat the shit out of him with his fists until the dog acknowledged him as the alpha.

Once the dog acquiesced, man and dog were inseparable for the duration of the assignment, but there was no affection allowed.  They didn't pet them and tell them good job, and didn't let anyone else do it either.

I don't know much about dogs but that seemed pretty cruel to me.

on Aug 23, 2008

There are huge differences in opinion about what makes a "good" dog.  Military working dogs have different standards than the Schutzhunds.  I never heard of that particular brand of "bonding", but I have seen Army dogs and their handlers being affectionate with each other.  I have a good friend who spent a big chunk of his Air Force career as a handler/trainer, I'll check with him about that.

One of the principles that the German trainers stick to is positive reinforcement through affection.  No treats. And NO hitting.  The fiercest dog will collapse if the handler adopts the "bad dog" tone of voice.  The most severe punishment is to grab the dog by the nap of his neck and shake the hell out of him.  But that is the Deutscher way...

I know a lot of MWDs were destroyed after Vietnam, they weren't allowed to come home.  That was a sad thing to me.  But again, that's military.  My Shepherd was a big doof and the most affectionate dog I ever owned...and the most ferocious dog I have ever seen.

on Aug 23, 2008

I interviewed a police dog trainer for an article on interesting careers I wrote a while ago. His dog was primarily trained for searches, particularly for explosives.  The dogs had a huge run to live in and basically were wild, with very limited interaction with people.

The upshot was, they went bezerk at human contact, so with all the training they did the reward was always a pat, or a rub, or an affectionate voice. They didn't need to be beaten or given treats or anything - their master's approval was enough.

It seemed like a fairly effective way to train.

on Aug 23, 2008

Scary, BFD.  You're super lucky that old man was such a nice guy, and that he likes dogs.  Love the name, too.  Golf. 

Cool story!

on Aug 23, 2008

Love the name, too. Golf.

I told the story before about his name...he had it when we got it.  I thought it must mean something in German so I asked the kennel meister.  In a pea soup thick German accent he explained, "Vell...es ist a game...mit a little vite ball..."  I always thought it was a strange name for a dog, but in searching the Schutzhund sites for action photos, I came across a large black Shepherd going through his training and the caption said, "Golf is getting the hang of the search technique" or some thing like that.  So there is another Golf out there.

"They didn't need to be beaten or given treats or anything - their master's approval was enough."

I watched a MWD workout at Peterson AFB a bit ago, when the dogs do well they are given a toy they carry around like a little kid.  I hadn't seen that before, but it is another positive reinforcement method. 

But again, there are many ways to get the job done, the most effective methods leave the dog with his own personality and spirit while ingraining a super desire to obey. 

 

 

on Aug 24, 2008

I think one of the reasons they beat the dogs in the P.I. was a time factor?  One of the K-9s told me that a handler leaves on Friday, and the dog meets his new handler by Sunday.

Also, even tho they weren't supposed to show affection to the dogs (they said) I occasionally worked in the bomb dump at night (which was when the dogs were needed) and I pet them all the time.  One dog liked me so well his handler wouldn't let him out of the car when he stopped by my shop for "my own safety.".  Heh.  But really I think the handler just didn't like me...

on Aug 24, 2008

LW:  Seems to me that Ceasar got pretty lucky, too!  Even with the hips (Golf had was little displastic, too) and teeth issues.  He would make a great protection dog.

Tova:  I talked to Darrell today about rebonding and training.  He said that "officially" the dogs are never beaten...His phrase was, "Are you Kidding?  Those dogs are worth more than we were!"  He did say that the dogs stay in their kennel until the new handler is assigned and are so happy to get out and run around they don't care much about who lets them out.  But once the fun of running around wore down, they turned to see who was on the other end of the leash...that was the moment of truth and could be dicey.  He worked exclusively with patrol dogs who are mainly attack oriented...the other types of working dogs have a different training regimen and requirements.  But Darrell said the stiffest physical punishment was a hard jerk on the old choke chain.  They knew they were in big Dutch when that happened.  Of course, there are always "Field Expedients"...with a wink...which means they probably beat the crap out of difficult dogs...worth or no worth.

on Aug 25, 2008

Of course, there are always "Field Expedients"...with a wink...which means they probably beat the crap out of difficult dogs...worth or no worth.

I'm really glad to hear that its not official policy.  Heh.  But I didn't really think it was.

I watched a dog get beat in the bomb dump by its handler, but it was already his dog so I don't know what that was about.  The dog just took it.   It made me sick.

The official AF policy is always nice to know, but in my experience only carried out about 50% of the time.  And in the P.I., well lets just say that almost everything was pretty much a free for all.  My FIL was stationed there in the late 50's and the base used Nagrito (sp) guards as well.  Almost every Monday at the back of the bomb dump, just past base lines, you could see the heads of the people who came in over the weekend trying to steal.  The Nagritos killed them, and put their heads on spikes.

When I was in the PI there were old black and white photos of some of the carnage in frames on the wall of the AMMO Inn.

Now, I wonder if there was an AF policy about that.

on Aug 25, 2008

[quote]Now, I wonder if there was an AF policy about that. [/quote]

I think that DOD policy has always been to get some furner to do the dirty work.  The ROK Tiger and White Horse divisions arrived in Vietnam in the middle sixties and immediately established a whole new world of hurt for Vietnamese society, both the above ground and underground.  They would run a cleaning rod through a captives head, ear to ear, and hang them up for decoration.  So nothing really surprises me about what our "employees" do.  We are still doing it.

2 Pages1 2