What are the benefits to doing muzzle work? - Page 6

Thanks Melanie.  Nice video by the way.  I think Andy did very well.  The decoy had me crackin up with his acting skills. lol  Sometimes I have a hard time keeping a straight face when we're training cause our trainer acts like he's trying to win the academy award.  Andy looked like he was having a good time; no doubt this was something he had done before.

Thanks Agar, yes they sure can be funny...especially with puppies.

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Thanks for the input Steve, I really appreciate your observations and will keep your suggestions in mind if we do it again.

Yes you are right, he hasn't done muzzle work in at least 3 years, maybe more. 

Like I said this is just for fun so I will not include any flanking, but I understand your reasoning and if we were doing it with a specific goal in mind (related to serious or "real"  work) I would certainly take your advice.

I will drag him away next time and perhaps do more with it and see how he does.  This time I was just glad to see him work like that (on another level) and see that he's done it before as I had suspected.

Thanks again,

Melanie

I appreciated the dog for the most part.
I thought the agitator needs some help. Far more yelling then working the dog to his max. Shorter excersizes, more intense with the dog being left hot.  The agitators acting left something to be desired.  Good agitation is as much Psychological as physical. The mind set has to be there to bring the fight out of the dog.  It is hard to explain but when you are working a dog like this you need to have the mindset of a bad guy, this is something that needs to be brought into the fight.
How many times has this dog done muzzle work ?  He looked and sounded confident, but dropped off at the end and that was not his fault.  For this type of agitation sessions should be short and intense, again IMO.

The original video with the agitator on his back reminded me of what I used to do with puppies. One at a time when I played with them I laid on my back forcing them to be on top if they wanted to play. For submissive pups especially this forces them to take a dominant role.  They were always cast as the aggressor and on top whether I was on my back or stomach. I believe it helped them in confidence. This may be comon practice today, I don't know.

Can someone explain what flanking is?  I'm not trying to be funny or sarcastic I really would like to know since I want to learn more about muzzle work.

Wish I had more to offer to this thread but mostly wanted to say thanks for all the information. You all have no idea how much this thread has helped in my search for a PPD. Been wanting to know more about muzzlework for months but the only trainer I know in this area couldn't (or didn't want to) answer any of my questions.

Agar, 
Flanking is taking your hand and cupping it over his flank, the area just in front of his upper thigh, behind the ribs. You then bring your four fingers up into your hand in a pinching type motion but using your whole hand as opposed to just fingers. You squeeze ( or grasp the flank) between fingers and your hand to cause pain to the animal. Dogs are sensitive in this area and it does not require a great deal of pressure.  Just enough to piss him off. Hope this made sense.

GSDfan,
When I posted I was rude in regards to your agitator. My opologies.

Not sure how many times he has done it, I've had him for two years and just done SchH with him...he's been out of LE for 3years total. 

Some of the attention towards the camera may be about the other decoy was standing there (who was the only decoy he had seen until this excersise).

Agar, flanking is when they pinch their flank (side torso area) to see it watch this video "down Muzzle excersise" http://www.diehlspolicek9training.com/training.html

Regards,

Melanie

It is also possible that he hasn't done muzzle work since before he was purchased by the police, it was a very small dept that may not have utilized a variety of training techniques.