CONCERNING PROTECTION TRAINING - Page 5

hank .. i agree with you in that dimension ..  ..and in a practical sense .. a dog cannot be looking at you in the face every second of it's life.. - but a point ; the dog should always look to you for direction , always , even in PP a dog is never to undertake a decision on it's own- with the exception being ; that one has trained preconceived , automatice responses in various scenarios  that call for the dog to act wihtou command/permission .. e.g someone pulled a gun on me .. there is no command , the dog has been taught/conditioned to apprehend . .and that was generalized to any recognizable or unrecognizable weapon .
     .  IMO a very good PP dog senses danger even before it arises,  sort to speak .. why .. because of what we understand about the dog , what makes it a dog ! if one understands the dog .. then you realize , canines are 90% nose ,,, they do not hear as we do .. we all know this .. they hear long before , at different HZs and 100 x better than we do ..they percieve movment so much more acutely than we do  etc. ....  and as a thought .. perhaps we best read the dogs eyes before he reads ours  !!
               case in point ./. i had 10 gsds in my house , i let out at about 10: Pm for last call. they were edgy at the door ..they are trained to look at me , stay poised , not act like nuts to go out .. calm .. last night they did not look to me , they looked at the door - i knew something was different- their body landuage was telling me something .. so i delayed openening the door and as a hunch .. made some noise at the door ... ..i hesitated upon opening the door.  opened the door and wham 400 feet off they all in synchrony ran in pack .. [ i bleieve there is also some pack consciousness existing], they all knew exactly where to go and did at the same time !!..because ---  a porcupine , right at the woods edge !! in  manner of speaking .. our dogs for generations have been our sight . our hearing , our smell that enabled us to survive in various ways. the "EYES " of a dog are so important .. I often tell peole workoing with me .. in PROTECTION work .. i can train , communicate to the dog with MY eyes.. i can at times , even poilce dogs i trainexd .. talk to them with my eyes !! So as a pet , w sport dog , a PP dog .. IMO : how , when , where , why the eyes are used between human and canine is very very important .. very important !! [ again ... actions speak louder than words & the picture of youe eyes is worth .. a thousand words !@!] !!]
     ps .. if you have a dog IMO that takes matters upon itself without first being trained and proofed .. the average person if not any ol' person .. is going to get into trouble !!

duke .. i acknowledge what you say about face/points  ..not disagreeing .. IMO.. stupidity ... losing points !! foolishness .. that is why i'd rather do french ring ..[ i often wonder why people suject themselves to such foolishness ?? , i did sch .. and now i laugh at it - in a manner of speaking ..  who gives a hoot where the heck one's face is .. ? does the dog follow your lead / directions /requests / performs with precision & excellence -? --that's what matters to me ,anyway .. JMOp
               now given what you said .. i add this because this is what i taught in my classes :        the dog does not need to look at you to know where you are !! nor do you need to look at your dog.. and if you do .. you can go 'outside the box' sort to speak ..  e.g .. a dog in heel .. i can keep my face straight ahead and STILL be watchful of the dog [ he is [postionmed right to my side for goodness sake]... oh yes- i can  .. peripheral vision !! and i have superb periph. vision .. that is why i excelled at sports besides being ambidextrous /, .. AND a sense of 'feeling presence ' .. that what i call it .. martial artist have it .. dogs have it .. it's like a 6th sense .. if yanyone  practices it ,  you all can do / develop that sense  .. i liken this as i  insrtucted to others : the NBA basketball players .. they KNOW where the opponent is just by outstretching there hands /without looking !! they know where their teamates are too , sometimes without looking .. looking telegraphs thoughts , intnets and positions. they sense presence..

          the feature being .. and this may tie into suspiciosness in the PP dog .. they sense presence /intent. they can within molecular lingo scent : death , fear, nervousness  .. pheomones .. from us .. from others !! they can detect a dilation/constriction of your eyes , detect change in breathiung .. So .. IMO i stress , don't dismiss how your dog communicates to you with it's eyes [ and other features] and how impotant it is for you to read your dog's eyes...][ it may be telling you more than you yourslef could inagine. as written before .. where the  "eyes" go .. so do the thoughts and actions .. IMo .. if anyone has  PP dog .. my advice is to get into the habit  OF ALWAYS WATCHING YOUR DOG .. why .. dah .. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU TRAINED HIM TO WATCH OUT FOR , TRAINED HIM TO DO ... that's WHY WE CALL IT PEERSONAL PROTECTION .. IN ESSENCE ... YOU HAVE A PERSONAL BODY GUARD 24/7 .. once trianed always trained .. you never revert back .. .. AND I SUGGEST .. YOU LISTEN TO YOUR BODY GUARD PRETTY DARN WELL !! watch the eyes .. especially as i looks at someone .. he's telling you about that person !!