• Q: I join dogs sport competitions like Schutzhund, French Ring, KNPV and Belgian Ring. Will my dog not bite for real?
A: We answer this based on our experiences with dogs that we have trained for sport or have bought them titled for the sport. A few novice trainers will say that it
will ruin the dog to bite for real. We do not think so, for as long as you have the right dog with a balanced character and a good trainer who knows what he is doing.
We hope the public will be aware of this as some new trainers who hate dog sports, always contradict what we believe in. Probably, they just do not have the knowledge to convert
a sport dog to do real situations. Remember that doing the real thing is also the same as simulating a sequence, so we can always train your dogs according to what might happen in real life.
There are other dog sports that have similarities to real encounter bite's, so this will make it easier for the dog to adjust to reality. Some trainers will always base it on the dog running away with the training equipment, which is totally wrong.
Remember that the dogs were trained all their life with this, the sleeve and the suit. The bad guy will never bring a sleeve or wear a suit when he wants to rob someone. So it is not fair to
conclude that dogs focusing on the training equipment during bite work is a complete sport dog. The best test would be to put a muzzle on your dog and do a passive bite with a decoy in civilian clothes. It will also be good to do the test
not on the field but on the street or in your home. Once your dog with the muzzle on, hits the person in civilian clothes, that is a dog that would bite for real.
• Q: Can I train for Protection without training for Obedience?
A: The quick answer is a resounding 'NO'. Why? Because you have to go through the necessary stages to do Protection. Protection isn't just about having your dog bite the bad guy, protection training teaches the dog a host of other important things such as threat recognition, the ability to work through stress, etc.. etc.. But before all this we strongly suggest that you try OBEDIENCE first; obedience strengthens your bond with your dog because you spend time and effort each time you train obedience. Another bonus that comes to mind when you do OBEDIENCE first before protection is that your dog becomes more stable and less likely to be a liability. To sum it up, the stages are OBEDIENCE to strengthen your bond with your dog and then PROTECTION. There is an old adage that says "A dog that doesn't trust you will not protect you".
• Q: Why have you decided to train for Mondioring?
A: Mondioring is international known (roughly translated it means "World Ring"), various countries compete in them (the US, France, Belgium, and others) It is a very challenging sport where the dog's obedience to the handler and its character is tested by using various stresses. Aside from the prestige that we would be getting from Mondioring it is also about time for the Filipino Dog Training Community be known worldwide. For more information on Mondioring please check out our Links section to go to Mondioring websites.
• Q: Do you use a suit or a bitesleeve?
A: We use both. Through the different stages of training we use different kinds of equipments/training aids so that the dog learns the fundamentals and the finer points of a certain exercise. For example, a bite sleeve can be used in the Search & Bark exercise as a 'prey item' or a 'reward item' wherein the dog gets a bite whenever he barks. A dog barks, he gets paid with a bite and a carry of the sleeve. From here on the dog can progress to the bitesuit to teach the dog that he can bite anywhere on a decoy.
• Q: How important is the decoy in your training?
A: You cannot stress the importance of the decoy enough. The decoy is responsible for elliciting the proper responses from the dogs that are being trained. He can be a friend so that he can make the dog relax or calm a dog that is hectic in the exercises or he can be a bad ass adversary so that he can teach the dog that the only way to make a bad guy go away is to step up to the plate and give it his all. The decoy is also partly responsible for the safety of the dog by making sure that the training exercises are done safely and effectively. Say for example on a send out, the decoy is responsible for absorbing the bite because if you don't absorb it the force from the bite and the send out has to go somewhere, and hopefully the decoy has the skill to swing the dog so that the forces can go elswhere and not to the dog's mouth or spinal column. A poorly caught send out may result in a broken tooth or worse, a compressed spinal column; which is an effective way or ending a dog's career and earning the ire of the dog's owner. I'm sure there has been a ton of articles written about this but a good decoy makes the dog understand that he is a 'sparring partner' and that no matter what happens the dog WILL ALWAYS COME OUT ON TOP.
For inquiries, please contact Head Trainer Eugene Reyes at:
Cell number: (63)917-525-3275 / (63)9228158656 (Philippines)
E-Mail: eugenereyes17@yahoo.com
