K-9 Dog Turns on Handler

[GuanoLoco]

I’m not an expert but I have spent a little time doing Schutzhund training including bite work. I seriously considered going into this more deeply as a “helper” or decoy (really the bit trainer) but my dog’s tenperament wasn’t into it.

Training methods are all over the place and I agree that some are quite distasteful - I wasn’t willing to do certain things in pursuit of an arbitrary training objective that wasn’t even a good match for my dog’s breed.

I could see that you could get a dog to pass training standards and not have a stable or trustworthy dog. I could also soo that not everyone is equally qualified to handle certain dogs, especially if you don’t know the methods used to train them.

[Trooper224]

I've been around canines enough, both personally and professionally, to know that sometimes shit just happens. Sometimes, regardless of training and selection, the dog just decides to bite the closest thing in reach. It sucks if it happens to be you.

[UNM1136]

Some techniques used to train working dogs are... well, not friendly. Any animal will only tolerate so much before it breaks. I don’t know that’s what happened in this case but I’m suspicious.

Yeah, some of the traits bred for are not necessarily the best traits overall...locally about 20 years ago a handler had to shoot his dog. Working dogs need some training in the dark side. I have seen it a lot. Just like people cops, dogs need stress innoculation training to solidify the training concepts and principles.

Yes, it can seem butal, but paws before boots...in the grand scheme of things losing a dog is not as bad as losing a cop.

pat
A prospectivr LE canine handler raising a belgian malinois to donate to the agency...

[UNM1136]

An example of this is the malinois I am raising, who was very likely over socialized as a pup. Before he becomes a street dog, he will have to be put in a situation where a man in a bite suit, in a dark alley he is unfamiliar with smacking the crap out of him with a stick. Despite being a very social dog he needs to learn about stranger danger.

pat

[Coyotesfan97]

Some working dogs really shouldn’t be working. If the dog has a history of coming up the leash it’s a dog you shouldn’t buy or a dog that needs to be returned to the vendor. If the vendors unscrupulous they don’t disclose that history. If a dog is a returned it pays to ask specific questions about its history.

Some Mals and Dutchie will come up the leash on you given the chance. Usually you know and you have to be prepared for it. Dogs go Code Black too if they are stimulated and frustrated enough. At that point they’ll bite anything they can. If the dogs a spinner the handler gets targeted because he’ll be the first thing the dog sees. From the description I think the dog was wound up, spun, saw the handler, and came up the leash.

If you play with bite trained dogs you’re going to be bit at some point. Motors say it’s not if you go down it’s when. Handlers say when you play with dogs you’re gonna get bit. Hopefully not in the groin. Everyone in my unit has been bitten. I’ve lost track of mine. One serious bite and a lot of punctures and rakes.

You have to train dogs for the 1% encounter where the suspect is not only actively fighting the dog but is trying to injure it. It’s definitely a balance and you need a very experienced decoy and trainer for this.

[UNM1136]

I just need to figure out how to teach my dog that once he gets the sleeve slipped, trying to make sweet, sweet love to it is not appropriate.

par

[LittleLebowski]

I suspect a combo of a hard dog and a mediocre (not military grade) handler. A lot of these departments spend a ton of moment on a dog and less on handler training.

[LittleLebowski]

@Coyotesfan97 is the SME on this sort of thing.

[Casual Friday]

A friend of mine has had a few Mals over the years and a couple years ago when we were thinking of getting one I asked him his thoughts on it. Even though it's his preferred pet, he doesn't think they mesh well with 90% of people who have them. This was his response.

Mals can be as unpredictable as women. They need constant attention or they can become neurotic. One minute they're loving and cuddling with you, the next they're chewing your arm off or over at the neighbors getting pregnant.

[Surf]

Agree with Coyoteesfan97 and mirrors my experiences.

I am not a handler, however, our 50 man unit has eight handlers, and 12 dogs, primarily Mals and a couple of Dutch Shepherds and I have been with the unit for about 18 years now. All handlers have been bitten at some point. More than a few guys (non-handlers) have been nipped or bitten during training or ops. Our entire unit at one point has done the S.K.I.D.D.S. training. In the last five months, we have had one dog stabbed multiple times and one dog and his handler shot. There is a fine line indeed with these working dogs.

My Mal passed away just over a year ago and would like another, I just travel too much right now.