Thread: pushing or pulling when on the bite

nath,
My experience tells me that there is more damage done from a dog pushing into the bite..
For one there is a rare chance of the dog slipping off and only hanging on to clothing etc.
have seen and had some dutch dogs on the bite and the power of the bite is brutal enough to take a guy down..
Good calm full biting in my experience is a better way to train and program a dog for the real world as when he is comfortable and calm on the bite he is working at his best..

regards
George

This is good to topic and would like to experience varied trainers opinions.
The first thing I take into consideration here is the safety of the dog. Every dog is different in personality, hardness and trainability.
My goal would be to train a dog to initially push into the bite with a firm, calm grip with the power to take the human opponent off balance. The bite should be in an area whether on a sleeve or suit that would minimise the human opponent’s effectiveness to fight back.
If the human was able to regain the balance or power to attempt to fight the dog back, the dogs grip and area of grip is maintained in a position that could be either re-pushed or pulled that would keep the human off balance, injured and would render the human ineffective to re-attack the dog with a weapon etc..
In training scenarios, if a dog experiences wins by both pushing and pulling a human to the effect that the human remains un-balanced, with no flexibility or ability to inflict pain back onto the dog, this can only be an advantage which can remain safe for the dog.
It should be taken into consideration that if a good dog is on a real bite whether pushing or pulling and a human is attempting to fight against it, each attempt to pull away from the dog by the human or attempt to hit the dog etc. is going to cause more deeper and severe lacerations to that human opponent..
To me it stands to reason that a combination of both push and pull training can only be beneficial.

Jasada,
well put , I agree with you entirely.

Rob

Originally Posted by Jamie Davies

This is good to topic and would like to experience varied trainers opinions.
The first thing I take into consideration here is the safety of the dog. Every dog is different in personality, hardness and trainability.
My goal would be to train a dog to initially push into the bite with a firm, calm grip with the power to take the human opponent off balance. The bite should be in an area whether on a sleeve or suit that would minimise the human opponent�s effectiveness to fight back.
If the human was able to regain the balance or power to attempt to fight the dog back, the dogs grip and area of grip is maintained in a position that could be either re-pushed or pulled that would keep the human off balance, injured and would render the human ineffective to re-attack the dog with a weapon etc..
In training scenarios, if a dog experiences wins by both pushing and pulling a human to the effect that the human remains un-balanced, with no flexibility or ability to inflict pain back onto the dog, this can only be an advantage which can remain safe for the dog.
It should be taken into consideration that if a good dog is on a real bite whether pushing or pulling and a human is attempting to fight against it, each attempt to pull away from the dog by the human or attempt to hit the dog etc. is going to cause more deeper and severe lacerations to that human opponent..
To me it stands to reason that a combination of both push and pull training can only be beneficial.

Really nicely said Jamie.
The very best dogs will fight with a combination of the two genetically, in a combative way, unless we train them specifically otherwise. You will only really see this genetic trait in a dog with high aggression, high prey, much confidence and combative instinct....the type of dog that should be bred from.
I personally think Belgian Ring style grips are the most intimidating I have seen. Couple that style of dog with a handler that truly understands how to handle offensively (a dying art?) and you would have the best of both worlds.
Either way, either style of grip, I wouldn't wanna be the bloke bleeding!

GREAT TOPIC