Chimera Kennels

Hi I have a dog that due to my lack of knowledge I took to a useless trainer who worked him in defense and skipped everything else from a young age. The dog is now a year and a half old, he is a mastiff, and will guard his property, show aggression and bite with a full mouth and hold. But I noticed that he would almost scream during his growl whilst holding onto the bite when the trainer/decoy would put the dog under pressure. I am now in the process of finding a more professional person to help me with my dog but would like some advice on how to maybe build up his confidence if that's what it is that needs fixing or possibly concentrating on prey drive rather then defense. I would appreciate any advice given.

Add a long line to the sleeve. Once the dog wins the sleeve, have the helper keep tension on the line and then pull his arm out of the sleeve. Don't slip it so quickly that the sleeve goes loose with slack. Keep tension on the line. Allow the dog to pull the sleeve away from the helper to add distance between him and the helper. Work back to about 10 feet on the line and then go in circles around the decoy to develop a carry. You can back to defense later, but right now you need to build balance. Working a line in this way does two things...

1. It add security as the threat (helper) is further away which should help reduce the "screaming" as you put it (a sign of stress).

2. It allows the dog to see the sleeve as a prey item. This is going to be essential in developing prey drive...one component of a balanced dog. Some have issues with type of work when it comes to protection dogs, but it sounds as if your dog was started incorrectly with too much pressure (stress) or that he doesn't have the courage to be comfortable when in the fight. I am not there, so I can't say...but regardless you need to work on developing comfort in the fight by allowing the dog to see himself as winning the sleeve (prey item).

If this is done properly, the dog will see himself as able to win the challenge for the booty and therefore begin to develop the confidence for more direct conflict (as in fighting the helper).

I recommend finding a helper that understands this before proceeding.

A great dog will work with confidence in the fight. It can do this by either...

1. working in fight drive, or by
2. balancing a combination of prey and defense.

It sounds like your dog doesn't have the pure fight drive (option 1), so to get the most out of him you will need to develop the prey drive (developing option 2).

Thanks for the advice once again. I spoke to my new trainer yesterday, I am taking the dog to him next week, he aslo said that the dog needs to be worked in prey drive.