aplonis said:
I wrote my prior post late at night and was not sufficiently clear. Having watched them train for many an hour I did know that the RAF police dogs were trained to bite and not let go.
However, I was also informed that trained attack dogs will eventually turn upon their trainer at some point. And any change of trainer after that may expect...eventually...the same. It is a natural dog behavior...to test his place in the "nipping order" of his pack.
The trainer must then expect to "communicate" in no uncertain terms that he is pack leader and not the dog. Alan said more than once that such behavoir was entirely to be expected. He was in particular waiting for it to happen with his own, recently reassigned, animal. He had to wait for the dog to choose the moment and address only "that" behavior so as to not inadvertantly train any slightest degree of submissiveness into the dog for everything else about the work.
With that much you are correct. Alpha behavior among working K9's is common, and it takes a certain rank drive in a dog to do that kind of work. What's more, it requires a strong handler to work with that kind of dog. However, the trick is to avoid situations where you end up with the dog gaining the upper-hand. There is always the possibility, if you're careless, that the dog could seriously harm you. However, dogs rarely attack in a predatory manner someone they perceive as being in their own pack. In other words, the way the dog attacks it's handler is different than the manner it attacks someone else.
Most handler/dog attacks are the result of a handler not paying attention, or not understanding how the dog thinks or reacts to certain situations. Many of these dogs are food aggressive. Myself, I have a pretty nasty scar on my forearm from an attack involving a deep mouth bite from a malinois. I subsequently explained to him with a couple of pretty hard swings of a stout stick to the head, that biting me was the wrong behavior. The reason it took two? Because the first one just made him madder, and he came in for a second attack. Most humans wouldn't have continued an assault after the blow I hit this dog with...some wouldn't have remained concious. The sad part, however, is that he suffered for my mistake. I knew he was food aggressive, and I made a very minor mistake, that had huge consequences.
Had I not responded in that manner, however, i'd never been able to work with that dog again. Once they win one encounter, they believe they are dominate.
aplonis said:
There no modern breed of dog whose forelegs will not break when struck full force by a hickory cane launched from the hip. Nor one which will not concuss when similarly struck in the head. If the trainer sends his dog in against someone armed with a hickory cane, then he is as much at fault for the animal's forthcoming injury as the intended bite victim.
Assuming you can hit the dog. I'm willing to bet that you'll miss more often than not, especially on a Malinois, who are much faster and have much quicker reflexes than you could ever hope to. Moreover, I know of one working German Shephered who got struck in the head with a pipe by a burglar he was sent in after. The Shepherd subsequently preceeded to seperate the calf muscle on his leg from the rest of the leg, causing permanent injury. Striking him in the head with the pipe only served to send him further in to fight drive.
aplonis said:
Two dogs, on the other hand, make a pack of sorts. One in front and one behind...then you are at a severe disadvantage. On that point I would strongly agree. But as for one dog. I can well understand how a professional dog trainer would wish to propagate the public image of the "invincible attack dog" working solo.
If you really want to test those theories, volunteer as a helper. Let me know how it works out. I mean that in all seriousness, i'd be interested in hearing your comments after you work with some truly rank dogs. I'm certainly not saying many of them are invincible, as most working K9's are actually not well selection tested.
The few truly rank dogs, however, are a wonder to see work. Anyone who truly thinks they can fight them with ease, is operating under a false sense of their own invincibility.
I wouldn't suggest it without a weapon, and i'd suggest carrying a knife in addition to the stick, because odd's are, you'll miss with the power point of the stick. In that event, you'll simply have to sacrifice an arm, in order to cut the dog open.
aplonis said:
Alan Milne used to come visit us with his dog at the mine shop in MacRihanish and comment as how, should he ever actually encounter an IRA terrorist out in the magazine he'd come to us for protection. It was a running joke on account of we were all the time playing around with improvised weapons: shuriken cut out from hammered-flat banding corners; a custom two-stage blowgun which would stick sharpened coat-hanger-wire darts into a brick wall; that sort of silly bugger goofing around while standing watch on weekend nights.
In short, the average person isn't going to encounter the 1% dog. Most dog attacks are the family mongrel, who's untrained but aggressive. These sort of dogs run yelping at a good swift kick. Many won't even attack unless you make the mistake of turning your back on them and running.
However, believing that just because you can beat the local junk yard dog with a swift kick, you can take a truly rank working dog, is thinking because you can beat the local tough boxing at the Y you can take Roy Jones Jr. It's a faulty sort of logic.
The advice on how to deal with dog attacks is good. A good stout stick and a good sharp knife.....Unless you have a shotgun.
