Toy Outing

[CanineMan]

I am having a problem with my 2 year old male mal. During narc finds, he gets so excited when he is rewarded with his toy (burlap) after the find, that I have trouble getting him to out it. He will literally knock down walls chasing it down. I do not know what to do as this is an officer safety issue on the side of the road when I have to watch the bad guy and get him to let go of the toy.

I have him sit and when I tell him to out it, it just seems to make him more excited. He grabs the toy with his paws and when I tell him to leave it and follow, he picks up the toy with his paws and puts it back in his mouth. I do work him on the pinch collar and would rather not have to choke him out every time I want him to out the toy.

I do not have any trouble verbally outing him during patrol work, he does this with ease. If there are any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.

[Kilo2]

Quick question..... You say an officer safety issue, are you alone when you do your sniff. If so why. I have to have a back up officer on scene before i deploy.
As for the outing no real suggestions other than keep working on it in a controlled area so you can focus on the dog.

[Eurodog]

I understand that sometimes it's not possible to always have a second officer at the scene of a stop, and as I understand it there may be a time limited on the stop once the initial 10/27-28 have been completed (suprised you ol'boy's there didn't I?) but Kilo2 has a point about the work in a conrolled area....

I have had some thoughts and PM'd you because it was a bit long I hope it helps...........................

[Bulzi]

I have seen a few dogs that have this same tendency. One way handlers have gotten around it is to swap the toy for a treat, may or may not work with your dog. Another is to swap it for a different toy, ie- kong or hard rubber ball, that may be easier to get from him than a jute toy.
Other than that, repeated and consistent corrections on the out and hope he gets the clue some time before he turns 11 years old!!!!!
Good luck, just one more reason I am glad I have a GSD!!!

[Eurodog]

I have seen a few dogs that have this same tendency. One way handlers have gotten around it is to swap the toy for a treat, may or may not work with your dog. Another is to swap it for a different toy, ie- kong or hard rubber ball, that may be easier to get from him than a jute toy.
Other than that, repeated and consistent corrections on the out and hope he gets the clue some time before he turns 11 years old!!!!!
Good luck, just one more reason I am glad I have a GSD!!!

Bulzi you hit the nail on the head..........Malinois, I'll train them, I'll provide them but out of choise a GSD every time, but in fairness you handle what you have been given............I PM'ed CanineMan with a couple of idea's, but you know what I'm like I get carried away and it rambled on a bit...................but I mentioned the replacement of the reward. Even if this dog was sourced as a single purpose dog I'm sure someone has put him on a rag at some time, which probably where the fixation comes from (apart from the fact he is a Malinois of course).

I also mention obedience for control and the 'leave', if as he is working on it he has problems after a stop with the dog not coughing it up, don't made an issue where there is likely to be the public, just give him a 'good boy' and bung him in the Unit. Head off to somewhere a little more private for an open and frank exchange of views!..............................

[Bulzi]

Great point Euro...my dog is not overly toy happy but will keep his jute toy till the last second, howevery, soon as he gets in the car he spits it.
Give that a try, throw him in the car and see if he will drop it easier in there.

I assume you have tried outing him without holding the toy, I find that most dogs want to hang on if you are pulling on it.

Good luck.....

[CanineMan]

Quick question..... You say an officer safety issue, are you alone when you do your sniff. If so why. I have to have a back up officer on scene before i deploy.
As for the outing no real suggestions other than keep working on it in a controlled area so you can focus on the dog.

Kilo2, in an ideal situation I would have a backup officer on scene with me everytime I conducted a sniff. In my area that is not always possible. I can usually get around this by placing the subject in handcuffs and sitting him on the ground. As I am doing this I explain to him that he is not under arrest but is being handcuffed for my safety. I just have to articulate this in my report to get around the custody issue.

Of couse I do not do this to simply everybody, I have enough reasonable suspicion to be able to detain someone for the purpose of an investigation.

[CanineMan]

I have seen a few dogs that have this same tendency. One way handlers have gotten around it is to swap the toy for a treat, may or may not work with your dog. Another is to swap it for a different toy, ie- kong or hard rubber ball, that may be easier to get from him than a jute toy.
Other than that, repeated and consistent corrections on the out and hope he gets the clue some time before he turns 11 years old!!!!!
Good luck, just one more reason I am glad I have a GSD!!!

Bulzi, thanks for the info. I know there is no over the counter cure all, which is going to happen over night, its going to take time. Each of you have given me great ideas to put into my arsenal. I will try each of these and as you said Bulzi "hopefully he gets the clue before he turns 11." Thats funny!! Nothing like having a 2 year old with ADHD. He might be a spaz, but he's my spaz.

[CanineMan]

Eurodog, thanks for taking the time to give me some suggestions. I know this isn't something that is going to go away over night, I just have to stay on top of it. I'll try to switch the toy out to see if thats gonna work.

[Eurodog]

CanineMan: Perhaps you could help me, I don't want to know any names or other details, but I wonder if you could tell me the following?...............

Do you have a duel trained dog? How long was your basic initial course? Finally did the instructor ride along as an observer on a couple of shifts to give a little advice on operational deployment?

My last piece of advice is never settle or compromise set your training goals and go after it. Never be reluctant to seek advice, your whole career as a K9 officer is a learning curve, from the first day to sadly the last.........

[Eurodog]

Sorry I put this post in twice and can't cancel this one.............

[Bulzi]

never settle or compromise set your training goals and go after it.

Great point Euro....I see alot of dog handlers constantly work the same areas over and over because they know their dog is good at it!! Kinda defeats the purpose of training!!

[CanineMan]

CanineMan: Perhaps you could help me, I don't want to know any names or other details, but I wonder if you could tell me the following?...............

Do you have a duel trained dog? How long was your basic initial course? Finally did the instructor ride along as an observer on a couple of shifts to give a little advice on operational deployment?

My last piece of advice is never settle or compromise set your training goals and go after it. Never be reluctant to seek advice, your whole career as a K9 officer is a learning curve, from the first day to sadly the last.........

Eurodog, Yes...he is dual trained. Our basic initial course was 5 weeks for patrol school. No, our instructors did not ride a long, but other canine officers will ride to "mentor" us as we go along.

[Kilo2]

Euro dog has it right on point. Keep your training goals and dont settle. My department sent me to a school that said it could would have a green dog and new handler ready in two weeks. Keep in mind this is patrol and narc. I was not happy with this at all but not wanting to look like a problem child ,after getting picked for the unit, i just went with it. When i got back to my department, i did not feel ready or comfident in my ability nor did i trust that my k9 was ready. Sure enough we had problems but thankfully i was able to talk my dept into letting me go to training 2 time a month with about 7 other dept who do combine agency training. We have a great trainer and we have made a great turn around. So i guess the short of it is keep trying and training.

[barrydog]

I have a high drive mal and if we go back to the car he knows "game over" and will spit the toy...I NEVER scan without backup