Forcing the out

The helper begins the process by, as always, stimulating the dog. He runs back and forth around the circle described by the dog’s tether until the animal is extremely excited. Meanwhile the assistant plays the line so that both decoy and dog have the freedom to move without becoming entangled. The decoy allows a bite and then he fights the animal very strongly, pulling against the tether to fix the bite. When the dog is hard on the sleeve and very much in spirit, the decoy takes three precisely timed actions:

^{During training for the out, the correction must be made into the sleeve (top). The traditional method of correcting away from the sleeve (bottom) stimulates the animal’s opposition reflex and makes it bite down harder.}

1. He takes a very short step toward the tree, so as to drop about six inches of slack into the tether. (Never attempt to out a dog with the animal’s mouth under tension. Remember, physical restraint stimulates the animal to bite harder.)

2. He then freezes, standing still with the sleeve across his torso, braced strongly against the dog’s attempts to drag him to and fro.

3. When he is ready, the agitator signals to the handler with a nod.

The handler gives a crisp “Out!” command–he does not shout–and at the same instant the assistant corrects the dog sharply and with enough force that the animal instantly releases the sleeve. The assistant does not pull or tug at the dog; he delivers a snapping jerk. If the first is not enough, then he delivers another crisp and slightly stronger correction, and so on. As we have already stated, the amount of force is crucial. Therefore, the person in the club with the best “hands” and the most experience should always serve as the assistant.

The dog should out and, because of all its schooling in the hold and bark, automatically rock back and begin barking. However, if it attempts to rebite, the assistant calmly corrects it again.

The instant the dog settles and lets out a bark or two, the handler allows it another bite and a vigorous fight and then slips the sleeve for it.

In other words, we reward the animal for its out with a bite and then possession of the sleeve. Too many trainers think of the out–and all the other control exercises too–as solely forced exercises, something that the dog is only resentfully compelled to do and that it will fight against tooth and claw. But there is a way to present the out to the animal so that it is in its interest to do it, not just in order to avoid a correction, but also in order to gain a bite and then possession of the sleeve.

Remember, a good fight takes two, and when the agitator freezes he robs the dog of a great part of the gratification involved in biting the sleeve. How can the animal reactivate the agitator? By letting go of the sleeve! We teach the dog to demand the helper’s participation by outing and barking. The sequence is as follows:

1. The decoy allows a bite and fights vigorously. Gratification for the dog is intense.

2. The decoy freezes. Gratification for the dog declines sharply.

3. On command, the dog outs and barks.

4. In response to the animal’s barking, the decoy allows another bite, fights vigorously and then gives the sleeve to the dog.

We must make for the dog a very clear and strong connection between the act of outing and barking and being rewarded with the sleeve. We make this connection by positioning these two events very close in time. Perhaps as little as two or three seconds elapse between the moment the dog outs and the moment it has the sleeve back in its mouth again.

The mistake trainers so frequently make is to out the dog and then make it bark for two minutes in an attempt to “bum” the idea in or, even worse, to out the dog and then heel it away from the agitator in an attempt to keep it clean. This is completely wrong because it gives the dog the idea that, by outing, it gives up the agitator and the sleeve, and loses them both.

Remember, we selected the dog for precisely its tenacity and its willingness to endure a great deal in the fight to keep possession of its prey. When it does not perceive a relationship between releasing the sleeve and then immediately getting it back again, we should not be surprised if it resists all but the most extreme force in order to stay on the sleeve. Therefore, in the beginning of out training, the sequence is bite‑out‑bite, and this chain of events is extremely rapid.

Once the dog has the idea and the out has become somewhat habitual, we can become less concerned about rewarding the out immediately and (1) gradually extend the period of time and the number of barks between the out and the rebite, and (2) perform sequences of outs, so that the animal bites and outs several times in a row before we allow it to have the sleeve.