Introducing the drive

Once the dog “stays” under the stick without difficulty, we begin introducing it to the drive. First, the agitator drives the dog laterally around the circle formed by the leash, with the handler at its center. In this way, the dog is driven laterally or sideways rather than straight backward, and also the handler can easily reassure the animal by maintaining tension on the leash.

Later, he drives the dog straight backward toward its handler, who maintains leash tension by backing up. Only if the dog accepts being driven on a tight leash without “backing‑off” its bite (taking a smaller mouth on the sleeve), growling or changing its grip will the agitator drive it after a runaway bite, when it is far from its handler and there is no tight leash to encourage it.

Combining the stick hits with the drive

The decoy never combines both stick hits and the drive until the dog is absolutely comfortable with these two stressors individually. Furthermore, the first few times that he hits the dog while driving it, this will be done with the animal on a tight leash and with the handler close by to reassure the dog.

A very good dog will not require all this careful schooling on the stick and drive. However, in dog training, as in all else, caution almost always pays. If we proceed without caution and suddenly discover that our dog is not completely stick‑sure–when it loosens or releases its bite under a rash stick hit–then, unfortunately, much of the damage has already been done.

GOAL 5: The dog will enter its bite at full speed in the courage test.

The courage test is the culmination of the Schutzhund protection routine. It is primarily here that the dog shows its quality or lack of it

The courage test is difficult for two reasons. First, this exercise carries the dog far away from its handler to where it feels itself to be alone. Second, in the courage test the agitator runs directly at the dog rather than away from it.

Our goal in training is to teach the dog to hit just as hard and enter its bite every bit as fast on a charging agitator as it does on a runaway. We prepare the dog to bite a charging agitator by breaking the exercise down into a progression, a carefully designed series of steps in training.

Important Concepts for Meeting the Goal

1. Biting a charging agitator on leash

2. Biting a charging agitator off leash but at short distance

3. Biting a retreating agitator at long distance

4. Biting a charging agitator at long distance

5. Catching the dog correctly