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In addition to what Bob said, it also very heavily depends on the dog -- some dogs just can't be put into defense by the handler as easily because they have the bond and history with the handler (this doesn't count for puppies who have, as yet, a pretty weak bond with their handler). My GSD for example tries to be very defensive but reverts back to whiney prey barking when he's not challenged enough. When I first started working my own dog with an agitation whip about a month ago, he first reacted scared like he was afraid daddy was mad at him! I gave him a "Watch" command to get him barking n bring him out of his negative reaction, n he reacted very defensively because he's used to working defensively with the whip n wasn't sure what the heck was going on.... I panicked because my dog was getting serious with ME, I called up my trainer n said hey what do I do if my dog is getting defensive with me.... he told me... don't look at him when I crack the whip, present the side of my body and run back n forth teasing him with the sleeve while cracking the whip... he'll get over it as soon as he realizes that I'm playing with him. Sure enough, crack the whip, give him a bite, praise him n let him run around the field with it -- 2 or 3 bites later he was enjoying himself as he realized what the new game was. Now anytime I crack the whip he comes running looking for the sleeve.
As Bob said, for a beginner with the "wrong" kinda dog, it's very easy to screw up... but if you can read the dog properly and the dog has the right kinda temprement for doing daddy-decoy work, you can even go as far as to challenge your own dog a little as your dog learns that it's nothing more than a game when he's with you. I've also seen plenty of dogs who I would never do any decoying with if they were my own dog! :lol: It's all about reading the dog and understanding what you can and cannot do with an individual dog, which as Bob pointed out, can be screwed up if you don't know what you're doing. Not that I know what I'm doing :lol: but I know my dog incredibly well.
As Bob said, for a beginner with the "wrong" kinda dog, it's very easy to screw up... but if you can read the dog properly and the dog has the right kinda temprement for doing daddy-decoy work, you can even go as far as to challenge your own dog a little as your dog learns that it's nothing more than a game when he's with you. I've also seen plenty of dogs who I would never do any decoying with if they were my own dog! :lol: It's all about reading the dog and understanding what you can and cannot do with an individual dog, which as Bob pointed out, can be screwed up if you don't know what you're doing. Not that I know what I'm doing :lol: but I know my dog incredibly well.
