Use of rubber tiles.

Andres Martin said:

Questions for Dick van Leeuwen.

Why are the tiles are placed on the arm? What other places does one use tiles? When do you make the decision to use them? When do you stop? From how far do you set up the bites? Which bites do you set up first and why? When do you move from one bite to the next (away, frontal, etc)?

Anticipated thanks for your information.

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In the early stage when we learn young dogs to bite the suit, we use the rubber tiles. In this way we learn them the right place for their attack/biting. In KNPV rules is discribed what the preferent biting places are, the arm and the leg. To make the attack as sure as possible it should be the upperarm or the leg under the knee. In that the dog should block the body of the decoy(suspect).

The tiles can be placed on the underarm and/or body (like a body protector), so the dog learns to make his attack only at the upperarm.
In other places covered with tiles it is difficult to bite(sometimes the bounces off) so the dog rewards hisself by biting in the place we want him to.
Other places where tiles could be placed is high on the leg and low (near the ankle)so when the dog is biting at the leg, he will bite inbetween the two tiles.

This way a dog will learn in an early stage the right place to bite.


The first distance is putting the dog at the suite by holding him by the collar and making him bite where you want him to.
Later, letting hem go at a distance of about 5 meters. When its stabile from a distance, you expand the distance step by step.

When you know/see the dog "knows" his place to bite, you can test once and a while what will happen without tile. Not to often and in an to early stage, because you will make the dog smart in a wrong way... :wink:

I hope I am clear enough in my "criple English" to make you understand what I mean :wink:

greetz,
Dick

Jeff Oehlsen said:

Do you have to use the tiles? Can a dog target properly without them, or is it something that you just do anyway?

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We use them just anyway in the learningprocess of targetting.

It is something what they learn themselves, a selfrewarding thing when they are at the right place.

We create situations in the learningprocess so they are on the tile and will know they are wrong. You make the right spot very well known to them in this way. Whatever is happening, you have to be on that spot (in the KNPV programme).

Which tile (body or lower arm) we use, really depends on the nature of the dog and what he has learned (or not) before.

Example: for Spike we never used the one low on the arm, but we have used the body tile very long. In the front and back attack he came right through the middle. His attacks are still right through midway, but his head/bite is ALWAYS very high on the upperarm.
We don´t use them anymore. The first bite after not working for a long time, we used it to make a secure situation for the decoy.

For Robbie we used the lower arm tile, ´cause he hadn´t learned to target right when we bought him. We still put it on, but isn´t necessary anymore. He is a natural going through the middle, but his bite was to low. Now his attacks are just like Spike, body through the middle and head/bite high on the upperarm.