Dogo Argentino

[abndogos]

Hey Mike,
You may want to a some point, start teaching people what NOT to do when training a DA in bitework, somehow, somewhere on the nrt. More and more people are taking an interest to it. I am currently recommending to people to NOT FORCE your dogo into the bite by putting the dog in defense drive or by "flanking," since the dogo is very sensitive to people and will loose trust in humans very quickly. I have a large fear of people doing stupid things and then the breed gets bannned here in the US. They are proposing a ban now in Denmark(where my breeder is) of all the "muscle" breeds(DA,APBT, etc). Its all because of unregistered dogs and their irresponsible owners allowing them free rein and then them getting into trouble by bitting someone or killing a domestic animal. Here in the US there are a few DA's titled in either FR or SCH, and both owners of these dogos have had them attack someone, whether themselves or company they had over(and these two are the people that are considered the "gurus" of doing bitework with the DA. Thanks Mike.
Maureen

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

You have a good point. I never really work dogs that were not purposely bred to be defensive toward humans in that drive.

I love working the catch dog type breeds in protection because it gives them a great outlet. I think the dog sports are great for them. But, I have never worked any of them in anything but prey. Maybe made it a little rough cause they love it, but they know it is time for love as soon as the jacket comes off.

When you combine how capable some of these breeds are with the fact they are so heavily persecuted we have to be careful not to create the Godzillas that the media and those against these breeds would love to use as examples.

Any breed if it is confident enough is likely protect its owner if you taught it the motions through scenarios.

'Flanking' is a very debateable tactic that I have to question and discuss heavily with the agititators the pros and cons and if it is the right thing to do for that individual dog and situation. Video on Nikko in the members area is a good example.

It can potentially make a fearful dog more dangerous and to do it to a dog that totally trusts humans is a HUGE gamble for the future of that dog and the ethics of doing so should always be questioned.

I believe in bringing out the best in every dog, not making them something that they were not meant to be.

[shyntoimpress]

What is flanking? I only know it as a herding term.

Rebekah

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

If you go to the protection videos there is an example titled "Nikko Gets Flanked"

It is basically when the agitator grabs a handful of skin from the upper/inner thigh of the dog.

It is supposed to be a 'safe' way to teach the dog that the agitator is bad and that there are real consequences for not driving him away before he gets too close.

There can be very bad side effects from doing this incorrectly or even correctly in the wrong situation or with the wrong dog.

</B>

[abndogos]

Hey Mike,
I also thought you might want to add some videos on the different drives(and show the differences, like the actual bite-full mouth vs shallow, and different barks, body language, etc) that the dogs are worked in and what the purpose is, and why you don't want to work a breed like the DA in anything but prey drive. People watch "bitework" and think it is all the same drives, and also stereotype all the dogs doing bitework as "human aggressive."

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Definitely on the list of things to do. Chipping away aty some literature now on how to pick and raise a dog for the different types of protection work.

I have lots of footage of the dogs in differeent drives to pull from. Already have a bunch of Toro in pure PREY.

I checked out your web site. Toro is like a greek statue! love just looking at him!

Guess which one?

[abndogos]

HOly moly, LMAO!!