DOGGIE DOG BLOG

Posted by: David Harris

Video by: Christina Phillips

Diesel is now eleven months old.  He has been in formal training with me since he was twelve weeks old.  His owner drives just over an hour each week and many times twice per week to train with me individually and as a participant in our group classes.  For the most part he has been trained in private lessons where I teach his owner how to train and work with his own dog.  I explain each, demonstrate, practice with the dog, practice with the owner and then set up a lesson plan for them to follow that week.  But, Diesel has also spent some one on one time with me at my home.  He stayed close to two weeks with me at five months because of a nasty little bathroom habit he had.  Thankfully that issue has passed and he lived past those dark days to continue his rise to stardom. He has also stayed with me for some advanced tracking work and to complete his retrieving work in a timely fashion.  He is a very easy dog to keep and a very fun dog to work with.  His drive and enthusiasm for work come around rarely in dogs and even more rarely in a dog of Diesel calm and steady demeanor.  He is not only a top working dog, but he is a dog that you can live with in your home.  He has such steady nerves that he can even lay calmly when I am doing bite work with other dogs.  He knows it’s not his turn and just waits patiently until his time to play.  The outside observer would think him uninterested, soft and with no drive to see him laying calmly less than twenty feet from where I am agitating other dogs on the field, taking long bites and working dogs in and around the blinds for Schutzhund.  But, they would be mistaken to think that of Diesel.  He has tons of drive and is very, very driven when it comes to anything that involves chasing and biting as a reward. But, he knows when to turn it on and when to turn it off and that is what I like most about him.

Our ultimate goals with Diesel is for him to be about to compete successfully at the regional level in the sport of Schutzhund.  I already have little doubt about his forth coming success in HOT Tournaments (Handler Owned & Trained) and I know he will do well at the regional level as well.  Where it goes from there depends a lot on genetics.  He has the training and the foundation.  Now we have to continue to be patient in the development of his grip.  He is a Malinois with a grip suited for Ring Sport, not Schutzhund.  We have taught him to grip deep and calm, but it goes against his nature.  So, that is the challenge over the next year.  Grip development.  Any tips and suggestions will be heeded and appreciated.  The more information the better.  This short video clip will give you an idea of the type grip Diesel comes by naturally. http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnblh4gxF88&feature=user  Other clips of him can be found of him on youtube as well.

All other aspects of the sport are coming very quickly to him.  So, expect many more updates from the Diesel chronicles in the near future and beyond.

David