The Indication--Should I Go With This Behavior or Correct?

[GSDElsa]

I've been working on Medo's indication for a couple months now--we're doing a "bark."

Initially I was going to do a sit and bark, but he really seems to like to get "in my face" when he does it and has an idication to climb up on me so he is standing and barking whenever he gets the command. Sitting still and barking seems to be a real challenge for him.

Today we started "swissies" (running from me to person, gets called back to me, gives his indication, then runs back to the subject). On the indication he did the same thing he's been wanting to do in training which is estentially bark in my face lol.

I don't really mind........but he is also only like 52 pounds right now. Should I go with what is natural to him or force him for the sit?? Gonna talk to the team about it too but just wanted other opinions.

[Jax08]

He's 52 lbs already? Geesh...time flies!

[GSDElsa]

There abouts (guessing that weight lol). He was mid 40's 3 weeks ago at the vet and has definitely heffed it up a bit since then...harder and harder to carry out of the car haha.

[jocoyn]

I am a real big believer is NOT forcuing a sit - I would definitely take what is natural to him and what he is already doing.. An in your face bark is a good thing that a lot of people want but have a hard time getting.

[gsdsar]

I would go with what he is giving you- it is his natural tendancy and to try and force it out of him may give you problems later on.

What you may be able to do is try to shape it a bit by not giving the "refind" command till he has four on the floor. Do this away from a search excersise and he may learn that the qicker he gets them all on the ground the quicker he gets called back to the "victim". But I would not put any corrections or commands on him in regards to his indictaion.

When in a real search, you want something impossible to misinterpret or write off, jumping up and barking in the middle of the woods is a pretty good indication.

Good luck.

[Mrs.K]

I have seen his indication. It is one of the most intense indication I've seen so far. Not even the dogs at the Bill Dotson Seminar had the same intensity Medo has.

Seriously, Justine you have one of the best dogs in this area. Drive wise, Indra is the best dog on our team and your Medo has twice as much drive as she has. He's got the same intensity level as Judge.

That dog is capable of so much and even more than that. Anyone saying that the indication, he's showing, isn't enough is either jealous or has nothing better to do than nitpicking about anything and everything anyways.

You are on the right path. He's fast, he's got speed, he's intense, he's driven, he's gorgeous. You have the full package on your hands and you are doing an awesome job with his training. Keep doing what you do and don't let anyone else tell you that it's all wrong. Because it's not!

[GSDElsa]

Aw, thanks Sandra. He's a fun boy with a lot of enthusiam for the job!

As an update, I did take a step back and worked with the SchH person I train with to get more power in his barking using a table. Worked wonderfully and his barking improved a million times, plus naturally made him more comfortable doing a sit while giving it. I let him move a little bit and he tends to bounce some, but it's fine by me because it's so strong.

My legs thank me!

[cliffson1]

[jocoyn]

You will be very grateful for that strong indication after you have been out there for 4 hours and you and the dog are whipped.