4 days with a Police Dog

[brembo]

Peppy has been an eye-opener for sure. I thought I had dogs figured out pretty well. No expert for sure, but a solid foundation. Enter a new to me dog that has a wildly strong personality and professional training to back that up. I AM an expert on Banjo, a goofy, gooey, loving GSD that has no aspirations for anything other than a buddy. He's tractable, a thinker and above all so incredibly trusting of me that it's absurdly easy to care for him. Now I have a buzzsaw with legs that as some have said has no off switch. I can see that, Peppy is "wired" for action and will not hesitate to do her job. Few examples:

1. Fetch is NOT game I have found. It is a job that requires a 100% effort, dam(n) the torpedos, grab it by the short curlies and go for it. Peppy brought me her training Kong while i was laying on my bed reading. I tossed it thinking that like any normal dog she would hop off the side of the bed and chase it out the door. Oh no, not by a long shot. She jumped over the footboard, bounced off the wall, used the door frame to help change direction and was on the Kong before it quit moving. Sounded like a rhino in sheetmetal factory, crash, bang, slam, CHOMP!

2. Peppy is not a candidate for the faux-throw. The person throwing had best just toss the object and watch the show. Well, I tried a faux-throw and I'm happy to say that all my fingers are still attached, by the grace of god she finally let go. She took off, stopped and looked at me, I wiggled the Kong and she simply materialized on my hand. She was so proud that she got the Kong and wasn't about to let go, problem being that my hand was still attached to the Kong, under her teeth. No pain, yet. Every time I moved the vice got tighter. I had no idea how strong a Mals jaws are. I'll admit a bit of panic here on my part, I have no idea what her training is telling her at this point. So I stand there with a happy dog firmly attached to my hand. Then she gives a small tug....oh no, here goes my skin. I wiggled my fingers a bit and she slacked up pressure a tad, enough to slide my fingers out without any damage. A demonstration of who was in control or not knowing my hand was in there? I dunno, either way the faux-throw is off the table for awhile.

3. Her main duty while she was a cop was article search, human scent. My bedroom is sensory overload. She will hop up in bed, snuggle for a while, get a belly rub and then the scenting begins. In 5 minutes she has gotten up and is rooting about sniffing everything and whining. I can make her lie down with a command, but her body language is screaming that she wants to explore my tiny (10x10) bedroom. She will only calm down if I allow her to stick her nose in the nape of my neck. Guess how I sleep now? On my back with a Malinois draped across my neck. Good for bonding I suppose.

4. Dunno if all Mals are like this, but when something in her mind needs to be done, IT WILL GET DONE. Right now the battle is the fridge. She could be in Outer Mongolia, I open the fridge and suddenly a little doggie head will be in there as well. Banjo will on occasion stick a head in there and get a big whiff of the smells. Peppy tries to climb in, as in get on the shelves and do her sniffing thing, she is very strong. One command is all it takes to get her out, but with years of knowing that a nose touch is all Banjo needs to back him off I have to re-train myself.

Lastly, she is a tank. Her training is such that she ignores things that might fall over, break or make weird noises when searching. A small powerful bulldozer would be less mayhem in a house than this dog. I think of Arnold in T2 when she is in this mode. "I need to sniff your house and your car" all in monotone with no possibility of anything impeding her wishes. Best just let her go about her job and no one will get hurt. I might take to calling her the Smellinator, she is Dutch afterall.

[bocron]

LOL, sounds like fun!
Does she have an out or leave it command? With the K9s we have trained/sold, most of whom went to police handlers with a family, we taught them to play fetch by giving them the out command when we were going to throw the toy and then releasing them to get it as soon as it was thrown. Over time you can extend the time before giving the release (for us it is free or bring, depending) and teach a bit of delayed gratification.
Also, I would skip the kong as a throw toy. With a super high drive dog, the crazy bounce will cause the dog to rapidly switch directions and is a very likely cause of knee, back and hip injuries. Do fetch with something that lands and stops moving, or just rolls.

[Castlemaid]

Ha, sounds like fun! Once you've tasted the exhilaration of a high energy, high drive dog, no other will do!

She sounds like a total sweetie, and sounds like she got into a great, devoted home. Couple of things I would do if I were you, is find out if she had an "out" command for letting go of whatever she is biting down on. If not, see if you can find a trainer that can show you how to set up games with balls and tugs that teaches her to 'out' on command. You'll find that working with her is going to be a bit different than working with 'regular' dogs.

Also, do implement NILF. It will get her in the habit of looking to you for direction and permission for just about anything. Even just a sit before you throw the ball, for example, may help in avoiding inadvertent digit amputation.

And now you know what working-line folks talk about when they mention 'ball drive'.

Edited to add: I see I posted at the same time as Annette, at least, the suggestions are pretty consistent.

[RocketDog]

Please post more.

[vhowell7]

Gosh, that's the funniest thing I've read in awhile. The way you write I can really get a feel for your dog. What a bundle of energy!

I feel your pain, mine was a huge land shark with a high prey drive. I still have scars on my hands and ankles wher she drew blood.

[Butch Cappel]

Really great writing Brembo, enjoyed the story very much and you sure now, know your Mals, Thanks again

[brembo]

As to the "out" command I (me, the human) will be getting the bitework training soon enough. The officer wanted a good bond before that bit of knowledge is passed on. He calls or writes daily, I hope to complete the transfer of knowledge and training within the next week.

When she had my hand I tried all sorts of commands, mainly "Los" which means drop it, but I think I might have crossed over into the bitework aspect of her training with that little bit of stupidity on my part. I could see the glee on her face, she wasn't looking to hurt me, but if it was part of the job...so be it eh?

[Daisy&Lucky's Mom]

Great story, sounds as if your adventures are just begining.

[bianca]

I so hope you continue to write about your adventures together please

[BlackPuppy]

She sounds very sweet! <3