Building Grips in Young Dogs

In this episode, Jerry Bradshaw discusses:

Laying a good foundation for bite work from a young age.
Using a flirt pole to emulate prey action to entice the puppy.
Encouraging biting with the back teeth through bite progressions.
Training before and after, but not during, teething.
Focusing on bite mechanics during all aspects of training.

Key Takeaways:

The puppy needs to know, from a young age, that he is in control of the process.
A leather rag is a more slippery bite than a terrycloth roll. By using leather, it teaches the dog to lock the grip in if they want to hold and possess it.
Young dogs are super resilient. Introduce items that will become familiar to them from an early age so they can start to hear the noises that will be around.
As you progress, the more grips the dog can do per session and the longer they can hold the grip.

“The idea is, from the beginning, a dog needs to learn if he’s going to do bite work properly, that he’s in control of the whole process. It’s a very operant process and he has to understand that he’s going to be able to push me around, he’s going to be able to manipulate me, even if I’m just coming in and trying to steal his little rag.” — Jerry Bradshaw

Get Jerry’s book Controlled Aggression on Amazon.com

Contact Jerry:

Website: controlledaggressionpodcast.com

Tarheel Canine Training: www.tarheelcanine.com

Youtube: tarheelcanine

Twitter: @tarheelcanine

Instagram: @tarheelk9

Facebook: TarheelCanineTraining

Protection Sports Website: psak9-as.org

Patreon: patreon.com/controlledaggression

Slideshare: Tarheel Canine

Schedule a Zoom Meeting with Jerry: calendly.com/tarheelcanine