Includes a new chapter on indicating without biting. Learn how to: Choose the right dog and training method. - Train dogs that will out reliably in all situations. - Solve common problems in aggression-control training. Aggression control training requires dogs to think while they are excited and under stress, which is no easy task. Dr. Stephen A. Mackenzie has been teaching and using non-compulsive methods for aggression-control training for more than 30 years. His techniques have worked for hundreds of dogs, and have been used and adapted by many skilled trainers and decoys for their individual circumstances. K9 Aggression Control provides a flexible approach to aggression control that is rooted in obedience training. You may be someone who uses a muzzle, sees a role for toys and games, and works with a decoy who likes to drop the sleeve, or you might not want a muzzle, toy, or dropped sleeve anywhere near your dog—either way this book has options for you. It details techniques and variations so you can choose the options you prefer. Dr. Mackenzie also gives decoys sound advice on controlling a dog’s excitement level, working with handlers, and making the best use of equipment. A new chapter in this revised and updated edition shows you how to train dogs to indicate a person’s location without biting—essential for the search and rescue trainer and a real plus for modern police forces looking for ways to reduce liability. Dr. Stephen A. Mackenzie has been a deputy sheriff for more than 20 years and has been training and handling police service dogs for more than 30 years. A popular seminar instructor, he has testified in both criminal and civil cases as a court-recognized expert in animal behavior. He is currently a professor of animal science at the State University of New York at Cobleskill. CHAPTER 1: SELECTING THE CORRECT DOG AND THE YERKES-DODSON LAW SELECTING THE CORRECT DOG Training a police dog is a large, multifaceted project. Unfortunately, on the very first day of this project, many trainers inadvertently and unconsciously doom themselves to failure by selecting the wrong type of dog. Good police dogs must be able to learn and solve problems when they are highly excited, and therefore, only dogs with the ability to think clearly when excited and quickly calm down when it is appropriate should be taken into training. Time and time again we see trainers testing canine candidates for confidence, environmental soundness, approachability, aggression, hunting behavior, and other important qualities and do nothing to evaluate the dogs’ ability to keep a clear head and calm down quickly. This is regrettable, since these are the qualities that allow us to teach aggression control later. There seem to be two major conditions for confident dogs with high levels of aggression: one, the aggression can be accompanied by a clear-headed attitude or, two, the aggression can be unreasonable and expressed when the dog is unprovoked and remain high even after the original provocation has ceased. Police dogs are supposed to react to how people behave not how they are dressed. If a dog flings himself aggressively at the decoy when the decoy is acting normally simply because the decoy is in a bite suit or wearing a sleeve, this is unprovoked aggression that will make extra work for us later. If the dog is uncontrollable in this situation, we will probably have trouble with impulse control later. When the aggression level of a dog remains high even after the stimulation for aggression has stopped, the dog is telling us as clearly as he can that he is going to give us control problems later. Unfortunately, many trainers see dogs like this and think they are “high in drive,” score them highly, and pay money for them when in fact they are not superior candidates; they are simply wild animals that are not suitable for training to be a modern, approachable police dog. Please do not mistake the intent here; a high level of aggression is indeed necessary to produce a good police dog, but it is not enough by itself. We need a dog that is highly aggressive but also able to remain calm, to solve problems, and to learn new things in exciting situations. Calmness is a behavior, and it can be selected for and rewarded just like any other behavior. Unfortunately, very few trainers do this. TESTING FOR CALMNESS AND A CLEAR HEAD There are several ways to test for calmness and a clear head, and if you already have a good method, you might want to stick with it. If you are inexperienced or have no favorite test, the following method will get you started. Take the dog to a location he is not familiar with and have a person dressed in a bite suit or wearing a sleeve stand passively in the middle of the test area, not stimulating the dog in any way. If the dog is trained in obedience, do some on-leash obedience around the decoy to see if the dog can focus on the handler, even with the decoy near. If the dog cannot break his focus on the d