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Location: Wiltshire UK
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 14,404
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Well as Bernard Flinks said last year when he was over here, he thinks our criminals are very happy with our police dogs as most of them are all trousers and no mouth!
Dogs which compete at the top end of Schutzhund, KNPV, Mondioring, French and Belgian Ring etc are a different kettle of fish.
They are genetically engineered to have what we call a full, hard, calm grip so you cannot get a pinky inbetween the mouth.
A bite suit is really only used for the ring sports and KNPV, Schutzhund, Working Trials and Police dogs are trained to be PAT (patrol arm true) and bite only arms as a sleeve is used.
However Non compliance dogs (the sort you find on an airfield) will bite anywhere.
Sleeves vary in design but the Schutzhund ones have bite bars underneath which is difficult to explain but is where the crushing mainly takes place. Different sleeves are used at different stages of a dogs career, with soft ones being used and then changing.
Trained helpers do not often hit the ground as they learn how to use their body effectively in order not to damage the dogs. This is why in competition if someone DOES hit the deck a huge cheer normally goes up around the stadium. The helpers are usually young, agile, fit and wear football boots to increase grip etc.
There is a lot of technique in training dogs to bit correctly, it is not just about standing or running in a suit.
I enjoy it myself.