Decoy work at the Club Trial

 This past weekend, I was chosen to do the helper work or decoy work in the protection phase of the IGP trial organized in Haymarket, Virginia. This trial was sanctioned by the GSDCA (German Shepherd Club of America) which is a member of the WUSV (World Union of German Shepherd Clubs).

The IGP titles are a great way to test your dogs ability in various avenues like tracking, obedience and protection. The team must pass all three phases to obtain their title. 

We'll use this post to talk about the protection phase, where the dog is tested in its willingness to work for its handler under the ultimate distraction and show courage and resilience under pressure of threat. 

The phase starts with the dog searching in hiding spots or blinds to look for the bad guy, and upon discovery, must alert its handler of the aforementioned's presence but not physically touch him or try to apprehend him, since there has been no threat issued, as demonstrated in the images below. Its the job of the helper to remain completely neutral and not make any sudden movements to provoke the dog so the dog can display its competence in the exercise to the best of its ability.  

The next step occurs when the hander walks into the picture and recalls his/her dog to their side, which the dog must do with immediacy and intent. The handler then instructs the helper to proceed out of the blind with the dog on the handler's side, where the decoy must set up for the "escape prevention" phase with the dog watching him and the handler moving out of the picture. Its the helper's job to break and run away from the dog and handler team, where the dog must show willingness to apprehend the fleeing suspect. 

Once the escape is prevented by the dog, the handler must instruct the dog to "out" or let go of the sleeve since the decoy is in compliance. The dog must show willingness to listen to the command and then proceed to energetically guard the decoy till further stimulation. At this point, the helper is required to pressure the dog in order to make his getaway and the dog must show willingness to engage the decoy and show resilience under pressure, while preventing his bid to escape. 

Once the decoy's struggle to escape stops, the dog again, must be immediately compliant with its handler's command to let go of the sleeve and guard the helper vigorously till the handler arrives and heels away with the dog, after leading the suspect/decoy to the evaluating authority. After this, the next phase is the long bite or the attack in motion, where the decoy or assailant issues a threat from the other end of the field and the dog must prevent his attack and effectively apprehend the threat till the handler can reach them. This requires great courage on the part of the dog to tackle the threat and its the duty of the decoy to keep the dog safe in this attack, as the dog comes with great speed to stop the threat.

Its the helper's job to offer the same picture throughout the trial to each individual dog so a fair assessment can be reached by the inspecting authority. This particular working trial was a successful one since all the competitors had the exact same pressure and the safety of the dogs was always paramount in competition. 

I would like to thank all the folks who trusted me with testing their dogs and put the safety of their dogs in my hands. 

www.teamnummereins.com