I have conducted dog training seminars throughout the country and even worldwide.  During these seminars, I have seen a great number of police dogs and protection dogs that do excellent bite work.  I have also seen even more of the dogs that didn’t.  The excuse for the poor bite work is never the same.  He has a weak grip, his drives are bad, female dogs don’t bite well, etc.  It’s easy to blame the dog for poor performance, they really can’t argue. A majority of the time however, the dog has been worked by a poor decoy to the point that the dogs bite is suffering.  A good decoy can easily change a mediocre dog to one that is excellent.  With that said, a poorly trained decoy can turn a great dog into one that will not bite at all.

Granted, anyone can put on a bite sleeve or bite suit and run away from a dog.  But to be a good decoy takes a lot more than that.  Being a good decoy is about understanding dog behavior.  You must understand drives and how to properly channel those drives.  You should have the knowledge and ability to understand a dogs threshold limits in both prey and defense to build confidence and make the dog stronger.  You should also be capable of properly targeting a dog so that the dog has an opportunity to gain a good grip.  And lastly, you should understand what a proper grip is and how to achieve it.

A good decoy should be able to properly “catch” a dog, whether it is with a suit, sleeve, hidden sleeve or leg sleeve.  Many decoys or helpers “feed” the equipment to the dog to be sure that the dog bites where they want them to.  This will generally erode a dogs grip quickly and can even injure the dog.  This only makes the dog lazy and causes them not to have to work for the bite.  A lot of decoys are also afraid to be hurt or to feel pressure from the dogs’ grip.  If this is the case, then they should not be working with biting dogs. Making a little sacrifice can go a long way when training police and protection dogs.

Being a good decoy or helper takes a great deal of training and years of experience.  If you are serious about becoming a decoy, go to training, seminars and schools that deal with protection and police apprehension training.  Find an experienced decoy and study how they work with dogs.  Learn about a dogs’ drives and threshold limits.  If you are a beginner, never work with puppies first.  A new decoy should always first learn how to work with more experienced dogs.
If you are a handler, be careful who you allow to work as a decoy for your dog.  An improper decoy can throw your dog into avoidance in seconds.  This can take you months or even years to repair.  Or even worse, they could cause a compression fracture in their spine or damage the vertebrae in their neck and paralyzed the dog permanently.  Only work with trusted and experienced decoys and only work with decoys that will improve your dogs’ bite work.