# Becoming a helper



## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

So I've started doing helper work under the guidance of our club helper and several affiliated folks. Any advice as I embark on this? I already learned the hard way aprons/Pants are not optional


----------



## TitonsDad (Nov 9, 2009)

A jock strap is HIGHLY recommended. Advice from someone that took a 104lb Rotty to the jewels.


----------



## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

Advice? Keep going! We need more people willing to learn :thumbup:


----------



## Zahnburg (Nov 13, 2009)

The best advice I ever received about training (not trial) helper work: "Lazy helpers make lazy dogs"


----------



## W.Oliver (Aug 26, 2007)

Regardless of how your skill level develops, you're number one priority should always be the safety of the dog. In training, you work for the handler, and if you trial, you work for the judge.


----------



## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

Zahnburg said:


> The best advice I ever received about training (not trial) helper work: "Lazy helpers make lazy dogs"


I can put on a show


----------



## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

W.Oliver said:


> Regardless of how your skill level develops, you're number one priority should always be the safety of the dog. In training, you work for the handler, and if you trial, you work for the judge.


That's good advice. I'm not going to catch a dog for a while. As a handler of a dog that isn't consistent with what side he comes down, I'm always holding my breath on every long bite incase something bad happens


----------



## szariksdad (Jun 25, 2010)

Here is a website for general helper info where you can learn a bit. Also have good running shoes to wear. Along with tell them which arm is your dominant arm.

The Sirius Trainer,Training The Behavior,Gary Patterson,dogs,tracking, protection, dog training,Schutzhund,working dogs.


----------



## TitonsDad (Nov 9, 2009)

szariksdad said:


> Here is a website for general helper info where you can learn a bit. Also have good running shoes to wear. Along with tell them which arm is your dominant arm.
> 
> The Sirius Trainer,Training The Behavior,Gary Patterson,dogs,tracking, protection, dog training,Schutzhund,working dogs.


 
Great great great advice about the shoes. That advice skipped my mind. Most of us wear baseball shoes as we find that cleats are better than football shoes when running and standing your ground.


----------



## mareg (Mar 10, 2011)

Well, you are going to find that becoming a trial helper will have its difficulties but if you have some athletic ability and are in good shape....have dogs to work...you should pick it up no problem.

A training helper is another story. Lets hope that your the helper that is training you is good at reading and developing dogs. 

Without a doubt...read "training the behavior". It is probably one of the best books I have read on developing a dog in bite work. Explains drives...thresholds...you name it...it is there. Breaks it down perfectly. I read it when I was a few years into doing helper work and it was truly enlightening. It will break things down for you a way that would take hours of somone trying to explain it to you. Read the book then when your teaching helper is explaining it to you it will make more sense. 

Go back and read it frequently. After you have been working dogs a few years read it again....and it will be as enlightening as it was the first time you read it....."Now I know what he was talking about"!!

I wish I could have spent a few years training with Mr. Patterson....

Keep a good relationship with your teaching helper but also reach out to others....there are alot of knowledgable people out there....if you are lucky you will find some that are willing to share.

Try to ignore all of the negative stuff that goes on. The hardest part for me is if someone I cant stand or do not agree with thier training methods wants me to work their dog. At that point I just decline.


----------



## W.Oliver (Aug 26, 2007)

mareg said:


> Well, you are going to find that becoming a trial helper will have its difficulties but if you have some athletic ability and are in good shape....have dogs to work...you should pick it up no problem.


Totally agree.....its like building a house, construction goes well when the right tools are used for the job. The abilities of a training Helper may be suited for a full scope of activities, or they may be applied to specific facets of the work. You may find you have the ability to help the club with hold and bark, escapes or escorts, but feel long bites are better left to the more experienced/athletic Helper.

As for lazy Helpers and putting on a show....with respect to presence, again I totally agree....but if this trends to showboating, gratuitous swinging of the dog, or other testosterone based exhibitions....you're putting my dog at risk. I prefer safety over flash. I have never jammed a dog, and wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.


----------



## mareg (Mar 10, 2011)

Something else to think about....I agree that long bites need an experienced helper but it doesnt take long for a GSD to get to full speed. If a dog is released from twenty feet away from an obedience bite or something similar it can be coming in harder than the dog coming in for what some consider a "long bite" down the field. Some dogs that come in a little slower on the "long bite" because they have more time to think about it and adjust.... may fly in hard at a shorter distance. The dog is giving everything it has and the helper has to think on his/her feet because the dog is "released" so timing is just as important and could be harder to calculate because there is less time and distance.

I have jammed dogs, never injured or hurt any, but there have been times when things did not go as expected. My dogs have been jammed and without a doubt will be jammed again. It is usually in the situation I have described or really fast dog on rear transport....


----------



## szariksdad (Jun 25, 2010)

Another book that talks about bitework and theory's that is a good reference is Der Schutzhund -the protection dog. i would have both in my library to read while learning to be a helper along with finding a great training helper to apprentice under.


----------



## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

Hunteridgreat, our dogs have the same sire/dam! What is Bello's DOB? Gnash is from the G litter born 2/28/2009. Super that you are learning to be a helper, lots of work in the first 3 years.


----------



## mareg (Mar 10, 2011)

Yep, Der Schutzhund is a great book! I feel its a great overview and training the behaviour fills in many of the gaps. We all reaize that actually training the dogs is what really fills in the gaps.....but if you understand the basic concept of what is in these books you will be WAY a head of the game.


----------



## mthurston0001 (Jul 12, 2009)

You WILL fall down....


----------



## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

mareg said:


> Well, you are going to find that becoming a trial helper will have its difficulties but if you have some athletic ability and are in good shape....have dogs to work...you should pick it up no problem.
> 
> A training helper is another story. Lets hope that your the helper that is training you is good at reading and developing dogs.
> 
> ...


I feel I could not possible be better poised to learn... I have two dogs who are polar opposites in their training needs, and some very skilled and accomplished mentors. I will probably become a trial helper at some point in the future as a fall back for club trials, but my interest is by far in the realm of a training helper.


----------



## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

Packen said:


> Hunteridgreat, our dogs have the same sire/dam! What is Bello's DOB? Gnash is from the G litter born 2/28/2009. Super that you are learning to be a helper, lots of work in the first 3 years.


Jäger's DOB is 14 April 2007. He's from the B litter. I actually just talked to Nate yesterday 

Shoot me a PM, I'd like to hear how you would describe your dog so as I can see how his personality/etc is similar to my dogs!


----------



## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

mareg said:


> Yep, Der Schutzhund is a great book! I feel its a great overview and training the behaviour fills in many of the gaps. We all reaize that actually training the dogs is what really fills in the gaps.....but if you understand the basic concept of what is in these books you will be WAY a head of the game.


I went to a seminar where we quickly worked the dogs in protection, and then spent about 6 or so hours discussing drives, etc, both in general and particularly how it relates to the dogs at the seminar. Extremely useful


----------



## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

mthurston0001 said:


> You WILL fall down....


I've got scabs, bruises, and cuts right now lol. no worries about falling down


----------

