# Tie-Out Training in Protection



## K9raqs (Sep 12, 2013)

Hi there. I have a young, clumsy dog who tends to fall while lunging towards the helper during protection training. Am I holding the line too low, too high, too tight? I try to give him some slack when he leaps and lunges forward (that way I'm not pulling back on him in mid-air), but then I worry about him getting a little too close to the helper with that extra slack. I'm also a petite handler trying to control a 75 lb dog, so I'm open to tie-out options as well. Maybe a bungie line that has more flexibility? Anyone else have the same problem? I currently work him on the Julius K9 harness w/ a 15' leash.
any tips would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Your training director or helper should help you with this...NO to the bungee at this time unless it is tied to a post or tree. The helper needs to know exactly where the dogs perimeters are. Keeping the line low is best and not allowing that slack, but keep some tension on the line but don't allow more line so helper isn't going to be surprised. 
Again, have the helper or your trainer give you instruction on this. Many young dogs will circle, flip and not target until they are more experienced, I don't want to see them jumping up and hitting the ground(body slam) during this time or ever, really...it can do too much damage to a young dogs structure. But many people think the jumping up/air launch is cool. If the dog can't properly target the sleeve, don't go there!


----------



## K9raqs (Sep 12, 2013)

onyx'girl said:


> Many young dogs will circle, flip and not target until they are more experienced, I don't want to see them jumping up and hitting the ground(body slam) during this time or ever, really...it can do too much damage to a young dogs structure.


Yea this is what happens during the misses. It's only happened once or twice, and he pops right back up, but I still don't like it, I must be doing something wrong.


----------



## mycobraracr (Dec 4, 2011)

Definitely stay away from the bungee. I wouldn't hold slack, as that can cause an accident with the helper, as well as give the dog more line to flip. As the others said, you need to address this with your trainer. There are ways to hold your line(not applicable if out on a 15' line), also how the helper is working the dog can have an affect. My only suggestion would be to make sure your dog doesn't bang the end of the line. You want a consistent steady pull into the harness.


----------



## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

You mentioned tie out. Do you guys have a pole for that on your field? It helps take our errors out of the deal.


----------



## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Sometimes flipping can also be in how the helper is doing the misses. If he/she has the sleeve/wedge too high this can make the dog leap up causing the dog to flip and slam into the ground. 

No to the bungee, keep tension and I would keep him low as best you can. A back tie can also be helpful as Steve mentioned above.


----------



## K9raqs (Sep 12, 2013)

Okay thanks for the responses. The helper did discuss using a tie-out next time so hopefully that helps. Just curious, does anyone know of any decent videos that show how to _properly_ back-tie a dog? I was looking on-line last night and didn't have a whole lot of luck.


----------



## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Its pretty straight forward and the helper should take care of it for you. The line is tied or anchored to the pole or maybe fence before you start at the length he wants to work the dog. Probably 6' or so. You'll walk your dog to it, hook it to his harness and walk him to the end, no slack there. He may have you stay on your dogs left and I usually have my left hand on the line to help keep it from tangling. He'll talk you through everything from there.


----------

