THE LONG BITE & CATCH-PART SIX

Gary Patterson

I made a promise in Part Two, that if the helper would work on just body position, sleeve position and the platform, the long bite would be much simpler than it’s made out to be. Certainly things happen must faster and quicker when a dog is coming at you with some speed, but this is the point that gets people in trouble; they assume that just because things are faster, the rules should change. Well, they don’t!

Remember when you first learned any athletic event. In the beginning, things were agonizing slow and many mistakes were made. As you developed and the moves and thoughts became more internalized, you were able to increase speed and quickness without giving too much though to the process. Certainly there is a difference in driving around a race track at 30 miles and hour and going over 100 miles per hour, but the fundamentals don’t change.

So why do so many helpers have trouble on the long bite, beyond the mechanical issues I have already discussed?

As the intensity of the work increases, so too does the helper’s worry and stress. It doesn’t exactly help things when some guy brings out his championship working dog that you know he paid a fortune for. Will I get hurt? Will the dog get hurt? Will I look like a fool? All of this goes into the equation of what the long bite is all about.

The long bite is commonly called the courage test and I have to often wonder whose courage is under the greater test: the helper’s or the dog’s. In order to dissect this process, let’s break down the long bite into four distinct areas: the attack, the bite, the transition after the bite and the drive. With great helpers, there are no four steps, only one continuous fluid motion, but it helps to look at each stage with an eye towards what can go right-or wrong.

The Attack

As the helper and dog close the distance for the attack, the helper must be making overt signs of threatening the dog by waving the stick and yelling. But all of this is just a prelude to what happens when the dog is about 10 to 15 feet away. It is at this point the helper must start putting all that he has learned together in a sequence that will give the dog the best chance to target for the bite while setting up the helper to deal with the power of the dog hitting the sleeve. As we have learned in the first two parts, the helper must immediately pull the sleeve into a correct position, keeping the body facing directly at the dog and slow to a point where he stops just as the dog is biting the sleeve. It is this simple mental and physical process that dictates how successful the helper will be in everything that follows the bite.

As the distance closes, the helper will often get a happy body and feet, instead of moving directly into the dog. Helpers will defend this by saying they are only adjusting to the movement of the dog, but I suspect something more fundamental is going on. The helper must always remember that the dog has bitten the sleeve hundreds of times before: it knows where and how to bite. If the helper will simply make a good presentation of the sleeve and body, the dog will do what it knows how to do. Sure, dogs will swerve to the right or left as they approach, but if the helper similarly starts moving the body sideways to accommodate the dog’s movement, the dog will further adjust this additional movement and the bite will sometimes be poorly timed and placed. Instead, hold your position and watch the dog adjust, sometimes at the last second, to the stationary sleeve. It is nerve wracking because it appears the dog is going to bite some place other that where the helper plans, but you have to have confidence in your ability and the dog’s willingness to repeat what it has done hundreds of times before. All of this juking with the sleeve and body only confuses the situation and brings the helper out of a good and safe position. Be on rails when you approach.

The Bite

All kinds of catches are described by helpers. There is the stop catch, spin catch and side catch, but while each of these dictates a somewhat different body position at the point of the bite, all catches, all catches!!!, are stop catches. Physics requires that the running helper and dog, upon contact must result in the helper stopping just before the bite. The only alternative is the helper running straight over the top of the dog. There are some helpers who appear to never fully stop and I have bought into that picture, until I looked at video of the same helpers. Some are such good athletes that their stop is only for a split second and so smooth it appears they never stop moving, but they do.

So, as the helper approaches the dog, he will start to slow and create the proper body position for the catch. Strangely, this position is no different from that I demonstrated in Parts One and Two. The platform is created by having bent knees and feet under the helper. The sleeve is brought across the chest with the end pulled up about three to five inches and the helper’s body fully frontal to the dog.

Each helper will have his own style in arriving at this point, but the fundamentals are always there on the best helpers. As an example, when I do long bites, I first bring the sleeve across my body and then slow. The very last thing I think of before the bite is planting my right food firmly and taking much the weight off my left foot (I wear a left sleeve) and to let my body relax as much as possible. The foot plant comes only a second or so before the dog actually makes contact. I am now ready for the bite. If the dog should veer slightly, I might raise or lower the sleeve a few inches, but that is all. This is the reason I pointed out the gun sight effect of having the sleeve high and across the body: it allows the helper to make micro-adjustments at the last second. But this doesn’t include moving or twisting the body at all. Remember, the sleeve must work and move independently from the rest of the body.

The Transition

This is the point from where the dog bites the sleeve to where the helper starts the drive. Everything the helper has done up to this point is a prelude to the success of the transition. If properly done, the helper needs to only roll around to the sleeve side, following the power of the dog’s impact and directly into the drive. In the earlier sections, I described using the dog’s power against it and this is the place where this happens like no other is protection work. The harder the dog comes, the easier it is. But only if the helper can maintain form and have quick feet.

Assuming we have the perfect dog biting just below the left arm elbow. As I have demonstrated, because of the high sleeve, this pushes the helper’s left shoulder around to the left. Since the helper has planted the right foot slightly forward, there is now a clear path for the dog to move through the helper’s left without the obstruction of the left leg sticking out to block the dog and cause the helper to fall. As the speed and power of the dog move the helper’s left shoulder and sleeve to his left, the rest of the body will follow the twisting of the upper body and turn the helper 180 degrees without any effort by the helper except keeping the sleeve close to the body and moving the feet properly. At the point of impact, when the dog compresses the sleeve with its bite, the helper must immediately relax, but do two things within a second or so.

1. The helper must curl the sleeve into his body, much like curling with a dumbbell. This keeps the dog high and close to the helper’s body, instead of letting it fly away from the body with all the momentum.

2. The second part is trickier. At the point of the bite and the start of the rotation, the helper should have the non-sleeve side foot slightly extended and the sleeve side foot under him. The helper must pivot the sleeve side foot 180 degrees with the rotation of his body. The foot doesn’t lift, but quickly pivots on the ground as the helper turns. The non-sleeve foot simply follows the other foot and, just as the helper reaches the end of the turn, again plant the non-sleeve side foot firmly to start the drive. The sleeve side foot then lifts from the pivot to start the drive. Here is the tricky part. If the helper doesn’t get the pivoting foot around fast enough, the dog will rotate more than 180 degrees, effectively twisting the helper into a circle. Since all momentum is then lost, the helper must stop the dog and then reposition to start the drive. This is hard work and totally ruins the dynamics of the exercise. The second problem stems from having the non-sleeve side foot too far extended in front of the helper. This results in the helper being slow to getting this foot around to be planted for the drive. When I practice this maneuver without a dog, I try to get my non-sleeve foot to be passing close to and over my sleeve side foot before I have even finished the pivot on the sleeve side foot.

The following two photographs were taken by Jurgen Rixen at a Germany Championship this past year. I have added my own emphasis with markers.

Look at the difference in the two and the probable results. In the first, I am not sure where to begin. There is no platform as each leg is about a foot outside the vertical lines of the helper’s body, with the sleeve side left foot extended. Even though he is favoring the left foot, the right side of his body has opened up, away from the dog. In addition, the helper looks like he is ready to sit in a chair. He is setting himself up to work the dog with his back, not his shoulders and arm. The sleeve is at least 15 inches away from his chest, meaning the dog will drive the sleeve backwards into his body, not to his left side. This is also why you see the dog flying. I don’t know what the result of this helper’s work was on this dog, but, at the least, he would have set the dog down and started the drive and, at the worst, either hurt the dog or ended up with a poor drive or flat on his back, mooning several thousand spectators.

But there is hope. The second photograph shows everything I have talked about during the last five installments. The helper’s back is straight. The sleeve is close to the upper part of his body, with the sleeve end slightly elevated. The helper is square to the dog. Notice the left foot is barely touching the ground in anticipation of the dog turning the helper to his left while the right is slightly extended and firmly planted. It couldn’t be better and the picture of the dog proves it by getting the bite exactly where the helper wants it.

One last warning about this technique. As I earlier pointed out, the overly active helper gets happy feet or a happy body just before the bite, instead of relaxing. One characteristic of this kind of activity is the helper trying to help the dog turn, instead of just letting it happen. This helper will actually start the turn before the dog bites the sleeve, usually resulting in a poor or missed bite by the dog. Instead, just try to relax and let the dog’s power do the turning for you. The only time this won’t work is when you have a big, slow slug that simply jumps on the arm and hangs there. In that situation, the helper must use some muscle and body english to make the turn, but this is rare.

The Drive

During the transition, the helper must pivot the sleeve side foot in the direction the rest of the body is turning, towards the sleeve side in the direction the dog is moving. This is usually the easy part, but as soon as the pivot goes a half-circle, the helper must plant that foot firmly to take the dog in a straight line for the drive. If you think about it, the direction of the dog should never change. It runs to the helper, moves past him on the sleeve side and then is immediately taken in the same direction with the drive. All of the dog’s power has been redirected away from the helper and, in the process, used to help the helper move into the drive. As soon as the sleeve side foot is planted, the non-sleeve side foot should move out in front of the other foot to also be planted for the beginning of the drive. The movement must be quick and tight, but, with practice, it will come as second nature.

When first starting to learn the courage test, the helper should already be accomplished in the work I described in the first two installments. At the end of this work, we had the stationary helper taking bites from a standing position. So now, the only difference should be that the helper is now moving, not just standing. In the beginning, work with a dog that is sleeve sure and not to heavy or powerful. Start about 40 feet away from the dog and start jogging at a slow pace toward the dog. When you are about 25 feet from the dog, the handler should release it with the attack command. When the dog is about 15 feet away, swing the sleeve into position and slow to a stop for the bite. Make sure that good form is preserved all through this work with the high sleeve, foot position and platforming. Everything must be in place when the dog is no closer than five feet away. When the dog hits the sleeve, relax and let the dog do the work. Don’t try to make things happen-it rarely works for the good.

Over time, try to increase the distance for the attack, while coming to a stop ever closer to the dog. Within only a few practice sessions, you should be able to come to a stop about a second before the dog hits the sleeve.

But you must keep safety in mind. Nowhere in protection do things happen so fast as on the long attack. Further, you are subject to the whims of the individual dog. Wear good equipment and have some experienced trainer watch you. If you are having particular problems, ask them to focus on that part of your work to see if you are doing what you tell them you want to do. We first walked. We are now jogging. Don’t be too quick to run.

This is the last of the installments on helper fundamentals. From time to time, we will add some other sections that dissect some of the mechanics of individual exercises. If you have some questions, send them in and we will try to address them.