THE KOEHLER METHOD OF Guard Dog Training by W. R. Koehler 1980-Twentieth Printing HOWELL BOOK HOUSE INC. 230 PARK AVENUE NEW YORK,N.Y. 10017 To Margaret Pooley Copyright 1967, 1962 by Howell Book House Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-26609 Printed in U.S.A. ISBN 0-87605-552-8 No part of this book may be reproduced without special permission in writing from the publisher. If you consider the manner and number of crimes of violence which shame our society, you will be convinced that there are more areas of need for dogs at this time than ever before. With the awareness of a need that a dog can fill in a singular way, there comes a multitude of questions. Police chiefs and others, who on the one hand are responsible for the effectiveness and economy of their administrations, and on the other hand must maintain good public relations, need solutions, not mere answers, to forestall the problems that often becloud the survey, procurement, and training factors of installing police dogs in a department. Similarly, those individuals in business and industry who have been harassed by vandalism and theft have asked how dogs can meet their specific needs and how to establish such a service for plant protection. The military has encountered many problems of security as the strategic importance of new electronically-oriented installations increases. In addition to such security values, the dog is being considered as an aid to certain types of combat operations. The constant security and peace of mind that a dog of proven reliability can bring to a home has caused thousands of family heads to ask how they may procure and maintain dogs of predictable effectiveness for the protection of home, yard, automobile, and boat. This book is specifically designed to provide the solutions to these problems. PREFACE AFFIDAVIT Burbank, California May 12,1967 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I, Raymond E. Shultz, residing at 732 Screenland Drive, Burbank, California, do hereby certify that the following information, pertaining to the experience and accomplishments of W. R. Koehler, of 5059 State Street, Ontario, California, is factual. According to War Department Credentials, Mr. Koehler served as a dog trainer at the Pomona Ordnance Base, and was transferred from that Base to the War Dog Reception and Training Center, San Carlos, California, where he served as a Principal Trainer. Further evidence establishes, that in addition to instructing officers and enlisted men, Mr. Koehler did training of a specialized nature. From July 1946 through this date, Mr. Koehler has served as Chief Trainer for the obedience program of the Orange Empire Dog Club, the largest open membership dog club in the United States. Statistics show that during this period more than 14,000 dogs participated in the obedience classes sponsored by the above organization. He also conducted classes in tracking and specialized training for that club. From 1946 through 1957 Mr. Koehler served as Class Instructor for obedience classes sponsored by the Boxer Club of Southern California. Club records show that during that period more than 1100 dogs participated in these classes. Mr. Koehler served as Instructor for obedience classes sponsored by the Doberman Pinscher Club of Southern California. During the period of his instruction, 90 dogs participated in these classes. From 1954 through 1960, Mr. Koehler served as Instructor for the Field Dog Classes sponsored by the Irish Setter Club of Southern California, which are open to all pointing breeds. Records show that 140 dogs have received instruction in this specialized training program. Additional classes, for which the number of participants has been substantiated, bring the total number of dogs trained in Mr. Koehler's classes to well over 15,700. The following innovations have been accredited to Mr. Koehler's work in the field of obedience classes: Introduction of foundation work with a longed line, in conjunction with a complete absence of oral communication, as an emphatic means of instilling attentiveness into a dog. Introduction of a system of gradually diminishing the length of a light line, used in conjunction with other equipment, as an assurance of a dog's reliable off-leash performance. Development of more widely applicable methods of rehabilitating fighters, biters, and other major offenders. There is no record of his ever having refused a dog the opportunity for rehabilitation for any reason. Establishing class procedure which demanded that all class participants make emphatic corrections, and which ruled out tentative, nagging corrections on the premise that an indefinite approach to animal handling constituted a major cruelty. Later this contention was supported with evidence supplied by an internationally accredited scientist who revealed that the use of electroencephalograph equipment, of the same type used by the medical profession, showed that the training efforts of an indeterminate person cause great emotional disturbance to a dog. Following are some of the accomplishments resulting from Mr. Koehler's efforts in the field of obedience classes: The rehabilitation of an unsurpassed number of problem dogs, many of which were referred to his classes by humane organizations and law forces as a last hope to avoid destruction. The generating of competitive obedience dogs, outstanding in numbers and quality even in the Los Angeles area, which, according to The American Kennel Club statistics, is by far the greatest obedience center in the United States. A record of effectiveness and provision for the physical welfare of dogs that has caused his formats and training methods to be adopted by more obedience clubs than those of any other trainer in this region. Three of the owner-handled dogs from his Field Classes have become Field Champions and many others have won points. I have viewed letters from law forces in evidence of his personal experience in the areas of police work and tracking with dogs. As an indication of the standard of performance exhibited by motion picture dogs he has trained, four of the number have been selected as deserving of the Achievement Award by the American Humane Association. "Wildfire" received the award for his performance in the picture "It's a Dog's Life," presented for the outstanding animal actor in 1955. The honor went to "Chiffon" for his performance in the picture "The Shaggy Dog" in 1959. "Asta," trained by Mr. Koehler and handled by him and his associate, Hal Driscoll, received the award for best television performance by an animal because of his work in the series, "The Thin Man." "Big Red," trained by Mr. Koehler, received the award for 1962. My qualifications for the aforementioned statements are as follows: 1. Obedience Chairman-Boxer Club of Southern California, Inc. (5 years). 2. President-Boxer Club of Southern California, Inc. (1 year). 3. Delegate to the Southern California Obedience Council (5 years). 4. President-Southern California Obedience Council (2 years). 5. Vice President-Hollywood Dog Obedience Club, Inc. (2 years). 6. President-Hollywood Dog Obedience Club, Inc. (2 years). 7. Chairman of an Advisory Committee to the Southern California Obedience Council (2 years). 8. Director-German Short-haired Pointer Club of Southern California (1 year). 9. Presently serving as President of the German Short-haired Pointer Club of Southern California. Notorized by DOROTHY T. HOFFMAN, NOTARY PUBLIC -CALIFORNIA INTRODUCTION You charged the author with a great responsibility when you bought this book for a definite use. Service and safety demand that the instruction for training police and protection dogs be executed with the utmost accuracy and penetration. In order to accomplish this I have treated the three categories of use separately by placing all information pertaining to each category in an individual section, except for a few parts that can be applied without modification to more than one type of dog. This has been done to prevent diffusing the reader's focus as well as to make it less likely that a user will try techniques that are irrelevant and harmful to his particular training needs. Unless you are referred to such material by the section treating the kind of dog you need, leave it alone. You will borrow trouble if you borrow that which does not concern your dog. 1. The Personal Protection Dog 1. A WARNING You might make one of the most costly mistakes of your life within the next hour. Your failure to accept the truth of this chapter can hang you up for the most thorough bleeding imaginable. Show my statements to a lawyer and ask him if I exaggerate when I say that there is being created in this country a most inviting field for exploitation. Further, get his opinion on why a certain type of dog can be a real "stopper," giving the maximum degree of personal protection with a minimum of legal risk. It is a fact that the opinions of the public and the courts have often been colored by an unjust classification of dogs, sometimes favorably and sometimes unfavorably, but never logically. Experienced veterinarians and professional dog men can tell you that from 1945 until about 1955 the two breeds most commonly accepted as "good family dogs" were the leaders in the percentage of indiscriminate biters per existing numbers of all the breeds combined. One of the two breeds charmed its beholders with appealing puppiness and surprised them later with puddling shyness and "fear biting." The other, regarded as heroic from its representation in many novels, saddened many homes by showing hysterics instead. Although judicious breeding has brought the two breeds to a level of good temperament, the same individuals who accepted them solely on reputation as being "good" now reject them solely on reputation as "bad." Let's see how illogical prejudice affects other areas of the dog's relationship with man. There are sections of our country where a dog found roaming at large in the vicinity of pastured livestock can be shot without risk of legal redress, even if it could be proved that his liberty was caused neither by intent nor carelessness and that the dog had never chased any stock. The fact that the dog might have been a top hound with a record of winning tree-hound purses would not alter the case. The same courts that would order a road department to replace a cow killed by careless weed-spraying because the animal "contributed to a farmer's livelihood" would reject claims for a dog worth five times the cow's cash value. With dogs guiding the blind, doing police and guard work, herding stock, hunting, retrieving, and doing other jobs, it is certain that more dogs than horses are working in useful occupations, but the horse, as livestock, still enjoys a legal status that the dog does not have. In some areas there is a "three-bite rule"-not officially, but as a matter of custom. A dog whose first bite is shabby, indefensible attack will often be permitted two more bites, though circumstances show him so unpredictable that his career should have ended with the first offense. Another dog may exhibit admirable patience around a bunch of senseless humans, score three justified nips in as many years, and then be automatically classified as one who will "have to go." You might have noticed "Beware the Dog" signs are being replaced by signs that say such things as "Dog-Do Not Open Gate." Such words as beware and mean have often been used as evidence by "innocent victims" who enter yards in "moments of emergency" and receive bites that cause "great physical suffering and long periods of expensive mental anguish." Now let your lawyer friend tell you how much fun an attorney for a plaintiff would have with the fact that his poor client suffered irreparable damage at the teeth of a dog that had been "formally trained to attack human beings." All present in the court would be moved by evidence that "a trained attack-dog" had been kept in a position to injure anyone who might seek help in an emergency. It is almost inevitable that the current propagandizing and promotion of "attack-trained dogs for home protection" will provide opportunities for the "innocent" to become injured and enriched. 2. ATTACK-TRAINED vs. NATURAL PROTECTOR Cheer up! Even if you are convinced that the classification of attack-trained" could make a dog into quite a liability, you can still have the right guard dog whether you need a reliable alarm or a physical protector. Whatever little protection you require from a dog, you will profit from comparing two classifications of dogs at the highest level of guard work, which is man-stopping. One of these is the attack-trained dog who has been expertly agitated to a point where he identifies persons who act in a certain way, or enter certain places, as human varmints whom he should attack. The second kind is the natural guard dog who is motivated by inherent temperament traits to accept responsibility for the protection of persons and property and to use the proper amount of force to do that job. The advantages of an attack-trained dog are: 1. Agitation can sometimes put suspicion into an overly trusting dog, stiffen up an indecisive dog, or break the "taboo" a dog might have against biting a person, thus making possible varying degrees of usefulness in dogs who could not otherwise qualify for guard dog work. 2. Attack training makes it easy to set up test situations in which a dog can demonstrate his readiness to bite a person who acts in a certain way. 3. An attack-trained dog may make an all-out assault more certainly in some situations than would a natural guard dog. 4. His reputation of being attack-trained may discourage intruders. The disadvantages of an attack-trained dog are: 1. In the event of law suits, his classification of "attack-trained" would prejudice a court. 2. He can be stimulated to attack under the most regrettable circumstances by a person who may innocently act like an agitator. 3. The patterns of reaction that trigger him will often override his discernment and good judgment. 4. Although the suspicious moves of an agitator can be purposefully related to trespassing, the theft of garden tools, or threats to a person, and can result in a dog clobbering people who "make the wrong moves," they can never provide the fine discrimination that is based on a sense of responsibility. 5. The impression made by attack training will often give undeserved accreditation to an inferior dog. 6. A dog that needs to be shut away for the protection of the innocent will probably not be close at hand when he is needed. 7. He can be teased into a booby trap much easier than a natural guard. 8. If lightly agitated in the apparent hope that he will "bite lightly," he will have a half-hearted attitude that will soon fade to nothing. The advantages of a natural guard dog are: 1. Motivated by a responsibility for what is his, he won't leave his own property to bite someone who happens to act in a certain way. 2. He is more completely aware of his surroundings and less subject to distraction than an attack-trained dog would be. 3. His judgment is better: He won't leave the baby and run out toward the road to investigate the waving motions of a surveyor. 4. He is discriminating in his enforcement as well as in his decisions. It is not uncommon for him merely to warn friends who try to come near his baby but attack a stranger who takes the same liberties. 5. In the case of a bad bite under doubtful circumstances he will be regarded in court as a dog who did "what came naturally" instead of as a dog "trained to attack human beings." The disadvantages of a natural guard dog are: 1. He is much more difficult to obtain. 2. Because he is motivated to protect something by "what he feels" rather than to fight something because certain patterns tell him to do so, he is harder to test and demonstrate. 3. He may have less psychological effect than a dog reputed to be attack-trained. 4. In some situations he may only warn or threaten, where the agitated dog would make an all-out attack. If, after reading these comparisons, you decide you want a dog to make an all-out attack each time he is stimulated, and you are going to be with him every moment he is on duty, as with the police dog, you will find instructions for that type of training in the Police Dog Section. You may decide that, since you are without acquaintances who would ever call on you, the dog most useful to you would be one who uses force on everyone who enters his premises. The section on plant-protection dogs will take you to such a goal. Talk to your lawyer before you decide on either of these two types of dogs for personal protection, and get costs from an agent on how much liability insurance you should carry.