Michael Ritland

I'll get in a suit and let the dog come in and I'll do like a, you know, the jujitsu reference would be a flow roll or, you know, we're just kind of going easy. I'm giving enough stimulation to make it enjoyable. I'm not putting a lot of shit on the dog, but I'm basically going to wait until that dog is physically exhausted before I even ask him to out that first session.

And sometimes that may take several minutes. If it's, say, northern Colorado in January, which I worked for the department, it was like an hour and 20 minutes. You know, because it's four degrees outside. And the dog's young and in good shape and an ass eater. But no matter how long it takes, you wait until the dog is now, like, you see the eyes relaxed, the pupils aren't so dilated.

And sometimes that may take several minutes. If it's, say, northern Colorado in January, which I worked for the department, it was like an hour and 20 minutes. You know, because it's four degrees outside. And the dog's young and in good shape and an ass eater. But no matter how long it takes, you wait until the dog is now, like, you see the eyes relaxed, the pupils aren't so dilated.

And sometimes that may take several minutes. If it's, say, northern Colorado in January, which I worked for the department, it was like an hour and 20 minutes. You know, because it's four degrees outside. And the dog's young and in good shape and an ass eater. But no matter how long it takes, you wait until the dog is now, like, you see the eyes relaxed, the pupils aren't so dilated.

Like, he's calm and you can tell he's fucking worn out. And so now... I'll bring the handler in and say, okay, you know, straddle the dog, pet him really, really calmly and whisper in his ear to let go. And, and then the dog is like, okay, you know, now, now that pressure cooker is boiled way the fuck back down.

Like, he's calm and you can tell he's fucking worn out. And so now... I'll bring the handler in and say, okay, you know, straddle the dog, pet him really, really calmly and whisper in his ear to let go. And, and then the dog is like, okay, you know, now, now that pressure cooker is boiled way the fuck back down.

Like, he's calm and you can tell he's fucking worn out. And so now... I'll bring the handler in and say, okay, you know, straddle the dog, pet him really, really calmly and whisper in his ear to let go. And, and then the dog is like, okay, you know, now, now that pressure cooker is boiled way the fuck back down.

And so now when he does, and you can feel it, one of the reasons that sucks being a decoy is you need to be in basically the lightest weight suit so that you can feel the dog and the dog can feel you because Especially in the real world around here, two months ago, everybody's wearing puffy jackets and shit. If the dog grabs material and just starts pulling, he's not hurting the guy.

And so now when he does, and you can feel it, one of the reasons that sucks being a decoy is you need to be in basically the lightest weight suit so that you can feel the dog and the dog can feel you because Especially in the real world around here, two months ago, everybody's wearing puffy jackets and shit. If the dog grabs material and just starts pulling, he's not hurting the guy.

And so now when he does, and you can feel it, one of the reasons that sucks being a decoy is you need to be in basically the lightest weight suit so that you can feel the dog and the dog can feel you because Especially in the real world around here, two months ago, everybody's wearing puffy jackets and shit. If the dog grabs material and just starts pulling, he's not hurting the guy.

So I want to teach the dog to find me in the suit, which hurts, but you can feel it. So when that dog starts to get ready to let go, you'll feel a little bit of typewriter-ing. That makes sense. You'll, you know, be pulsing in the jaw and you can feel him kind of backing out and not countering in as much and things like that. So you get a feel for it as a decoy, you know, years of experience wise.

So I want to teach the dog to find me in the suit, which hurts, but you can feel it. So when that dog starts to get ready to let go, you'll feel a little bit of typewriter-ing. That makes sense. You'll, you know, be pulsing in the jaw and you can feel him kind of backing out and not countering in as much and things like that. So you get a feel for it as a decoy, you know, years of experience wise.

So I want to teach the dog to find me in the suit, which hurts, but you can feel it. So when that dog starts to get ready to let go, you'll feel a little bit of typewriter-ing. That makes sense. You'll, you know, be pulsing in the jaw and you can feel him kind of backing out and not countering in as much and things like that. So you get a feel for it as a decoy, you know, years of experience wise.

But so then as soon as he lets go, similarly, I'll have a clicker in my hand. I'll mark it or I'll have the handler say, yes, and I'll feed it back to him and reward him with getting another grip.

But so then as soon as he lets go, similarly, I'll have a clicker in my hand. I'll mark it or I'll have the handler say, yes, and I'll feed it back to him and reward him with getting another grip.

But so then as soon as he lets go, similarly, I'll have a clicker in my hand. I'll mark it or I'll have the handler say, yes, and I'll feed it back to him and reward him with getting another grip.

At that point, the dog is exhausted, so you're probably only going to get maybe half a dozen quick reps in, but I'll give him a little bit of stimulation, have the handler tell him to out again nice and calm, give him a re-grip, and so I'm rewarding the dog with,

At that point, the dog is exhausted, so you're probably only going to get maybe half a dozen quick reps in, but I'll give him a little bit of stimulation, have the handler tell him to out again nice and calm, give him a re-grip, and so I'm rewarding the dog with,

At that point, the dog is exhausted, so you're probably only going to get maybe half a dozen quick reps in, but I'll give him a little bit of stimulation, have the handler tell him to out again nice and calm, give him a re-grip, and so I'm rewarding the dog with,

of letting go by giving him a re-grip so it's not that the game's over and I'm taking away from you what you want nine seconds into it which is going to create a bunch of problems and so it's really simple stuff but it takes there's a fair bit of nuance you know the decoy has to be pretty skilled to understand how to get that out of the dog and bring the handler in and get the handler to handle the dog exactly how you want them to in that environment and it really needs to be driven by the decoy not the handler because you know