My boy

[eSPO]

This is my dog Sancho. He has very good drive. Here he is with a friend of mine from Jersey, Mark Govoni. Mark will tell you that Sancho is a very even dog with good drive. Here he is after about a 15 yard send.
He will do a longer send ,no problem. Sancho loves bitework and is a total family dog. We have not worked him that much but enough to have a very nice bite. The stick hits don`t mean a thing to him and I have seen Mark swing him into a wooden fence while on the bite. He stayed on.
I had a friend sell me a used Ray Allen bitesuit that has, pretty much ,sat in the garage. Mark told me I should clean it. He said it looked like it had been in a barn for a while. My question is what is the best way to clean it ?. I am afraid if I wash it and make it smell "non doggy" My second question is that while Sancho is totally oblivious to the sleeve and will hit at the sweet spot every time , when I have tried to put him on the suit he always goes for the lower arm towards the wrist. Why does he bite a sleeve higher on the arm and a suit lower on the arm ?
http://bessie.tv/images/jpg/elpresa/espo/sanmarkbtch.jpg

[ButchCappel]

Dave,
First don't worry about the suit smells. A good decoy will get the dog on it if it smells like skunk pee (though some dogs might enjoy the smell of skunk pee) Suits are usually llied with a slick "satin" like material that is non-absorbant. This keeps what could be gallons of sweat from getting into the padding. This keeps the suit from getting as nasty and also makes more moisture available for the decoy working in an Az. august.

The outer material is usually French Linen, which allows the dogs teeth to sink in easily (giving a secure feeling) while actually retaining shape without a lot of punctures. If this is a Ray Allen suit it is safe to say it is French Linen unless it is over 25 years old.

Both inner and outer are moisture resistant, not proofed, resistant!
I use Dawn dishwashing detergent in warm water. Don't know the measurements but enough to get me a pretty good lather. I like it to be moist with suds but not "wet". Use a stiff bristled scrub brush to scrub with, and the suit should get as clean as most decoys will tolerate, without any shrinkage or damage to material.

When transitioning from sleeve to suit it is not uncommon for dogs to hit the hand area. Two possible causes are the decoys presentation, or the dogs confusion ( which could be caused by the decoy).
Dogs that have been worked with high prey drive will be slightly equipment oriented, they know what their "rabbit" looks like.
When the decoy doesn't have the "rabbit" on his arm, but is still acting as if they want a fight, then a little "defense" comes up. If you are attacking a larger assailant it is safer to take a bite on the outside edges, in case you have to take "flight", the other side of defense. That is one possible.

The other is that the target area the dog has beccome used to has changed slightly. I noticed in the photos (thanks, they help) as your dog is coming to the decoy, still several feet away, the sleeve is already positioned giving your dog lots of time to line up his "punch" or bite.
In a suit this area and all others look the same ( a little more real life like) so it is harder for the dog to pick a target.

Now in my experience I have come to believe that the responsibilty for bites, good or bad, are as follows; 75% decoy, 15% trainer, (notice how I left wiggle room for us trainers?) and 10% dog!

So after what may not be a very popular statement for a lot of decoys, I'm sure they are standing around saying "show me!!" So lets try the presentation.

The trick is for the decoy to pick the bite area and see that the dog gets no other choices. This is done at about 30 miles an hour, from 6 ft away, nope not easy, but hey! Thats' why they get the big bucks!

The difference in the suit and the sleeve is that the sleeve has a jointed elbow that allows a lot of movement. The suit is stuffed the same from top to bottom it makes the same position in a sleeve, much more shallow in a suit. A lot of times when you feel you have positioned your arm correctly your hand is still very much pointing at the dog as it attacks. As a succesful predator the dog understands energy efficiency is required to survive.

"Energy efficincy? What the h-ll does that mean?" the decoy with the baggy pants and finger in his nose asks!

It means, why not take the easiest to get to body part, which at this time is a badly positioned arm presentation! "You want me to get past that hand? Make it easier or give me a better reason to!"

So lets make it easier. The decoy in a suit should always try to "rest his chin on his fist" as they pull teir arm into position. You know like when a smart person is thinking deeply. This extreme position will allow for the stuffing that is slowing you down and limiting your movement. The worst that can happen is that the dog may start taking an elbow. That will still work as a felon protecting himself from an attacking dog will stay captured whether the dog has him by the elbow, forearm, or tricep. It will also get the decoy in the habit of keeping his arm close to his body, that will in turn keep him/her from starting the bad habit of "feeding" the bite.
Sort of, don't give the dog a "bite" give the dog a "target" that you have chosen. The dog will always take the shortest route to success.

Hope that doesn't cause more confusion than it was meant to answer.

Listen Well, Bite Hard!