Teaching Your Dog the ‘Stop Him’ Command
The command ”Stop Him’ is given by a handler when he wishes a dog to chase, stop, and hold a suspected criminal.
After the dog has provided evidence that he will hold on to sack whenever he is required to do so, the sack should be wrapped round the right arm of an assistant, who will act as suspected criminal. If the dog has a strong bite be sure to include one of a pair of leather leggings, or even a pair, under the sack wrapped round the man’s arm. You can ascertain the’ bite’ of the dog by his age, size, and, particularly by his tenacity when holding a sack. His previous history will also tell you good deal.
Tie the dog to a fence, get the assistant to gauge the distance the dog can travel from the fence before being pulled up byte limit of the lead, and to stand almost at that distance. Now tell him to shake the protected arm only, in front of the dog. If the dog goes for the assistant’s arm, as he should, let him hold on to it for several seconds, encouraged by the handler if necessary. The handler then commands ‘Cease’ or ‘Down’, takes hold of the dog by the collar and draws him off the arm, praising him enthusiastically with ‘Good boy’, ‘Well done’, and so on Repeat the procedure, say, three times, then attach the dog to the long line instead of the lead.
Now let the ’suspect’ stand three or four yards away, hold the line in your left hand, make quite sure the line is not likely to be impeded, and that the dog is on your left side facing the suspect. Next, ask the suspect to shake his protected arm upend down to attract the dog, and while he does so point towards him with the right hand, command the dog to ‘Stop him’, and at the same time let the line slide through the left-hand. The right hand should be ready to grip the line at anytime if the dog should attempt to get round behind the assistant.
It is most important that the line does not become entangled at this stage; otherwise the assistant may get bitten. The handler must be able to gauge the distance the dog can travel, not only because he must be ready to prevent the dog running round behind the assistant or jumping up at his face, but also because when the dog gets a hold on the suspect’s arm, it must not at the same time receive a jerk on its neck, otherwise it may be put off this exercise. Do be most careful to estimate correctly the distance the rope may be allowed to pass through the hand. Finally, command the dog off, as described. Practice the above about three times a day for three successive days. At this stage the assistant may find it expedient to grasp the rope a yard or so from the neck of the dog with the left hand, which will enable him to keep the rope away from his feet and prevent its becoming entangled. The handler, of course, must relinquish his hold on the line while the assistant is holding it. Never allow a dog to run with the lead attached to the collar. If the ring at the end of the lead hits his genitals the dog will never chase again.
The next step is an extension of the last exercise. While the dog is holding on to his arm the assistant should cry out although hurt, and at the same time pull the dog on his arm up and down and, if possible, allow himself to be pulled towards the dog. This is done to ensure that the dog is getting a proper hold. Repeat about three times, and then stop. Do the same thing for three or four days running.
It is most important that you do not tire the dog at this stage or continue the exercise for too long. Always end on a good note. You will be surprised how eager the dog will be to do this work if you take your time in the initial stages. Always make things easy for him; later, he will take the hard work in his stride. When you are quite sure and satisfied that the dog will hold on to the ’suspect’, and only then, get the assistant to increase the distance from the dog by about ten yards. Go through the same procedure as above. After this increase the distance to about twenty yards, over the period of about awake, but make sure that the dog will chase and hold the assistant at every increase in distance.