Hunting Rhino Poachers with Hounds in South Africa

[Nicepix 5,650]

2 minutes ago, Elchapo said:

50 seconds in a dog grabs its own handlers hand

As I said; things can go wrong (and I have the scar to prove it)

[wilbur foxhound 480]

I wonder if we had them here if there would be as many anti,s ,lol

[bird 9,594]

13 hours ago, Nicepix said:

As I said; things can go wrong (and I have the scar to prove it)

whats the best breed you trained   pp work  mate,  rottie, gsd , bel mals , dutch shepherds  just out of interest .? the Bel mals seem to be geting bigger type dogs, wonder if they putting gsd back in to them .?

[Nicepix 5,650]

1 hour ago, bird said:

whats the best breed you trained   pp work  mate,  rottie, gsd , bel mals , dutch shepherds  just out of interest .? the Bel mals seem to be geting bigger type dogs, wonder if they putting gsd back in to them .?

They all have their attributes. A lot of people thought that Malinois were faster than GSDs and so hit harder, but when I watched a police dog trial they caught the running criminal at the same place as the GSDs so given most were at least 5kg lighter than a GSD they would hit with less force. Most police dogs on an initial course  are initially  trained to the sleeve at a standstill. They are allowed a few feet of slack leash to grab the sleeve of the person standing in front of them, then as training develops they are weaned onto moving targets. I wasn't happy with that so when I got my second dog and was bringing him on before the initial course I trained him from the outset to take a large hessian tugger off me when I was running at full speed with a 30 yd start and holding the tugger horizontal at shoulder height. Jaf would come steaming in and snatch the tugger from me in mid-air. When we went on the course I demonstrated how far I had got with the training and he flattened the criminal. The guy ended up like Superman flying after his own arm which had 40kg of GSD attached to the front end.  Jaf flattened everybody. Even the standing stick and gun criminals who were facing the dog and could brace themselves for impact. 40 kilos x 40mph is a lot of impact. They went over like skittles.

Some Rotties were used for the firearms type tactics, but we found that a lot of the Rotties on trial failed on the same thing. They are more suited to close protection work as they are inherently protective of the handler / family group / pack and reluctant to leave the handler's side to chase someone running away. It can sometimes be overcome if you get the dogs young enough and do a lot of training with balls thrown along way and then progress to the dog having to search for a ball at a distance.

Mallies were also used because of their agility and latent aggression. They are more prone to biting multiple times whereas a lot of GSDs and Rotties clamp on and hold. The multiple biting would disorientate any criminal far more than a clamping dog would do. Some of the work the Belgian and Dutch special forces have done with Mallies is incredible.

Given that a lot of the UK stock of GSDs is now tainted with hip dysplacia the police are now looking elsewhere and bringing in GSD types from Eastern Europe and using more Mallies at a cost of £3,000 upwards when I left 7 years ago.

[MH1 1,804]

Ross Kemp - Extreme World is about elephant poachers at 10 on Pick if anyone is interested

[Dinosaurs 2,008]

MH1.  I watched it tonight on catch up cheers for heads up . Hope they do a documentary showing the anti poacher hounds. Atb

Edited September 26, 2019 by Dinosaurs

[Born Hunter 17,637]

9 hours ago, Dinosaurs said:

Born hunter. I watched it tonight on catch up cheers for heads up . Hope they do a documentary showing the anti poacher hounds. Atb

Not me mate, @MH1 posted that. But sounds like I should give it a watch too.

[Dinosaurs 2,008]

Sorry bud it was MH1. Good o/p anyway . Atb

[Greyman 25,237]

On 20/09/2019 at 19:13, wilbur foxhound said:

How do the dogs no what person is or isn’t the poacher,wf

I would imaging it’s a bit like the dogs that patrol prisons, the inmates give off a different smell to the staff and are classed as fair game, if a dog can pick up the smell of a spec of blood a trace of sniff or a man that’s touched an explosive substance, sure they will have no problem separating prey from master in this game, there is a black lab that walks round off its lead in the centre of Bristol, it goes over to people and sits down by them waiting for a pat on the head, main problem is it only goes up to people with drugs in there pocket and when you pet it an undercover copper steps forward from the crowd and cuffs you up, I,ve watched it working a few times and it’s absolutely brilliant