The dogs are not physically abused as part of their training….
The people who act as the “Lures”in the “bite suit” use a variety of devices such as split bamboo or plastic “Clatter Sticks” heavily padded hollow batons and padded gloves to simulate weapons and to distract the dog during the training events.
The dogs definitely have the advantage and are going after the Lure full speed, full force…
A typical clatter stick…
I work a lot with a k-9 handler from my department. This means I get to be a chew toy for his dog fairly often.
Yes, I fight back against the dog sometimes. However, just as I would do against a human training partner, I refrain from anything which might cause serious injury.
I also have to be careful about injury to myself. If the dog is clamped onto the bite sleeve on my left arm, and I hit it with my right arm, the dog might just decide to remove the fingers from my right hand. He’s trained to “bite and hold,” but he’s not a robot, and if I fight him too vigorously, he will defend himself, so the options for really challenging him are limited.
Sometimes the handler will also put a muzzle on the dog and direct him to apprehend me. In this situation, I can be more free to put up a fight without risk of any worse injury than getting a little scratched up by the dog’s toe nails. This helps give the dog some experience at continuing to fight even when the human is “winning.” I will slap, lightly punch, and generally wrestle the dog in this situation. Any grown man could easily kill the dog while it’s muzzled, but after putting up a fight for awhile, I always let it “win.” The dog’s belief that it is unbeatable is what gives it the best chance of succeeding in a real incident.
The best part is, after a couple minutes to cool down and let the adrenaline from our fight wear off, the dog can be released off its leash, and it will play with me just as friendly as any other dog.