The burger bite, meaning “live bite” in Dutch, is a very serious bite to train and test in the canine world. We at Command Control K9 test all of our protection dogs before we deliver them. One would be very surprised by how many personal protection dogs there are in the world that will not take a burger bite. The majority of the dogs that we test are equipment orientated. This is fake security; even if one uses a new hidden sleeve, the dog can smell the jute. We all know that a criminal does not come into your home with a bite suite on. We at Command Control K9 have no interest in a dog that is fixated on the sleeve or bite suit. It may look good in the sporting world, but it has no purpose in the real world.

To test for a burger bite, one must be a very experienced decoy, also known as a helper. This is not something one would fool around with. I’ve seen too many people get seriously hurt with these exercises. To do the exercise properly, the decoy/helper will take an old, thin phone book and wrap it around the forearm with duct tape, then take an old sweater, or jacket, and slip it over. It is very important that you not only use a lead, but also have communication between the decoy and the handler.