Getting Beau to come IN the house?

[jocoyn]

Ok 6 months old tomorrow.

Every morning at daybreak all three dogs get their own ball session with me because I want to burn off the night energy, make sure they poo, and see how they are moving. They are then crated for about 45 minutes before breakfast.

The game could never end as far as Beau is concerned and when his time is up the ONLY way I can get him in the house is to throw the ball into the house (because he can't resist the ball - nothing else is motivating enough). He will stand 15 feet outside the door and crouch for the next throw and throw all sorts of behaviors to try to push me into throwing it again. When I do get him inside I give him a fun game of tug then crate him for the next dog to go out. Right now the ball is more motivating than the tug so I can't snag him with that and pull him in with our game. I do see the tug drive go up daily though. Hmmmm perhaps I could lure him in with a flirt pole? Just thinking.

Getting him to come inside when we are NOT playing is no issue and he comes when called wonderfully well during our offlead woods walks and is good at coming when called off of distractions too.

Any suggestions? With going into the crate when he was younger, I had to do food for a long time but now he goes into the crate on command (once we are inside) - I am trying to make the interval between coming in and crating long enough so his little doggie mind does not say "go inside = crate" He is nowhere near being able to be loose in the house without me "right there" and if he was he would be trying to climb out the windows because, after all, balls are being thrown.

[JakodaCD OA]

Masi can be like this, she never wants the 'play'outside to end..what I do, when she decides to sit that 15-20 ft from the door and "look" at me as if "COME ON I AIN"T DONE" LOL,,,I take the "toy" usually a frisbee IN the house with me, I call her once, if she doesn't come, (altho she does now it's so engrained I shut the door and leave her standing there,,believe you me, she'd be at the door in about 2 seconds, I'd let her in, give her a treat..

[jocoyn]

Hmm I tried that one and he finds "other things" to keep himself busy - like running off and chewing on my deck.

[kiya]

I have to laugh becuase my 9 yr old male does this. I don't throw the ball enough for him, so he'll sit in the middle of the yard. I tell him "I'll give you a cookie" then its beat feet inside. Now I think he started doing it to get a cookie but at 9 yrs old he gets a free pass.

[Zisso]

Somehow I managed to train both of mine to go in when I say 'House'. I am sure it had much to do with consistently doing this.

When they are out in the yard barking their fool heads off, I step around the corner where they can see me and tell them 'house' and they immediately stop and head in, which is a blessing.

[after thought: no wonder they don't let go of the tug or toy when I say 'Aus' or 'out'!]

[jocoyn]

My adults do this and I don't ever remember having such a problem before. I have raised a number of dogs from puppy to adult.

[carmspack]

Jocoyn you are going to have to switch things around so that you are the motivator and not the ball (because he can't resist the ball - nothing else is motivating enough).

Trying to convey this correctly . The dog without doubt has intensity to get his ball which can be used to motivate , but your scenario shows a dog that did not work for the motivator -- .
I would use some of that morning steam to get him to perform something and then he gets a brief ball play as a reward , clearly with him knowing that you are the source of that reward.
When we do dogs , the ball drive is very high , relentless in the search -- but the dog is able to drop and walk away from, be called to return to handler , then sent out again without any speed or interest being diminished.

The dog has to put you in the picture . You don't want anyone with a ball to be able to manipulate your dog just because they have a ball .

add this the dog has to put you in the picture , yes, even more important YOU have to put yourself large and colourful , subject, in the picture .

You can't have a dog that won't work for you because you forgot or lost the ball .

I'm not going to work for something if it keeps being given to me .

[GSD07]

I have a special command that I use for play ball/friesbie situation, 'last time'. When I say 'last time' and throw the ball it means the game is over, and no begging helps, I will not be playing. I can throw the ball for ten minutes before the 'last time', or just three times when we are in the park, or in the morning last few minutes before my leaving for work. After last time my dog just takes the ball in his mouth and carries, or drops and comes inside on his own. He did this thing since being a tiny puppy.

But again, he will not play ball/friesbie on his own or chew stuff, it's all about the interaction for him.

[GSD07]

Originally Posted by carmspack

You can't have a dog that won't work for you because you forgot or lost the ball .

This is so true. When I got Anton, I have read in some training book to make sure your dog doesn't have a toy that he is completely dependent on. So I don't know if it's because I tried to follow this advice, or becasue of my dog's genetics, but now if I forget a toy I can use anything with the same result. I can pick up and throw a stick, or play with a tracking article, and recently I used a fallen large maple leaf to play as a reward, and my dog was thrilled. I'm sure Nancy knows all this stuff, I just wanted to share

[carmspack]

worth repeating " it's all about the interaction for him."