Training puppy to tug- pup won't clamp down

[wildo]

Originally Posted by KristiM

Having a performance puppy is going o kill you lol. So much WAITING its torture

That's for sure!! Come on! I'm already behind on PuppyPeaks! LOL!!! He should have a perfect recall by now!

BTW- whoever asked me if I'm doing Susan Garrett's Recallers 4- the answer has changed from H-E-Double Hockey Sticks No! I've spent enough money on training lately, to yes- if I can figure out how to make a 2 min video talking about Recallers 3 (which admittedly was CRAZY hard since Pimg severely sprained her knee at the beginning of it).

[Cassidy's Mom]

I agree with Lee about the fire hose - neither of mine were particularly interested in the ones I got. Once they got more into tugging they started going for those too, but to get them to that point I needed something softer. The linen are nice, but Halo killed them so fast that I had to come up with something else. I went with suede, which they both liked: Fullgripgear by Rufflife

[wildo]

Originally Posted by KristiM

Love this blog post about "sleepy puppies."Sleepy Puppies Denise Fenzi


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

Wow- that was an awesome read! MANY of the things she said about the "sleepy" stage I see in Jinks. It's not totally fair to say since I haven't REALLY started any intense training, but the environmental curiosity, the lack of tug desire, the attention span, the lack of fetch, etc- sounds so much like Jinks. It must be (ahem- WILL be) fun when they come out of their shell and really start turning on the switch! Looking forward to it!

[KristiM]

Originally Posted by wildo

Wow- that was an awesome read! MANY of the things she said about the "sleepy" stage I see in Jinks. It's not totally fair to say since I haven't REALLY started any intense training, but the environmental curiosity, the lack of tug desire, the attention span, the lack of fetch, etc- sounds so much like Jinks. It must be (ahem- WILL be) fun when they come out of their shell and really start turning on the switch! Looking forward to it!

At least he likes to play! Odin literally just sat there and stared at us with this uber seroius puppy look on his face when we tried to play with him. I was mortified at what a dud he was! Really wish I had read that when he was a puppy, it was a long, frustrating first 6 months.

I am sure that all of these issues will resolve as soon as he is done teething Then you will be complaining about how hard he accidentally nails you when you give a bad tug presentation lol.

[butterflyH]

doing the tug-of-war to a fearful and an unconfident dog is very good to do. Adding a release command just tells the dog you are the boss and won't have any effect on building up your dog's confidence. For these dogs you can allow them to take the item more, as long as you add a few times where you have your dog release it by command...

[Jarkko]

I'm having similar problems with my pup - we won't play with me. There's nothing wrong with his drive, he bites like a maniac when I'm not playing. For example, when I try to put on socks, trousers etc. he will bite and sometimes grips so hard I almost fall down . Another example is that if I try to run away from him, he'll catch me and grip hard my ankle. Outch! When this happens, I always praise him and try to redirect his attention with a tennis ball etc.

Flirt pole doesn't help either, as soon as the pup realizes it's *me* who is there on the other side, he slows down and loses interest.

So I'm not that worried about his tugging in general, but there is something wrong with me. I guess I put too much pressure for this dog (I have no problems tugging with other dogs). So I'm doing nothing about it, just waiting. Hope it gets better when he grows up (he's only 15 wks). If he doesn't ever get over this, I'll use tennis balls, they seem to work nicely.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't desperately tried to play with him, I noticed this behavior pretty quickly and I've been very careful not to stress him too much.

(Just realized that my current profile picture tells a different story..... But that was about the only time he played eagerly!)

[YukonGal]

It was me who asked about Recallers 4.0 Willy. Glad you're going to do a video and be in it - I always enjoy reading about your dog journeys! See you there!

[wildo]

Originally Posted by YukonGal

It was me who asked about Recallers 4.0 Willy. Glad you're going to do a video and be in it - I always enjoy reading about your dog journeys! See you there!

Ah! Glad you commented! I couldn't remember who asked. Luckily, all it took was two hours of my time to put video together. Admittedly, it was quite difficult for me since I didn't really do much of Recallers 3.0. If you recall, the start of class was just about the same time Pimg severely sprained her knee. We had to stop all activity for two months, and gradually had worked back into activity months after that. I think we ended up taking as much as 4-5months off. I never did start up Recallers. I always struggled with the Critical Core games (with Pimg pretty much hating them). Not sure if I'm just not fun enough or what, but she finds crate games to be about the most boring thing on this planet. Luckily, I had previously trained a pretty great recall on Pimg anyway, so I was able to come up with a video. Here's my video:

Recallers 4.0 Submission - YouTube

Recallers 4.0 Submission - YouTube

I'm hoping my new puppy Jinks (who desperately needs some recall training) will have a different perspective on these games. I'm excited to actually be able to DO the Recaller games with Jinks! I've started the name recognition game, collar grab game, and IYC- which he seems to be doing fine with. I keep saying I'm going to start crate games, but just haven't set aside the time yet. Been working on a garage project that's taken a significant amount of time. Anyway- See you there! Should be a blast!

[Liesje]

So I'm 4 pages late to this thread, but Willy this is what I have observed and done with my puppies and a few I've worked with/raised/fostered....

How old is he again? Has he teethed yet? Neither Nikon nor Pan were big tuggers until after teething. Nikon would chase and chew stuff, Pan actually had almost no prey drive whatsoever until about 6 months which is pretty ironic knowing him. Anna, the WGSL puppy I raised for a few weeks, actually had the most tug drive with the best targeting a grip of all the puppies and young dogs I've had in my house. Luna my foster was a lot like Jinx, she would go for toys and chew at them but not really latch on a tug. I think this is partly because the drives are still maturing and partly because some dogs just won't cut loose when they don't feel really secure and confident and/or might be somewhat distracted. I believe the latter is the case with Luna, since by the time she was adopted I could swing her around latched to a tug, but even now 6 months later at flyball she alternates between tugging really hard and being really chewy or only showing a mild interest.

I've found all my dogs and Luna too have done better when they have something specific to target, so instead of using long braided fleece tugs or bitework type rags we now use braided tugs with a ball on the end (tennis ball or some sort of rubber ball). If you can start with this now it will also help you later on if you are serious about trying flyball. You want the dog to target *low* so IMO the best toys (especially for larger dogs) are long tugs where you can drag a ball in the runback.

I use whatever toy *I* think is safest/most appropriate. Often when I try a new sport and introduce a new toy my dogs aren't really interested but that's just too bad What works for me is backtying the dog to a tree or the hitch on my van (attach them with a harness and 15' line) and then just doing prey type work where I'm dancing around, whipping that toy around on the ground, getting them all crazy up for it. Like what some people call "bitework" but to me this is not bitework, just making a dog nuts for the toy. When they are really focused, barking, going nuts for the toy then I pick it up and pop it in their mouth.

This is also a great opportunity for me to reinforce them targeting the ball on the end and not just biting at random (Luna needs this since she has a habit of jumping at her owner and biting her hand or trying to bite the handle instead of the ball). Really I just make the dog crazy and feed them the ball. Also, sometimes the dog grips on better because there is some resistance, being that he is attached to the tree or vehicle.

Using a longer style tug puts some distance between you and the dog making it less confrontational, so you can turn sideways. If your dog has a good grip and is countering, trying to tug you backward, get all dramatic about it. Grunt and let him pull you over and pull the tug away. I get so used to Nikon's extreme desire to tug, fight, and overpower and how confrontational I am with him in play that I take it for granted and have to remind myself when working with a younger or new dog (or anything other than a cocky GSD) that I'm not too confrontational and not unintentionally bullying the dog.

[lhczth]

I would stop trying to tug with the pup until he is done teething. IF a sore mouth is the issue then you are just reinforcing that tugging causes pain. You have a lifetime so don't create issues just because you WANT something right NOW.