How to turn her ball drive into the reward in training?

[smyke]

yeah, chuck-it balls are not the hardest.

I will check those out, Jane. thank you.

[Jason L]

Mike, the method Jane describes works really really well. Basically you have to put yourself in the place of Fanta and think like her. If I ask you to give me the ball and then as soon as I get it, I tease the crap out of you with it or worse, I take it and put it in my pocket and walk away, then after awhile you are going to think: "This sucks. I'm not giving you the ball anymore. Get your own ball." But if every time I ask you for the ball , I give the ball right back to you as soon as you give it to me, then you would not feel like it is a big deal to give me the ball for a sec. Sometimes when I play with Ike I find myself actually saying aloud to him: "It's okay, it's your ball, it's your ball ..."

[crisp]

Originally Posted by Jason L

Mike, the method Jane describes works really really well. Basically you have to put yourself in the place of Fanta and think like her. If I ask you to give me the ball and then as soon as I get it, I tease the crap out of you with it or worse, I take it and put it in my pocket and walk away, then after awhile you are going to think: "This sucks. I'm not giving you the ball anymore. Get your own ball." But if every time I ask you for the ball , I give the ball right back to you as soon as you give it to me, then you would not feel like it is a big deal to give me the ball for a sec. Sometimes when I play with Ike I find myself actually saying aloud to him: "It's okay, it's your ball, it's your ball ..."

Great advice! I had a dog in the past that had a horrible tendency to guard items. I got him out if it using treats and the same 'give back' training. I guess I'm just to dumb to put two and two together and apply it to the 'out'. Thanks!!!

[smyke]

I get the concept. should I use two of them or just use one and re-engage her a lot quicker?

Its funny: as I am typing this I get an email from Leerburg about balls on string being on sale. how did they know?
but they use the wing-a-ball and I dont like the look of that one. LOL

[onyx'girl]

The Roni ball at Leerburg is named after the person I train with, I have the looped handled ones. The rope is strong.

[Jason L]

The goal is eventually to use just one toy but if you are having trouble getting the dog to release, then "two ball" is a good way to help the dog understand what you want. Ike is really possessive so I used the two ball method for a long time before switching to just using one ball and every once in a while I will still bring out the second ball and play the game that Julie was playing with Fred in the video.

[clearcreekranch]

Hey, Jane. I have been going to order one of the gappay/frabo balls. My boy is 7 1/2 mos., Is the medium too small? Melinda

[onyx'girl]

I would go large...choking hazard when the dog is in drive and ball is too small.

[AbbyK9]

If you don't already own it, Michael Ellis's DVD "The Power of Playing Tug with your Dog" is fantastic. I've not yet gotten a chance to watch all of it but what I've seen of it has a lot of really good suggestions.

As for balls ... I like the yellow knobbly balls on a string that Elite K-9 sells. I have a Medium one of those and have been very happy with it. I believe it was $8, but if you order from Elite, order a bunch of stuff to make the shipping worth it.

[JKlatsky]

I have to say, I've known too many dogs who have accidentally swallowed those rubber balls on ropes, choked, and died. I've personally had the ropes pull out of the balls when I've been playing and it really is enough to make you nervous.

We've switched to the Booda Wing-a-Balls, medium or large depending on your dog. I also usually undo the stitching on the loop and just retie a knot at the end.