huski

Oh what a cutie! With pups I generally make my interactions with them 90% play and 10% "work". That means super high reward rate, fast and run rewards, lots of playing tug and food games with bits of work like training sits or drops thrown in. The most important thing IMO with pups at that age, is to build a very high value for me, good communication system and relationship. I encourage lots of handler focus early on. Once you have a good foundation training obedience exercises is easy.

We would need to see a video to see whether she is actually in drive for the tug, but dogs don't all go into prey drive for the same things. She may also get enough drive satisfaction playing tug with you that birds don't interest her. My dog will ignore the promise of prey satisfaction elsewhere in favour of working with me. A bribe IMO is a situation where the dog needs to see reward to produce behaviour. My dogs produce behaviour to earn reward, so they don't need to see, smell or know for sure I have reward on me. If I say 'ready' and ask them to work, they believe that I will provide drive satisfaction regardless of whether they can see a toy or food. I wouldn't work for free, so I don't expect my dogs to either. I will 'pay' them reward that they have a high value for, so that they work with a high level of focus and reliability.

Ok that could be another reason that you are finding she doesn't get as much satisfaction from playing tug, vs hunting etc. She may be in food drive rather than prey, or hasn't really developed enough desire for the tug vs live prey. I would definitely try transitioning to a different tug that doesn't smell like food or even something like a flirt pole so you can build a bit more frustration and drive. When you say you want more anticipation, do you mean you want her to show more desire/frustration to get the toy?

Hey Raineth, love the doggy door! I find people see the best improvement when they focus on working on one thing at time. Just going off what is in the video, if Del was my dog, I would be working on building a better game and engagement. So I wouldn't be shaping or asking for other commands at the moment, just working on building a better game. Going off that video I would say that she doesn't really see you as a big part of the game - when she captures the tug, she buggers off with it to have fun by herself. If I let go of the tug with my dog, she will slam it back into my hands because she doesn't believe the reward experience can happen without me. Once Del understands this, it can increase her value for playing with you vs doing things on her own like hunting. I would also try and play in an area where you have more space. She is a big dog and you both look a bit restricted by training in a smaller space.

We do have a few videos demonstrating training in drive stuff including tug however in terms of instructional videos it is difficult as every dog is different. I could show you how to get started on playing tug but if I demonstrated on my Malinois, it will be next to impossible for you to implement the same thing on different dog, with a different history, level of drive, motivation etc. ETA: if you post a video, maybe we can give you some pointers! :D

There can be both an art and science to playing tug properly, and what is most satisfying for the dog can change depending on the dog you have in front of you. I see heaps of people who try to play tug by shoving the toy in the dogs face or getting it to physically tug on it for minutes at a time, but for some dogs the more enjoyable part of tug is the chase more than the actual action of tugging. Herding breeds can tend to get more satisfaction from the chase, whereas some bull breeds really enjoy the action of shaking around on the tug. It can be more challenging for owners of dogs who have learnt to get drive satisfaction from things like chasing live prey. Certainly not impossible, but it can be harder work to get a high level of engagement with the owner. I play tug with my dog, as well as playing frisbee, using a ball launcher and doing bite work to satisfy prey drive. Would she like to chase prey animals? Sure, we have heaps of wild rabbits and stuff on our property... but she knows the more reliable source of drive satisfaction comes from me, so nothing has more power than what I have to offer.

Grumpette that sounds like the Durafoam disc which I love too. I never used frisbees in training until I got some of those in. Wiz loves it too! ETA: just realised you said it's a Chuckit one - maybe the flying squirrel?!

All the ball mad dogs I know LOVE the Ultra balls. I do think they are the best balls for dogs, they last ages and are super bouncy.

Yes it's the same but with a rope - it is the Durafoam Swing n Fling ball. It is awesome - one of my favourite ball on a rope toys. My other favourite is the Chuckit Ultra Tug which is an Ultra ball on a rope - AWESOME and extremely durable toy. It comes in a small size as well as medium and large, whereas the Swing n Fling ball only comes in the larger two sizes. So it is good for dogs with smaller mouths like BCs, kelpies etc. Thanks :D she filled out in the chest more since those pictures were taken, she packs a bit more of a punch now :laugh:

Now I am going to spam the thread with a ball pic too :laugh:

They are called Chuckit Kick Fetch balls so you are right! :D I have a super ball driven dog too, though she has enormous prey drive so will play with anything I give to her. Prey drive is what creates the dog's desire to chase and play with things like tennis balls. In most cases when I see a dog that loves balls over any other prey item (like a tug or chew toy) it is because that is what the dog has been condition to get drive satisfaction from the most. Chew toys or rope toy are generally stationary items. The dog can't roll it around, they don't usually bounce, and generally we don't throw them because that is what most people will use balls for - so the dog learns the most fun comes from chasing a ball. This is particularly true with herding breeds because for them the most enjoyable part of prey drive tends to be the chase, so they love running after something. It is really important to me that my dog doesn't have a favourite toy, or one toy she works better for over others. I want my dog to work with any tug or ball I pull out of my training bag, so I am careful not to let her develop a bias. I intentionally use tugs that look pretty boring (such as rolled leather or plain synthetic or french linen). These things only become fun when I am there to make them fun.

I could grab my beagle by the scruff of the neck and scream in her face and she wouldn't bat an eye lid, much less care remotely that I am yelling at her. She doesn't have enormous pack drive and she also has super solid nerves so she isn't easy startled. I agree with those who have suggested stricter management and training the dog to do something else (even if you just call them over to you). However. When it is something like counter surfing where the dog has learnt that behaviour is rewarding, short of management, the behaviour won't become extinct unless the dog learns it is no longer rewarding. generally this is when using an aversive can come in handy. Remember that the dog decides what it finds aversive, not us. So if yelling doesn't deter his behaviour it means he doesn't find it aversive enough to motivate change. If he has a good mat/place command, you could try telling him to go to his bed and lie on it if you think he's going to be silly. Personally though I wouldn't have a young dog in the house loose until it has learnt correct manners. My high drive working dog knows if I let her out of her crate (she will stay in there even if the door is open) that she needs to come and sit with me or lie at my feet and that's it. If I tell her to go back in her crate she will (even if it's on the other side of the house) and she will stay there until I call her out again.

Whether you would call it love or something else, there has been a point I reach in time with both my dogs where I feel am really happy with the relationship and bond we have. That isn't something that happens overnight, it is something I build with them over time. Questions I would ask to determine if I was happy with the relationship I have with my dogs would be things like; - Am I happy with how my dogs behave overall? - Do they like to be around me, do they have value for me? - Do they have undesirable behaviours that may effect how I enjoy my time with them? - Do they want to work with me, earn rewards from me, do they listen to me? - Is there something more I want them to do or learn? - Do I look forward to spending time with them and training them and taking them out places? When I can't see where my relationship with my dogs could improve I take that as a great sign that both parties are happy :D

I am not familiar with that brand but going by the pictures it definitely looks too big IMO.

I couldn't deal with dogs that woke me up! If I have the dogs on the bed with me they both sleep in as long as I do :laugh:

Here's one I prepared earlier, hehe

I love before and after pics!

Thanks so much everyone, my nana is still really upset and finding it very hard to cope without Cherry We had this portrait done up for her from Ying from Just Like a Breeze.

I always feed my adults once a day in the evening (generally early evening not just before bed). Pups I feed all meals to through training, and the same with any dog I am training in food drive. At the moment wiz is getting two meals a day as she's in whelp and is running out of room in there! Lol :) when she's feeding pups she will get a lot of food throughout the day. ETA: I feed raw too

Well I have a GSD who is terminal with Haemangiosarcoma and has been fighting this for 14months. She got this at the age of 5 1/2yrs. All the research I have done and believe me I have left no stone unturned or sparred any expense. I have spoken to oncologists both here and overseas both the US and Europe and this cancer is so unbelievably prevalent in the breed, but they have said that the working lines are better but the list is still extremely long for health issues in the breed. All the oncologists have said if we go another GSD please go a working line, but try to get info on cancer in there lines as this cancer is most definitely partly hereditary. The problem is that the cancer was in dogs over 10 but its now seen as early as 2 and 3 and its not rare anymore its becoming the norm..... Sorry I totally missed this post! I should clarify that I don't think being WL means dogs don't have health problems. But the best examples of GSDs I know (in terms of temp and health) have been working lines.

There is no reason a good working line Mal can't live with and be part of the family. All of our mals (that we own and have bred) live in the family home and you'd be hard pressed to find a more affectionate dog. Getting good genetics is crucial but then you need to build on that with training. Our dogs switch off when asked and are delightful to live with in the house as that is how they were raised and trained. That's not to say they are suitable for someone who just wants a family pet, they are high end working dogs. But there's no reason they can't be taught to switch off and all of our Mals LOVE their people. ETA: my Mal playing with a four year old little girl, she tones herself down to play with her.

I know a number of GSDs that have no health problems. They are all working line dogs.

That is what I love about heel work, it's so many intricate steps broken down but when it's put together it looks seamless!

If (when hopefully) I get to UD, then I will train hand signals :laugh:

Many of our clients swing their arms to some extent and I have never come across or heard of a judge penalizing it. I have my arms at my side but they don't really swing. I also don't use hand signals so I try to keep my arms in the most natural position (for me). The rules I believe say your hands/arms should be in a natural position? Obviously what is natural is different to different people. I don't think swinging arms would be any more an extra signal than footwork.