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Prey Drive Control & Focus..


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Yes I definitely love the added responsiveness to commands with super speed. Pity I am limited in places I can get it :laugh:. Its got to be swimming in the creek or at the beach and chasing huge tree branches as the reward - a toy just doesn't cut the mustard. Pity nobody has been clever enough to invent a toy thats like a huge tree branch with leaves!!! I was looking for those retrieving bumpers as I figured that at least might resemble the thickness but couldn't find one. Ness is funny as after she has been swimming and whilst she is still wet she will accept tuggy as a reward for things like heelwork without slipping out of drive which at other times she will not do.

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K9: when you put your dog through a prey drive development & focus program then go training its like someone turned the speed way up on your dog.

Some start to reaslise they need to

...... watch their legs or they get bruised heaps.

Some realise they need to work out more as they are unable to physically keep up. Plus some realise that the eyes of the dog tell them everything. :laugh: Great feeling!

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Its got to be swimming in the creek or at the beach and chasing huge tree branches as the reward - a toy just doesn't cut the mustard.

K9: A toy will cut it if you go through the same development program that YB has.

You know, lol, we dont get criminals to run down the street with a kong to get our dogs to chase them... lol.

Can be done, you need to learn to control the prey item... If your dog has worked out with a tree, he / she is begging for more...

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It might but I'll just clarify the situation further. For example at the beach Ness can have total focus with ball chasing on the sand (which I suppose is prey drive yes?) but I throw it into the water and she starts to chase then it lands in the water so she looks at me like no way am I going to get that. Minute I throw it back on the sand she is racing off after it. On the other hand if I collect a branch she is raring to go into the water and will retrieve the same branch for ages and ages. Will the technique you suggested to yb work for fetching as well or just tug? She won't just jump in but goes into a BC crouch on the bank and waits....

like Nesssfavouritehobby.jpg

or herdingdogsfeb055.jpg

or DCP_0039.jpg

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K9: your dog has issue chasing the ball into the water, whether the water was too cold one day, or maybe the dog doesnt feel the chances of winning the item are as good in the water.

When you elevate drive enough, your dog will chase through fire, if the dog has the drive, being a BC, genetics are on your side...

The pic shows my own GSD jumping off 15 - 18 foot embankment, he was given a command to stop someone escaping in a boat. Damn fool trainer (me!) thought he would climb down embankment, but drive was so high, he lept off flat out...

This is not a good thing for your dog to do, although he wasnt injured, I cringed when he hit the ground, not that he slowed any.

Boy did he pull the guy out of the boat fast though lol. (this was a training scenario).

He never disliked water anyway, but thats a big jump...

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Ok so what I do is do as YB did with connor but I want to find a toy that floats - preferably a different one to anything she currently owns and increase the drive playing that game then I need to get her to love chasing it then add the water in later? Its not a chase of fear or anything as she will chase huge sticks into flooded creeks but would not chase a toy under similar circumstances.

Just want to add whoever sent the link for those articles on drives and nerves and thresholds I found them fascinating. Kind of explains some stuff that I didn't realise before - like Ness's occasional desire to take off flat out after another dog or a person and bark.

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Prey I reckon. My stud male, could not care less about in season bitches when he is being trained. Quite amazing really bearing on mind, his early embarassing behaviour, which I still laugh about, nowadays. I certainly did not think it funny at the time.

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I guess most of us are having more problems with the building part LOL! Me included . . .

I have found Diesel's attitude has improved heaps with a break, I think I was trying to push him too hard. Yesterday I had a prey item hidden in my clothes, and Diesel spotted it and stole it off me LOL! I still can't get him working for any length of time. Man, working with food is so much easier!

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Hi guys

things are going well here Connor is showing a lot of keeness for his toy and im itching to take it out on the road but slowly slowly i have made a plan of distractions at various levels and will work through them all at home first when have hime happily playing and working for his toy with the high distraction at home then i am going on the road as that is where nerves come in so i want prey realy high and him working really well bfore i pout him into a more stressful environment would that be the right way to go

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Steve could you suggest any alternative ways to build? Loki would freak if I tied him out and started waving something around.

I laboured for months trying to get him to take a toy in his mouth, marking the behaviour and he will now, but he does it in avoidance, he looks and leans away, his ears go back and he drops it as soon as i say its ok. He's just not into toys and aside from when Wes (Nova's pup) was around I've never seen him play with them.

ETA: He will eyeball and chase a cat though, if he is not stressed so I'm hoping there is hope for him :laugh:

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I had a lovely pup, who had a lot of drive. During socialisation which was held in a local safe park, we used to walk past tennis courts. He would start to salivate, yelp is excitement, his eyes spark up more, as he knew as soon as he heard the players, he would see the tennis balls flying around.

I would give him my prey drive voice cue and because of his education his focus would revert back to me as he knew from experience where his satisfaction would come from.

Training in drive is fun for the dog. I cannot begin to explain.

That is pretty cool. Do you reckon I could achieve that with Jyra?

The other day we were at the Yarra River in Warrandyte, and there was someone throwing an object into the water for her two dogs to chase it. Triple distraction for Jyra - water, dogs, and prey item!! At the same time, I decided to go down a slope to the path below the one I was on. Not a good idea to have a dog PULLING you down a slope because of their own motives! I ended up on the ground!

So, like, with a LOT of training in drive, could I just say a drive cue to get her drive focus off the distraction and onto me? Yes, I think it is possible, but I don't know if I could achieve it.

Haven, Loki would be in prey drive when chasing cats, so at least you know that he doesn't have zero drive. I think it's probably inhibited by his fear though.

K9, you said that when the dog is carrying the prey item, they are having drive satisfaction. How about when Jyra is lying on the floor chewing a soft toy, removing the tag, nose, eyes, etc, is that drive satisfaction too? or something else?

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