Toy Drive

Porter's private agility session went well today. We discussed and practiced building his tug so we can use that as a reward system. I've never had a dog motivated enough by toys to use it as a reward. Food has always been at the top of the list with toys way at the bottom. My dogs enjoy toys in their free time but are not interested in working for them.

One of things I wanted in this new pup was a dog who was thrilled with toys all the time. Porter (and most of his siblings) showed interest in tugging when they were evaluated at 7 weeks. He happily plays in the house and really gets going when Indi tugs with him. He'll now tug nicely in the backyard most of the time and he's slowly starting to tug in class, but not with as much enthusiasm as he does at home.

The flirt pole is another story. If Porter gets a hold of the bag he turns into a Schutzhund dog and clamps down with all his tight and tugs so hard I can't always hold my ground. I have tried transferring this drive to his normal tug toys by putting a plastic bag on the end of them. It's not exactly the same, but it greatly increased his tug drive from what it was with those toys.

So at our lesson today, the instructor went over how she builds this drive. Some ideas I have heard before but some other parts were new to me and I'm excited to put them into action and see how Porter does.

In our other agility class we toss the reward after the obstacle, but this instructor doesn't do that (I'm not sure if she doesn't toss toys at all or just for certain things). She trains the dogs to be highly motivated to go after the still toy on the ground and not just a toy in motion. She showed me how to build up to that. First we build his tug, then we work on his out. Next we drop the toy right at our feet and release him to get it. Then we drop it at our feet and we back away from the toy slightly and I release him to rush over and get it. I run with him, too, not to beat him, but to keep up and to tug with him right at the reward spot so he doesn't want to turn and run back to me to play.

What I need to do is schedule times to practice this in the backyard first and then in the front yard. If I schedule it like it's a class I'm taking I might be more likely to do it instead of getting busy with other things.

She also told me that NADAC is doing virtual trials! So a dog like Indi, who is too reactive and stressed to be at a normal trial, will have an opportunity to earn (virtual) titles. That is really awesome! I need to look into it more and see if someone is doing them around here. Indi love agility so much (except for the teeter) so this would be perfect for her.