tug toys...

GreatDaneMom

haha my girls would just swollow it and look at me like "uhhhhh you gos more? it melled wike frensh fries!"

as for tug we use it around the house A LOT. its chloes fav game, and lexi is starting to like it a little more. but we use the big tug ropes. they dont really want to tug with anything else. and with chloe, ive been using it to help with her dog aggression. we use it to help control her stimulation level, also we use it to help her impulse control. i use leave it a lot with the tug and flutter it literally less than an inch from her nose, she keeps her focus on it which is fine, but shes not allowed to move towards it or anything. she also knows the command to "pick it up" and "put it down" when it comes to her tug. another stimulation and impulse control thing. in the middle of tug i will let go and tell her to put it down. she has to bring down her stimulation level to drop it and listen to me. and then when its down i can either tell her to pick it back up, or work on impulse control and tell her to leave it while i pick it up.

fawkese1

thanks GDM, i do lots of that sort of thing with clover, but i hadn't worked on letting go and asking him to to also let go, i think that will be a good thing to add to the game!

as far as the rope toys go, clover isn't too fond of them... at least not for tug, he likes to eat them more... but maybe i'll try them out again... they are cheaper (as far as tug toys go) than some of the other types...

fawkese1

so... i've been working on clover's tug cues... thank you again GDM, i've been having him drop it, then pick it up again on cue... he was struggling with drop-it, but today i think he "got-it"

i have some more tug questions for ya'll tho...

1 how do you guys train the "out"? i trained the cues when playing fetch with clover and generalized them to the tug... i also sorta wound it down then held the toy still before giving the cue for a while until he got it....

2 what cues do you use, and how do you use them? i use some specific cues for clover, but i wonder if they are too specific?
"get it" means go get that <fill in the blank>
"drop it" means spit that <*> out right now, right where you are
"give" means put that <*> in my hand
"tug" means you are free to grab at and pull the toy
"take it" means just that, take this <*> out of my hand...

3 what do you think about using the tug to help your dog to be calm in new situations? in the video crios mentioned, the trainer talks about how he plays tug with his dog in all sorts of new situations so that his dog always expects to play tug... he goes on to explain dogs liking rituals/routine and how it builds confidence, which i totally agree with, and have been thinking of for a bit (one reason why i've started playing tug so much) BUT tug tends to be a really high drivey sort of a game, do you think there is any reason i should be concerned with the dog getting even more aroused (a problem he has)... i am thinking that the tug will be just the opposite, and give him an outlet for that energy, especially since i've been coupling it with teaching a "chill out" command...but... just wanted some other thoughts on this...

thanks

Criosphynx

like this

I don't teach the out by keeping the tug still because I don't want a still tug to become an out cue...I want the dog to still be tugging no matter if the toy is moving or not...also if you teach the dog that a stopped tug means to out, IMO its harder to teach them that the moving tug can't be just grabbed, if that makes sense. The movements become the cues, and I
want the words to be the cues.

I'll just use yours as a template.

"pick it up" means go get that <fill in the blank>

don't have one for this, I always have them bring it to me. means spit that <*> out right now, right where you are

a palm up hand....means put that <*> in my hand

"get it" means you are free to grab at and pull the toy

"take it" means just that, take this <*> out of my hand...

I also have a "bring it with you" which is a "carry that with you" so I can drop an object, say "pick it up" and then "bring it with you" and then either have him follow me, or tell him where to take it.


My cues are the same for a retrieve except I would say thank you/good boy/som' marker and then give a treat for a retrieve, and if it was a tug item I'd either mark and tug or just tug...He seems to know the difference between a tug object and a non tug object, so when its a tug object he jams it into my hand and when its not a tug object he places it in my hand.


Did that make sense?

fawkese1

lol...yes that did make sense!

i just remembered, i also use "bring it" to mean carry that with you, BUT i also say "bring it here" so i'm gonna need to change that, especially since i would like to work some more on retrieving objects and stuff...

gonna watch the video... what are your thoughts on tug/arousal?

fawkese1

ahh... yes! i've watched that video before... thanks again

Criosphynx

hmmm... I know emily really stresses in that video that you don't want to get the dog too amped up...but honestly, I think since her vids are really geared toward the average dog owner community, that "dont' let your dog get to excited" that might be more of a, your making a video for noobs so cover your butt sort of thing...

As long as the dog adhears to the rules, I see no issue in amping them up, especially when its early and your really trying to sell the game as "fun" to the dog. Personally you should see how amped I can get The spicy one, it sounds like an exorcism in here. But when the game is over its over, and he still can think clearly and follow instructions....I do think its important tho to gauge the dog and see if their excitement is causing their brain to fall out of their skulls...

I guess my point is...use your judgement.

fawkese1

thank you... in the video, michael ellis talks about tugging with his dog in different places, to keep the dog engaged with him etc etc... build confidence and i'm thinking that i might want to start doing this more with clover... anyway, just wondering if anyone had any serious red flag sort of warnings about this...

watching this video makes me want to start treating clover more like a drivey dog, if that makes sense... lol, i've been working him pretty hard lately (nothing strenuous, just lots of thinking and working harder to earn his stuff ) he has been pretty pooped!

pawzaddict

I am glad you brought up the arousal thing as this is why I hardly tug with my dogs, I have always heard and been taught that tugging is bad when your dog gets loud. Harvick and Glacier get crazy....like Crio said, sounds like an exorcism is happening. Cant wait to watch the video, will also watch Emily's to see the two different methods and decide which is best for each individual dog, if that sounds appropriate?

fawkese1

i would say that it would be better to incorporate what works from each trainer and sort of mix up the methods...lol... if that makes sense... but yeah, try to have it suit each dog... in the video he has some good rules for using the tug, and i feel like if the dog can learn the rules, the arousal thing isn't an issue so much... i think when you see the video, you'll see more of what i am talking about...