Finally have a frisbee dog!
- Thread starter Nordika
- Start date
Very curious, does he treat it like it will last, or do you have a hunch he will need multiples over his life? Good for you for getting him started on it early. I wish mine would retrieve but it doesn't seem to interest either of them.
Our boy loves to chase toys and retrieve, but I had to really work at it to make it a fun thing. He loves the Chuck-it frisbee and roller toy. The roller toy especially is great for when we stay in hotels, and then I can roll that toy down the hotel corridors for him to retrieve.
Nordika
Member
Today, he didn't try to chew it, which is good because it's one of those floating chuck-it frisbees, not hard plastic. He was being pretty soft mouth with it. Carried it half way home when we finished playing until he found a stick he wanted and dropped it. It's not something that I would leave in his toy box though...
Nordika
Member
Yes, inordinate amount of play drive, which is good because I use tug/play for obedience rewards and not food.
Thanks. I got that invaluable tip (use tug as reward) from an old gun dog guy here with dobe expertise. @MikeP
Bonnie will spit a food reward in favor of the tug.
Winning is done all the time with tugs and sleeves in IGP training. Too long to try to explain here, but it is not difficult at all to let them win!
Nordika
Member
Well that's interesting. I suppose if you play tug with a dog and it's just an activity for you and the dog, maybe your dog will show aggression at 'winning' if by winning you mean gaining control of the object.
For me, tug is a game, and therefore it has rules as any game does, requires cooperation and has at its core - a goal. The goal is engagement and tugging. Without each other, handler and dog, there is no tugging. I teach my puppies early on an 'out' command as it is part of the rules. Since the act of tugging is the goal, tugging is winning. If I throw the tug, the dog will retrieve it and bring it back to me to engage because they want to win, and tugging is winning and rewarding. It's not an activity to build confidence in a weak dog, I've always had confident pups and they don't show aggression in playing games.
Nordika
Member
I don't use compulsion to teach retrieve. If a dog likes to play, they will learn to retrieve on their own. If they don't like balls, there is usually something else that they do like, and maybe it's not a toy at all, maybe it's a stick, a potholder, a leather glove or something else that they find interesting, my Newfoundland loved to retrieve seashells. I look for engagement in playing first and foremost. I make playing games with me the most fun for the dog. This is how we build our bond together and how I make myself the most important thing in the universe to my dogs. I don't immediately reach for the object when they first bring it back, I greet them with over the top enthusiasm, praise, pats and lots of love, and let them show me they are ready to play more. It's a game of trust.
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