Building Drive

You need to teach your dog to channel their drive into what you want. I love using toys as a reward for Agility, Obedience, Weight Pull, Schutzhund, and anything else I do with my dogs.
You want to teach your dog to covet, want, and pine for that toy. But there must be rules when you play the toy game.

First you can introduce different types of toys and see what works for you. I use riot sticks (they are a long, tube shaped tug toy with handle). When you’re playing with your puppy before they lose all their baby teeth you need to be careful. If you try to play to aggressively when they are losing teeth you may teach them not to like toys. Playing shouldn’t hurt but instead get them excited about the toy.

You want to get a soft toy and toss it and let them bring it back. You may need to put them on a long leash to teach them to come back. If you chase them after tossing a toy you create a game of keep away. After you toss your toy say their name and see if they will come back. If they do not bring it back, reel in the line. Gently take the toy out of the mouth and say “out”. If they don’t want to give it up try exchanging the toy for a cookie or another toy.

Once they lose their puppy teeth you can start cranking up the drive for that toy. Hold your puppy and toss the toy about 6 feet away from them. Do not let them go yet. Hold them and get them excited for that toy, then let them get it. Praise and repeat. This is where you are going to build a love for that toy; this will come in handy when teaching distance in agility or using as a reward. You can build this drive when they have not lost their teeth yet. But you don’t want to play tug and really get them excited about having that toy till they have adult teeth.

If you have a dog that doesn’t like toys try food instead. You can get a small Tupperware container and put food in it. Teach the dog every time he touches the container he gets food. Then you can build drive as described above. When using food it must be killer to die for treats. Like hotdogs or salmon treats. Only use these treats for this exercise so they don’t get board with them. If you are still having issues getting them to go for food, try getting them hungry. A hungry dog is a good working dog. Try feeding a light dinner and skipping breakfast. Then train at about 11am or 12pm. Remember puppies need that extra food so don’t deprive them of it for to long, just enough to get them hungry and egger to get the food. After training feed them that skipped breakfast. This really should help the dog that is not that interested in food.

Once you have that drive for the toy you can start using it in your training. I use it to teach moving away from me in agility or as a reward. This is where you need to enforce rules with the toy. Remember it is your toy so the game ends when you have it back in your hands. You don’t want a dog jumping at you for the toy. They are allowed the toy after they do something you ask so they associate the toy with having to work for it.
When you say “out” you don’t want to have to fight with them to give it up. If you’re having out issues please email me. There are several things to try.

This should start you off in the right direction with your puppy.