So as you all know I am working to build up Julia’s play drive.
I’m going to share a few pointers on how I am building her drive now that she will play tug and will go chase a ball.Because I want to be able to use play to counter prey drive, I need her interest in play as high as her intertest in chasing prey! And because I want to be able to use play to reinforce her for wanting to stay engaged with me for agility training, I need her interest in play to equal or better her interest in all levels of distractions.
Using pressure to encourage more “fight”. While tugging I put some pressure back away from the toy so she pulls into her harness and grabs the toy more tightly.
Using my motion to make the game more active and exciting. When tugging I run away with her, when sending her to tossed toys I race with her.
I use long toys, toys on rope, and toys that are soft and easy to grab without me having to lean over her during play.
I let her win often. I try to time her wins to when she is either pulling away or shaking the toy.
I let her set the tone of the tug, I often just let my arm go floppy so she is pulling my arm around.
When playing retrieve I use two or more toys so I don’t have to take her toy to keep the game going.
I keep play sessions fun and short so we end before she gets tired. Often when dogs get tired we see things like them being slow to bring a toy back, or not wanting to drop or let go of the toy.
