pushing basics

[Heather]

Hi, I wonder if it is common for a dog to lose interest in pushing "hard"? Over the past few days Happy wants to go out to eat from my hand, but will push into me very calmly/relaxed, whereas a couple of weeks ago he was pushing really hard. A couple of weeks ago he was also jumping up and grabbing my arms more, too, now he seems to be perfectly well behaved all around.

Could it be that he just doesn't have a lot of pent up emotional energy right now? He's still playing tug and push-tug and really enjoys that. I thought maybe he just wanted to eat in peace, so I set his food bowl down for a couple of meals and he just looked at me and didn't eat it - he gobbled down handfuls when I went outside with him to our pushing spot - so he wants that but he is more enjoying the massaging/rub-a-dubbing during eating than the actual pushing.

I quicked his nail earlier in the week and took him to the vet, I thought he might be worried about that, but I actually don't think he noticed when I did it, and he was great at the vet and after, so that wasn't my first thought, but it could be related.

[Alec]

I run into this as well and I think that you're right about not needing it as much. There does seem to be a correlation between the amount of pushing and the amount of tension/stress that has built up. I also think that it could be related to a few other occurrences. One is the "leaking" of energy going on away from your activities (as Sang has mentioned elsewhere) and two is possibly the state of the environment that you are in. For example, my dog yesterday was all slow and nonchalant until the neighbors came out (I practice in my front yard to get the distractions and I have a little more room there) and get her going with a HEY SHILOH in a very friendly voice. Then using redirection I get a pretty strong push. This all seems to follow what Kevin calls the emotional battery, which I’m interpreting to mean that if the battery is low then there isn't as much power (kind of like my cordless drill). Some days, she will be full go and right on, and others not so much. I'm interested to hear what the more experienced guys have to say about this.

[neilsattin]

It's perfectly natural to experience an ebb and flow in the pushing enthusiasm. A few thoughts, if you feel like experimenting:

• Are you doing it "too much"? Try pushing less frequently. This could point to your "exhausting the battery" theory.
• Yes physical discomfort can also create hesitancy in pushing.
• Try changing things up a bit. Make your dog chase you more. Roll onto the ground and get more playful. Play hide-n-seek. Turn pushing into heeling, into "down" - i.e. make things interesting for your dog by varying your routine.

I definitely wouldn't worry about it, though. All the things I mention above are simply in the interest of keeping your perspective fresh.

[Heather]

Thanks Neil!

It's been about a week and we're not back to the same pushing vigor, but I am just going with the flow. I actually do think the foot trauma inhibited/worried him a little in general - not so much the nail, but he was beside himself about having his foot wrapped up.

[Drea]

Now that Tucker and I are back to pushing for breakfast, I'm wondering how I can get him to push so hard as to bring his front feet off the ground? Often, when he's coming in for a push, he'll do a little jump, but his front feet stay grounded. He's 97 pounds and fairly long-legged (read tall). I'm in no hurry, just curious.

I just re-watched the first DVD and realized that I wasn't doing the Ready hand signal, so I incorporated that this morning. He's following me more, on his own, but when he's presented with the menace neighbor dog (who trolls adjacent neighbors yards which are also boundaries of our property), he'll choose Buddy over pushing, every time. I keep our training far away from that part of the fence just so there isn't much temptation. I'd like to incorporate more of the possibility of Buddy, using another grassy yard area, but am wondering if I should get a really good reliable push down first.

[Heather]

Hi Drea, Hopefully Neil or Sang or Lee will chime in for "real" advice, but in the meantime...

I've been wondering the same things!

I also have a heavy, tallish dog and he doesn't push up off the ground, although he will jump up on me, and he will push into me for food (jumping up and pushing are two separate things).

With Kevin at the seminar, I saw a dog push up on its hind legs but he wasn't really pushing into Kevin to get there, he just sort of lifted himself up to meet the pushing hand and seemed to lean in for balance. So if that is how it usually happens (not sure), then I don't think it's going to happen for my dog - he couldn't be supported in that position with one hand, even by a strong guy, and I don't think he could balance on his back legs without placing his paws on my chest or shoulders (he's eye level with me in that position).

I feel like he is really releasing energy when he charges at me and really pushes me backwards, while I am pushing into him with the pushing hand, until I zing the food with the opposite hand, that's what a strong push has come to be for us.

[Chris]

Interesting question Drea because my Ty has always lifted his front feet off the ground when pushing. Often when I show people what pushing is I have to try and keep him on the ground so they understand the exercise. I have no idea if I do something that gets him to lift the front feet or not, I prefer it that way, 35kg of GSD pushing up high is less work for my back

[Drea]

It occurred to me yesterday that perhaps the reason Tucker isn't lifting his front paws off the ground is because I hold my own hands too close to the ground. This morning I made a point of holding my hands higher up and I found that Tucker is doing his little jump closer to me. I think over time he'll start jumping up, so I'm not going to worry about it.

[Drea]

Originally Posted by Heather

Hi, I wonder if it is common for a dog to lose interest in pushing "hard"? Over the past few days Happy wants to go out to eat from my hand, but will push into me very calmly/relaxed, whereas a couple of weeks ago he was pushing really hard. A couple of weeks ago he was also jumping up and grabbing my arms more, too, now he seems to be perfectly well behaved all around.

Tucker was giving me the same, but the thing I noticed was that his push from a greater distance wasn't as hard (but the run was faster and more excited), whereas the push from closer in (with a slower run towards me) was harder. I'm not sure what this means, but I'm still hooked on NDT-ing!

[jojo]

I don't exactly have advice, but here's my story of almost 2 years of pushing. Remy wanted nothing to do with it at first, we made super slow progress and I thought he'd never get it, than he'd get into it some and be coming up off the ground but more for balance as I moved away, not pushing hard but participating, than I'd get too into it, freak him out and totally set us back and we'd start over with hand feeding and chest rubs.

We had a bad set back this past spring, cause I tried too hard in front of other dogs and he wasn't ready (or so I believe) than I made a bigger focus on crouching low, being looser and prey like and mixing in heeling obedience exercises-- just re-calibrated myself with the help of reading posts here, and all of a sudden he was pushing like a monster, really throwing himself at me- it was out of the blue and the first time he knocked me over I was so surprised, and now he really drives me backwards, he's definitely not on his hind legs for balance but just using all his force and pops up a little as his power is coming from the hind legs. Or so it feels.


It's interesting to me that some dogs take to pushing right away, but not tug or vice versa. I've wondered if that says anything about what's going on with the dog.