Need a little help

[Adriane]

Hi Everyone,

I'm struggling with a few things so I would really appreciate your feedback and suggestions!

I have been working to implement the NDT strategies with one of my dogs, Obi Wan. I currently live in a new development and there are not many places that are quiet or safe for doing the pushing at dinner time (or anytime between 6:30am and 9:30pm!). I have been doing some pushing when we are out on our walks, mostly sporadically. Is this an effective way to do the pushing with OW? He is engaged when I do it, I'm just not sure how often to do it during the walk or when to do it during the walk. Would it be okay if I did the dinner time pushing in the garage? Or should I keep doing it on the walks? Or both?

Also, I was doing a lot of tug with OW in the basement. He really loves it! I want to start tugging on walks and when we go to empty fields but he has zero interest in tugging outside. I have stopped all indoor tugging completely. Should I just focus on pushing and try the tug from time to time?

Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated! I am taking OW to quiet areas early on weekend mornings to do work but I really believe in incorporating training into everyday situations, too.

Thanks, in advance!

Adriane

[Sang]

Hi Adriane! You sound like you've already answered your own questions.

Yep, you should definitely stop playing tug in the basement. And yes, pushing on the walks is great. Just keep on pushing during your walks, and then try to incorporate the tug into the pushing during your walks. If you find that after trying this for a while, and OW still won't play tug, then there are some other things you can do to help him along. But for now just keep on doing what you've started doing.

As for pushing in the garage, I'd stop doing that. It's ok to do that on occasion if something triggers OW to get reactive while you're inside the house. That's just damage control. But you shouldn't do the pushing on a regular basis indoors. Definitely keep it outside during your walks.

Hope that helps.

[Adriane]

Thanks for the response, Sang. I am glad to hear I am on the right track with committing to finding a way to do everything outside. Is there anything I should be aware of when doing the pushing on walks? Right now I just do it from time to time or when Obi Wan get a bit charged up by activity around us. Is that the best strategy?

Adriane

[Sang]

Yep, that's perfect. If OW is already pushing with you when he's getting charged up, then you're well on your way, because ultimately what you're trying to do is take all the stuff that normally gets him charged up, and have him channel that energy and resolve that feeling with you through the pushing, and eventually one day through the bite/tug. But don't rush into the bite/tug until OW is giving you all he's got with the pushing when he gets a charge. Doing the pushing and feeding him his meals on the walks is great, as a lot of dogs can take a while to build up to being able to push when they are out and about, especially when they get charged up. So you're already there.

Also give yourselves some relaxation time too, either at the end of the walk, or even along the way.

But from the sounds of it, you seem to be on the right path. Just keep on going

[Heather]

Don't take this as expert advice, just a fellow newbie doing pushing and tugging...

Everyone says take it slow, I think that is good advice, no pressure, have fun and stop/push with food on a small success, even mouthing the tug toy outside.

One thing that is very hard to figure out from reading but easier to understand with demonstrations is how to work with the bite/tug toy. In my case the reason my dog wasn't really downloading his energy into the bite toy was because I wasn't making it attractive enough to fight for, it felt better to him to seek relief through instincts because I/the toy didn't give him an equivalent or better feeling of satisfaction/release. In other cases though the dog might be feeling fear, so I guess it would be very important to pinpoint why the dog is not making contact with the toy so as not to stress the dog, and another reason to take it slow when it doubt.

[Heather]

Don't take this as expert advice, just a fellow newbie doing pushing and tugging...

Everyone says take it slow, I think that is good advice, no pressure, have fun and stop/push with food on a small success, even mouthing the tug toy outside.

One thing that is very hard to figure out from reading but easier to understand with demonstrations is how to work with the bite/tug toy. In my case the reason my dog wasn't really downloading his energy into the bite toy was because I wasn't making it attractive enough to fight for, it felt better to him to seek relief through instincts because I/the toy didn't give him an equivalent or better feeling of satisfaction/release. In other cases though the dog might be feeling fear, so I guess it would be very important to pinpoint why the dog is not making contact with the toy so as not to stress the dog, and another reason to take it slow when it doubt.

[Adriane]

Excellent advice, Heather and Sang! I am going to keep at it while on walks. I suspect that if I really tune into OW, I will have an idea of when he is ready to try the tugging again.

Adriane

[Lee Charles Kelley]

One thing that almost always stimulates the urge to bite is a game of chase.

If you can get Obi Wan to chase you, you may be able to stimulate his urge to bite the tug toy.

Start by doing some pushing, then while he's still in the mood to push into you, take a break. Wait for him to look around for something to do, then produce a tug toy, tease him with it, give him the "hup!" command, but before he makes contact run away, laughing at him.

Move away at a 3/4 angle, dangling the toy at your side, encouraging him to chase you. When he catches up, zig-zag, stop and start, throw in a stutter step, fake left and go right, fake right and go right, etc. Mix it up. All of this should take less then 15 - 20 seconds. Then let him jump up on you and grab the toy.

I hope this helps!

LCK