I have been working my dog through the The First Steps to Bite Training. How do I bring the excitement back and do I need to try another kind of material?

Question

I have been working my dog through the DVD (The First Steps to Bite Training). We have worked our way up to the point where she is staked out and I am swinging the puppy tug in front of her building the intensity of the bite.  she has been doing so well at this that I have been considering intoducing a helper to work the tug. Today I took her out  to have a training session and she did well on two bites and countered good;but after these two bites she lost her desire to bite and counter and seems like to me she lost intrest,almost like she got board.  I stopped at this point just in case she was getting to an avoidence point. I brought the ball out and she got fired up like she usaully is (high drive dog); then after playing with the ball about 15 minutes I layed the tug out to see what she would do.  She bit very poorly  and just layed it down. After this I put her in her kennel and  I walked away. My question is how do I bring the excitement back when this happens and  do I need to try another kind of material (like leather) instead of what I am using (old type feed sack) to make her enjoy biting a little more? I also would like to know at what age do I move her to the next DVD (the first bite on a sleeve) and to a soft puppy sleeve?

    Dog information:

- 9 month old female german shepard
- good temp,stong prey drive, not working in defense drive yet (not ready yet)
- chez and german blood line crossed-father works with security company and mother is a narcotics dog.
 - only recent changes in dog, she just went through her first heat.

    Thank you,
Brad

Accepted Answer

I think for this dog you may be trying to do too much.

    If she’s good with two bites, then give two and then frustrate her and put her away but don’t give any more bites. I think you should NEVER get the ball out and play right after she shuts down in bitework.  Since she appears to like the ball more than the tug, by doing this you are teaching her that you will bring the ball out when she doesn’t feel like biting the tug.  Then by bringing the tug out after she has played for 15 minutes, you just reinforced that the tug isn’t any fun.

    15 minutes is way too long to keep a dog out playing anyway, especially a dog that is not showing the interest you want.

    I’d put the ball away and replace it with a tug or sack. , any fun and interaction she gets is with you and a tug toy of some kind.  Find what she likes, you may have to try several different materials before something trips her trigger.  Use that until she’s crazy for it (like she is for the ball) and then introduce other materials like jute, leather, linen, or whatever.

    I wouldn’t worry about moving her along in training until you get her biting the tug anytime and anywhere that you present it.

    You may want to tie the tug on a long line or buggy whip to add more prey movement in it also.  This can really help a lot.

    Cindy