I have taken Michael’s course on playing tug but if I try to play outside of my backyard or garage he shows no interest. Could this be a genetic issue?

Hi Cindy,

I have a question regarding tug play. I've taken Michael's course on tug play, but I am having trouble generalizing it as a reward. My dog plays reasonably well and is excited to play tug in the absence of distractions. But if I try and use it as a reward outside of my backyard/my garage(training area) then he shows zero willingness to engage. He will sort of half engage in my front yard, but he won't really bite with commitment... even if I tease him with it. He looks right by me and out to the environment. In fact, I struggle to maintain engagement sometimes, as he can be extremely outwardly focused until he gets driven. Is there a roadmap to follow in terms of using a tug as a reward for other behaviours? Could it just be a genetic drive issue with my rescue GSD?

Thanks

Thank you for the response.

He will jump and chase his regular kibble on walks with great enthusiasm, and gets frustrated and amped up if I give him misses. I try to make the rewards events as much as possible if I'm trying to build him up. If I kinda build him up, mark him and try and transfer that energy to a tug he basically muzzle punches it and then loses interest. In contrast, in distraction free environments, and will launch at it and target it with great enthusiasm as soon as I release him. In his mind right now, walks are a time for focus and food reward events, not for play. I will try and get my partner to do some posting to try and build up the frustration, and will try not letting him get it for a few sessions.

I will definitely try generalizing it very slowly. It's good to know it isn't automatically always generalized just by the nature of the playing the game in one or two previous environments.