I have never seen my adopted dog playing except when we go to the river and we throw the stick in the water for him to retrieve it.
It takes him some warming up before he gets the idea and brings the stick back to me, he always gets it out of the water but most of the time he returns it to the edge of the river
and takes it to another place not back to me.
Eventually he will bring it back but I think it is because I kind of follow the path on the edge and get hold of the stick before he can take it and hide it away.
I tried this with a ball on land and he will run to get the ball but he will not bring it back. If I go to get it,
I sometimes have trouble taking it because he starts to guard the ball and I have to distract him to leave it, then I go back to pick it up.
I get more exercise this way than he does.
I would like to be able to play some games so he can get more exercize and we can have more fun together (not that we are not having fun but more would be nice).
We are still in the bonding stage and not ready to work on the object guarding.
Is there any other safe game we can try to teach him and how do we do that?

how old is the pup and how long have you had him?

Andrea,

I find a common problem with people and their dogs is they have no idea they have to make it real exciting for the dog. If he will chase the ball half your battle is won, now all you have to do is make him chase you back. My pup would not retrieve a stitch until I used his insecurity against him by running away when he picked up the ball, his pack drive is so great he came running, when he got to me I "traded" the ball for a piece of hot dog and really whooped it up on what a good boy he was. Good advise I once heard, I can't remember who but it is "If you don't look like bloody fool training, you ain't doin it right" I think more specific "praise".

Once my dog understood the game and it was a really good time for him, he will now bring anything I throw out, back. I have been trying diffrent things, like keys, wallet, dumbell, glove, ball, pen, etc.

Am I making sense? If you look like your having fun, your dog will think it's fun, tease him with the ball, play with it, act like it's a million dollar check with sprinkles, he will want to play with it too after seeing his handler having such a good time, I have not meet a dog that can stand not to be included in the fun yet.

I will add on if your dog is guarding the ball from you, this is not very good, there is a rank issue there, from the sounds of it you have not done two things. Bond well yet,(which you already know) and established youself as Alpha. You will also want to work on these issues as well... but that's a whole other thread hahah I'm not too sure working on guarding the object after bonding is complete is the way to go either. Are you planning on doing Ring?

I would work on object guarding immediately! This is a sure sign that your dog does not respect or trust you. I'm wondering how you expect to bond with a dog that neither respects nor trusts you?

I'm glad that you're exploring the idea of play with him. This is good. But it sounds to me like it's all on his terms. This is not good.

Lonny, I love that line "If you don't look like a complete idiot, you're not doing it right". Truer words have never been spoken (OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but it is a great saying!).

ok, I take back how old is the pup,I see you said dog...So how long have you had him and how old is he? What kind of background does he have?Some dogs have never had opportunity to play and they have to realize that it is a fun thing to do.Time will build trust too,if this is a new partnership.

I could have misunderstood the working on guarding...I thought she ment actually training guarding the object, not working on solving the guarding problem... my bad!

L. that is one of my favorite sayings to live and train by! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

We had him for about 10 weeks, he is 7.5 years old. From his history we know that he ran with dogs on the farm and that "he can be protective of the things he thinks are his". From this I think he has never been taught to play right, never been taught what is his, never been taught rules like he is not the boss etc. When I first heard this statement I had no clue how bad it could be. People trying to adopt dogs make it sounds really nice and that the dogs are really cute things. OK, he is cute but guarding, growling, snapping, trying to bite is definitely not cute. It didn't happen immediately after we took him home but few weeks later.
I am not training him to guard, on the contrary; I do not let him guard anything and I want him to lose this trait.

First thing we did was we crated him. He hated it at first but lately I see him go into his crate on his own during the day or when he was in the way during our move, and he also goes in at night after the last walk. He knows the drill now and I don't have to ask. I still give the command even if I see him go, and praise him like hell when he does. He is always crated when he is left alone. We do not make a big fuss when we leave or arrive.

We played a stupid game of "desensitising to the muzzle". I looked like a fool but he seemed to love it because he got treats when he put his face into the muzzle. Now I can muzzle him without fear of getting bitten. I can touch his face, that is part of the desensitization process, and he will let me brush his face, he loves grooming anyway. The muzzle game is important because we will work on the guarding but I really need to be more than clear how to do it right. Until then we do the basic commands and playing in the limited ways we can.
He does not have any toys, chewing or otherwise because he does not chew, he guards. The longer he has the item the worse he gets, time will reinforce that it belongs to him. So right now nothing belongs to him.

He has a routine for walking, sleeping, eating, goofing. For the first 6 weeks or so we cuddled him a lot (see book called "your second hand dog"), let him come to us, groomed him every day, took him to meet other dog friends and our friends. He is now extatic to see us and will roll on his back for both of us for a tummy rub. Sometimes he gives me a hug when we sit together and watch tv.
Now we hand feed him and if he does not take the food, he will not get it. He needs to learn that I control the resources, he will eat when I give it not when he is begging for it, he will sniff that tree when I say it is OK, not when he wants to, and not all 100 trees on the way. He will not go on the furniture and he will not sit on me when he wants to but when I say he can. He will have to move when I walk by even if I can step over him. He will not go through the door first before us but he tries.

Roughly commanding does not work. Giving the command in a calm manner will get better results. If he does not do under distraction what I want him to do, I keep trying until he gets it. I never grab him by the hair on his neck (my husband needs training because he did and got snapped at).

I thought he accepted me as the leader from his body language and the fact that he listens and I can see he learned a few things from me already; but every time I post a question I feel like an idiot when I get the answers back. But of course I post because I want to learn. I don't want to put him to sleep.
He is a velcro dog, I cannot lose him because he will follow me everywhere. Running backwards works everytime if he gets distracted in the park or just when he tries to challenge us(?) to see what happens if he does not come fast enough. He does not want to be left again, he already knows what that feels like.
He is happiest when he both walk him together; he always stops and looks back as if waiting for his other person. Same when we walk on the street and we get separated, but he will always be closer to me than to my husband.

I was told not to walk him in public when he is so nice to walk. He is nothing like those mop dogs that drag you down the street, barking their heads off, trying to get other dogs or people. My dog will listen when I say enough and he will start walking immediately. He will sit at the street curb before we cross the street. Does he think he needs to protect himself because he does not trust I can? I don't know; I had him for 10 weeks. I do not keep him on a short leash because I am afraid something will happen. I just don't want anybody to step on his big feet (they are huge and it can happen). I should walk him in a muzzle? he is not that dangerous. I have seen dogs that should have muzzle on, this isn't it.

If I left out anything important, I will add it later.

Hi Andrea,
It's me again!
Well, that certainly is a lot more info, which is good, I think. But then, I tend to overanalyze dog behavior, I am told. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I think that one thing that counts against this dog is his age. The longer a dog has to learn a way of life, the more set in his ways he becomes. I see that he is making some progress, but I think that you'll find, in the long run, that he has some limitations. Good for you for adopting an adult dog, and for working so hard with him.

It sounds like you're on the right track by removing all toys/chews, and hand feeding. This should teach him not only that you control the resources, but also that you are the source of the goodies.

Have you figure out what he really likes? Since he doesn't really play well yet, it's probably some kind of food. It cannot be just the average doggy cookie or dry kibble. It needs to be something extraordinary, like stinky cheese, liver, hot dogs, lunch meat, dried fish, dehydrated lamb lung, etc. Experiment until you find something that he will go nutso for.

I would advise you to work on "take it" and "drop it" with him. For this you will need to know what kind of treat he will do anything for. Hand him a toy, while saying "take it", and praise him for taking it. Then, say "drop it" and TRADE him the irresistable treat for the toy, praising him when he drops the toy.

About muzzling your dog while you walk him; I agreed that the muzzle would be good for situations where people might be approaching him and trying to pet him. If this happens on walks, then yes, muzzle him on walks. It sounds to me, and I don't mean any offense, like you are prioritizing this dog's happiness over protecting your community. When we take on the responsibility of dog ownership, we have to consider the impact of that dog on our community, and take steps to show proper respect for others by leashing our dogs and taking whatever steps neccessary to keep people safe; which brings me back to the end of the second paragraph: Good for you for adopting an older dog, but BAD for you if you let your compassion for him blind you to the great responsibility you have of making sure that he does no harm to anyone.

Great Post L. I think you have said it all. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

as110, what are your intentions for this dog? Is he to be part of a household?

I too have rescued adult dogs and made them family members.I had a male GSD cross(95 lbs!)that we found on the streets of The Bronx that was 4or 5 when we took him in.He was most likely a gas station guard dog escapee.We discovered that he had a fracture of his forearm(radius and ulna) that was 3 to 4 weeks into the healing process when we took him to the vet the day after we brought him into our home.

He too did not know how to play(didn't even know what a ball was!!), knew no basic commands,and was not housebroken.

We took our time with him, he got along great w/ our rescued 1 yr old Lab/collie mix(male), and we felt we could give him a safe home.Over time he became vibrant, outgoing, loved to play ball and a real gentleman.

So I guess all of this rambling is because I miss my special (now departed) friend, and I wish you the best with your new one.