Hi Everyone,

First of all, thanks to everyone on this board that has helped me with training my GSD Tonto. He's coming along so well and I am so proud of him. Tonto is now 7 months old, for some background, he comes from a working line of Czech bred shepherds. Most of his brothers and sisters are being trained for rescue or protection. Tonto is a family companion dog. He does, however, have what I consider to be good prey drive. He loves to chase after his ball (now deflated) more than anything. He wants it more than any treat you could offer. Seriously, he would take the ball over a steak. So, I keep seeing lots out there about using that drive and tug play as a reward. Now, I have avoided any lengthy tug play with Tonto because he is going to be a family pet and I have 2 young kids. I am now wondering if I am passing up an opportunity to use his drive to train. I noticed that Leerburg has a new DVD out with Michael Ellis about tug and how to go about using it right. Not sure if that is geared more toward people doing "bite work"? Looks pretty hard-core. I guess my question is: would it be in my dogs/family best interest to develop a working relationship with tugging or should I just stick to what I am doing (which is working, but man does he like to tug...)

Thanks,

Vanessa

I haven't seen the Micheal Ellis DVD except the clip in the video section of the main website.

For me "tug" does not equal bite work per say. I think tug is a reward system, just like food is a reward system. Tug is a game you play with your dog. Food and toys both use a dogs drives, both are training tools, and both are a tool to build a bond with your dog through training and/or play. I think the difference is that tugging can later be switched to bite work if that is something you chose to do.

I am just breaking into the world of ScH, so I may be way off. Hopefully someone with a bit more experience will chime in!