So my boy Crash had his first bite work secession with a actual helper this weekend. The helper that we worked with said that we need to work on building more drive and possessiveness for the lure. My dog goes after it fairly well but doesn't hold onto it well after he he's had it in his possession for circling about and leaving the field with the lure. I want to work on building this up and building his drive during the week(we meet with the helper on weekends) on my own. My question regards to the fact that I have started training obedience using the Michael Ellis tug system in which you want the game to be about dog-handler interaction and not possession of the tug. Since I use this system for obedience I'm a bit confused about how to build drive and possessiveness for the lure/equipment on my own or if I can do it at all. My helper suggested using a flirt pole with some type of lure on the end, teasing him for awhile, and then eventually letting him have it once he's in a higher state of drive but I'm worried about this encouragement of possessiveness screwing up our obedience tug work. Any suggestions or input on doing this on my own would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Alex

Stick with the helper's advice. I think it is a solid move to work with someone who knows what he's doing. As mentioned in your other thread, you do need to do more drive building, and all of the suggestions your helper has given you will help build that possessiveness. I work on possessiveness during my tug sessions, and it helps with engagement. Doing bitework will not decrease the value of the tug for rewards. I believe you'll see improvement on both sides.

IMHO, once the dog values the game of tug, building some possessiveness helps build prey drive. Remember that part of a dog's natural prey drive is defense of prey. Your helper will build on that later in the bitework.

Moved to http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=34219&page=1#391517