hey everyone its been a while since i last posted. my APBT pup, paco, is now 6months old and i have been going to a local schutzhund club for the past month or two and observing the meetings/getting advice. i really need to get him to focus on his toy when we play and to build his prey drive. i am not sure what to do. i have been working with a ball on string and also with a large puppy tug, which he will play with enthusiasticly for about 5 minutes. then he loses interest. he had was aprehensive in his biting on the large tug and i have been working on that but still have problems. i plan on ordering the drive an focus dvd as soon as i can afford it. any advice until then?
Your dog is still young. The idea is to quit before they lose interest. Leave them wanting more. Maybe only play for a min or so, then away goes the toy. Frustration builds drive.
To also try and stimulate your dog's liking to the ball; get one of those 'milk bone' balls and stuff it with some ground meat. Play with your pup and then let him have it to lick the meat out. (Just be careful, considering the age of your pup that he doesn't swallow it whole!)
When my pup was young (3 mos) she wanted nothing to do with a ball, but loved the tug. This is how we learned to like the ball!
My 11 month old Mal bitch is only interested in live prey (rats, mice, rabbits etc...). She watches and stalks my cats every chance she gets, doesn't ever try to hurt them, matter of fact she's really afraid of those claws. At any rate I'm not quite sure how to work this into our "prey play". She is not motivated by food or toys. I'm new to this breed and sport. Would like to do some tracking with her. Have only had her 2 months and I am absolutely her new best friend. Have been doing basic ob with her, she will do what I ask of her, but does not seem happy doing it.....I guess what I'm asking is...do I keep working at this or get another dog?
Debbie at 11 months a Mal with good prey drive should be after everything that moves. Have you tried the ball and string thing or the flowing white rag (with the wind blowing and you moving it, it looks like live prey) or barlap sack.
Question, When the dog stalks prey does he jump and it chase or kill it? If the dog has killed live prey it will be harder to stop him and direct him toward the rag. It can be done but, maybe not by you.
It maybe time for some professional help, because the dog is getting older and should have the prey drive thing down or at least understand when to turn it on and off at. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Don, Thanks so much for your reply. I appreciate your time. You confirmed what I knew in my gut. I believe that this bitch has been pushed too hard, for too much, at too young an age with to much correction by the previous owner. She is a really sweet dog, loves my grandaughter(9yrs old) so will probably go live with her. This dog was a rescue and I wanted to give it a go. She is very pack oriented with low drives so will be a good house dog for my daughters family. Hopefully she will be a good alarm system and look scary!!!
Yes, she does chase prey and eat it before I can get to her. Swallows rats and mice whole.
Life is short, don't have time to try to fix this, not when there are so many other dogs in the world!
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