Hello All,
I have not posted in a little while. Small issue but maybe patience is required. My pup who is Sired by Brix vom stoffelblick (I mention this to see if anyone has information on this dog, everything I read is in German) will not carry the sleeve off the field. He will hit it very hard, grip and counter for a better bite during tug a war, but as soon as the helper stops pulling he drops it but is always crazy to get back on. This is the third session with the trainer, am I expecting to much to soon? He bit the puppy sleeve and hard sleeve at the first session, so there is no problem with the bite just the hold. To watch him hit the sleeve makes me want to take a bite. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Forgot to mention, pup is just turning 6 months old.

I deleted your other thread that you mistakenly posted when you attempted to edit your post. In the future there is an edit button that you can use. Private Mail me if you need any help.

Did you do any tug work prior to this? If so did he carry that nicely?

Yes, I did and continue to do the tug work off leash. He would carry the tug while shaking and jumping up and down with it, after a while he would fall on top of it and continue to chew it and run when i approached to continue agitation. But i would retreive it from him and continue to build the drive only letting him get the bite maybe 3 times out of about 15-20 minutes of work. After putting the tug away he always goes to the shed and tries to get it for another bite.

Take an old leash and loop it through the sleeve strap (no metal where the pup might bite it) and use this line to keep some "life" in the sleeve after the helper slips it. You will have to make sure you have the line in hand before the sleeve is slipped.

Run him in a small circle, then bring him back to the helper who can either play tug with the sleeve on the line, the sleeve itself (by grabbing both ends) or slip it back on and work him some more.

Be VERY careful not to put too much stress on him at this age! Everything now should be all fun and games...the helper should be a friend and play-buddy for him, not someone to be defensive about. There will be plenty of time later to do the other stuff. See Ed's videos: Bite Training Puppies; First Steps of Bite Training and First Steps of Defense!!!!!

Be certain your helper is not working the pup in Defense without realizing it...many decent helpers have no real idea how to bring a puppy along correctly. If you do not own these videos...buy them. If you do own them, watch them again and again. You will only have one chance at him being a pup...don't blow it.

Sounds like he is nice...good luck.

Oh No, no stress right now, blessed with a very good helper. I will try the leash trick, he will run with sleeve as long as helper has it tight, he loves this work so far. Not training until next week trainer is out of town, will do some work myself, ball on a string, rag, etc. Thanks again for the advise. FYI, I watched an import SCHIII GSD working and he did not seem happy to do the work, dog was in a crouched position the whole time. trainer said the dog had been stressed and had his ass kicked prior to making the trip to the US. they were trying to make him happy again to do the work, I see what ed means about everything being for fun, theres something about seeing a dog work with his tail waging and begging for that next bite that really excites me.

Just out of curiosity, why do you do the tug work off leash? When on leash you can get them used to running in a circle with the reward, and you can keep their head up. Keeping their head up is important to avoid the shaking/grounding you see. Its good he's this intense, but from personal experience I'll tell you it makes it hard to teach the out later on.

I have him off leash when I am playing tug in the back yard, using the tug as flinks building drive, focus video shows getting him to bite up high and down low, but I see what you are saying regarding having him on the leash while playing tug. basically grab leash with one hand while keeping the tug tight in his mouth then run with leash. Does anyone know about brix vom stoffelblick? #19 dog bunderseigerprufund 2001? my boy came from this dog.