Good Morning. First off let me say if this is the wrong place to post this, I apologize in advance there are just so many sections and I am not sure what this falls under. I am looking for advice on what video to order to help fix my dog's handler induced problem. I have a 20-month-old Border collie I purchased from a breeder working sheep dogs. I couldn't be happier with him. All his training thus far has been done for his ball on a rope. My long-term goals for this dog are search and rescue, so bite work is not something I am looking to do. That said I can't get him to do a formal retrieve or much of a hold it type command. He will fetch anything I throw, including keys, coins (he will pick up a quarter off tile flooring), and dumbbells. However when he brings it back he likes to drop it at my feet and do the Border collie glare at me and the article. I can get him to place the item in my hand however the sit has, so far, been out of the question. As soon as I say sit he will drop the item and sit. If I say a come command instead he will come flying at me sit in front and dropping the item on my feet. If I stay moving he will continue to hold the item but if I stop it gets dropped in front of me. He will out at any time I say without a fight or fuss. This problem was let go on too long on my part because it hasn't, in any way that I notice, affected our work up till now. I was looking at the “Training the motivational retrieve” or the other “Training drive focus and grip” and wasn't sure which would apply more.

I am very happy I found this site and Ed's videos I am ordering a few more like tracking through drive as well. Thanks in advance for the help.

Sounds like a pretty good dog to begin with! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Ok, first step:

Building Drive & Focus With Bernhard Flinks #101E
http://www.leerburg.com/101e.htm

I'd suggest this DVD as your foundation DVD as it explains the motivational games to develop drive for work. It's a lot more than a bite work study as it covers drive building in depth and many AKC obedience folks are using this DVD now as a foundation for their training.

Next:
Training the Motivational Retrieve With Bernhard Flinks #106
http://www.leerburg.com/106.htm
( and wow....is that a horrible picture of me on that page.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> )

This DVD explains the motivational retrieve, which seems to be the problem that you're describing.

The information contained in both DVD's is top notch and makes for a happy and well motivated dog in training.

Thanks Will, I went ahead and ordered those two, along with "Raising a working puppy" (Never too early to start learning for the next one, and see what I did wrong with this one! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> ), "Tracking thru Drive" and the one about laying the track. Glad I found the site because I would have started him off air scenting for people without even a thought of tracking. He already does article searches but am I right in thinking that won't have a huge impact on the tracking?

If he never learns a formal retrieve I am not going to be mad, I know it was my fault for not correcting the problem when he was a tiny puppy, but it would be nice for him to learn. By the way no one could look terrible with a dog like that in the photo with them!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Thanks again!

Sarah,
I don't think that previous training for an article search will be much of a problem as long as you simply train the dog in a "by the numbers" fashion from the very start of footstep-to-footstep tracking.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />