Anne; help me out some more. Sadie loves chasing dragonflies, but will easily redirect. She took off after a cat on an off-leash walk one morning, and did not recall immediately (she came after she realized how far out-of-line she had gone). However, if she's got a rat in heavy cover, she loses also focus. I can call her out, but she won't use the potty, engage with me, or readily accept any other commands as long as she can still smell it. I could easily rate these as distractions, but I'm looking for a little more here. Can you read between the lines and suggest a way to channel some of these into interaction with the sleeve? She would love to get to the agitator; how do I transfer that to the sleeve?

All those things have a different level of distraction or interest to her Duane. She probabaly figures out really quick, she's not going to catch the dragonfly, but a cornered rat, she knows she has a chance. And all the different crossover of the drives comes into all these things too.

With the sleeve, are you doing the helper work with her?

No, I'm not a helper or even experienced handler, Steve. I met a local professional trainer several months ago, who turned out to be pres of our local SchH club. He evaluated Sadie, at which time we discussed the environment I got her out of and possibilities of advancing her training (For a more detailed explanation, you can view my member intro). He suggested that, prior to joining the club, I might bring Sadie out, tether her, as they do other starting dogs, and let her watch. He, as well as the helpers in the club, seem to feel this may stimulate her prey drive. This is where we're at now. She seems interested in the helper as soon as she sees him, but she ignores the equipment. All of the other dogs only light up when they see the sleeve, or when they see a helper in the apron.

BTW Steve, we are still in the evaluation process. I won't even attempt a bite or anything beyond BH or tracking if I can't get her to engage properly. I don't plan to ask this dog for something she can't freely give. She's got some of the right blood and drives, but the environmental repression may be too much to overcome.
We'll see. In the meantime, I welcome all suggestions.

It does sometimes, but watch her and make sure she's not just stimulated by another dog. I would say to be a little patient and give the helper a chance. So much of this is between the helper and your dog. Its just not the same as you playing with her. He has to build a relationship with her too.

Whatever her background was , its a pretty safe bet going forward looking to bite a piece of equipment on a stranger wasnt something she was encouraged to do.

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She's got some of the right blood and drives, but the environmental repression may be too much to overcome.

Thats what I was getting at. Give the helpers some time and you'll see what you get. As long as you and her are enjoying it and the club welcomes you and will work with you, it gives you a chance to learn a lot and have some fun.

Steve is spot on for where she is now. See what happens. Your 'playing with & engaging her' is very different then the 'engagement' that the decoy has with your dog. See if you can tie her out alone without the influence of other dogs & let the decoy work her. See if it is any different. You may need to go to the club earlier or stay later to do this. You may see soem differences in her doing this.

Try playing with different tugs or toys, you may not have it on one that she likes yet. Some dogs will play with whatever the owner has in their hand or whatever you throw....some won't, they like a certain toy. Some prefer frisbees to balls, some tugs to balls. They can be different.

You might try some of the M Ellis DVDs on tug & engagement or Bernard Flinks..building drive focus & grip DVD is also excellent. There should be some info on here about both of them here,

Give it some time & see what developes. She may surprize you, like I said earlier. You are introducing her to a totally different life then she is used to. Give her time.

Excellent clarification, thanks Anne!

Just some encouragement.... while my dog is not as old as yours, he was... well.... shut down, in his first home. A nationally known SchH competitor and motivational trainer evaluated my dog, and tried to work with his previous owner. She (the trainer) said Koenig DID NOT have ball drive. None. Nada. Zip.

A year later, I can barley train with a ball, because he's so high in drive (with a ball visible) he looses his brain.

It can happen. Stick with it. Try lots of different toys/tugs/flirt poles!

Update!!
Sadie is now retrieving and playing tug with me. We have made huge progress in the last month and a half.

I purchased a Kong ball to put treats in, and initiated some ball drive. On the second day, when the ball was empty, I convinced her to "Brrring" it to me. I then had her bring other items, as called by name ("ball", "tug", "rope", "newspaper"). My plan is to next teach her to differentiate items by selecting the correct one from a variety, then move her to the dumbbell, which should eventually translate to jumps.

Once she became comfortable picking up objects, I worked her on drive for the Orbee. Using Michael Ellis' suggestions on using food dynamically, I uncovered a small amount of prey drive. Eventually, I was able to transfer that from food to the Orbee. In the third or fourth session, I finally convinced her to pull on it when she grabbed it, and then all hell broke loose. The first real game of tug was in the house two days ago. I cut it short because she was getting TOO physical inside (and she does not have targeting skills yet! OUCH!!).
Last night, we took the game outside, and Sadie wore me out. Twenty minutes of tug and she was not ready to quit. There were distractions, but she would not release the Orbee even when she glanced away. I also got a lesson in capping her drive, as I could not go any longer.

I used to fear that Sadie's drives were too repressed to uncover. I now see that she is better at engagement than I am and has more endurance. Many doors are opening for us with these awakenings, and she just gets more and more awesome.