Maybe I should start a different thread for that. I've never seen it done that way. The guys in our club do it by teasing the dog with the dumb bell to build drive. Just like you would with a ball.

It's been described in the forum. You backchain the retrieve from the "hold" and "out".

Sadie already had a retrieve but was bothered by the weight, so I made her a wooden dumbbell that was the same size but half of the mass. Her food drive is so high that she immediately loved the game. I got her a regualtion SchH1 dumbbell for Christmas a few weeks later, and she accepted it straightaway.

Dumbbell work and obstacles are two things that she enjoys most at the club.

That's intersting. I had started to teach the hold and was having a lot of trouble getting him to even take it in his mouth. His out is very good. Taught him that off the ME tug video. He has no issues with the obstacles. Don't even need a ball or anything. He just does it.

Marker training the retrieve isn't about the dumbell. It's about teaching the dog that bring an object back is reward worthy. It's not even about prey work because the dog is taught to hold and oout the object before it's ever thrown. Back chaining!
My #2 GSD had NO desire to bring anything back. He wanted to just run after the object and take off with it. Now, when he hears me coming to the door he meets me with his kong in his mouth.

Ok, I'm way late in this thread...but Duane, have you tried getting her to play tug on something that is more like real prey? Like get a rabbit skin and make it into a tug? Maybe you could get her onto a sleeve that way?

I had a mixed breed with high prey drive but she was very sensitive with a soft mouth. She would not play with rubber balls or kongs, only squishy toys.

We're kinda past that point, Tresa. Now that she is doing bitework with the wedge, Sadie is ready for a sleeve whenever I want to transition. I'm continuing to do prey drive building to encourage her to do the bitework in prey drive, which allows me to improve her targeting and grips. It has been a process, but we are getting there.

I'm seeing Sadie's prey drive becoming stronger, but I've also come to realize that she has it in forms that I wasn't necessarily expecting. She still doesn't have a lot of drive for the item, but the frustration that we've built has her striking the wedge hard and fighting to keep it, and this increases with every session. She has also started carrying the item. Just a few weeks ago, she was dropping it soon as the decoy retreated.
As we have worked Sadie, her defensive threshhold has raised and she's showing signs of working in prey. Her prey drive when engaged is focused on the agitator. The more we work her, the more her desire to fight with him grows, and it seems that he has become her prey, instead of the item. By frustrating her a lot and giving fewer bites, we have managed to focus this energy on the item and build more prey drive, and I'm seeing it develop.
This evening, when it was time for her run, Sadie asked to play tug (she has learned to bark for a bite, and now offers a geblout if she wants to play). I broke out a large jute tug that she has to bite deep, and we had a blast. She didn't grip deep enough at first, but after losing it a couple of times, she made the correction, and I wasn't able to win any more. She carried the tug and guarded it, showing more interest in the tug itself than she has in the past.

Awesome, keep it up...maybe before you got her she got to chase a lot of live prey and she got used to that and the items in training aren't as exciting but as you build up her experience and frustration she will rock. Live prey are very interesting, unpredictable and often far more frustrating to catch then a sleeve or tug. Sounds like you found the perfect Rx.

Tresa, you're absolutely right. She was allowed to chase animals, and she also likes to chase bikes and motorbikes. Her favorite is dragonflies. She chases them tirelessly. When I was considering breeding her, I was going to name a pup in honor of her favorite pastime. She also critters a lot, and that can be a huge distraction when training or tracking.

Sadie is, always has been, and pbly always will be a guard dog. This creates two problems. Besides keeping that defensive drive close to the surface, it means that she gets to perform a lot of self-gratifying behaviors when left to her own devices. I could restrict her activities and focus all of her energy on training and bitework, and I think she would excel. However, I also think it would break her heart, as she loves her job and being in her yard.

We had another good, progressive night at the club. We started with me handling her on some short bites. TD then wanted to see if she had enough drive to start doing some pursuit with slightly longer bites, so I put her on a long line and we did three bites with the helper starting to turn and flee (about 10 ft).

My timing was not great, and she was starting to fatigue a bit, so the work was good to a point. The last one was slow but with a good strike. I ended there and let her carry the wedge off the field. I pbly should have done one more short bite for added confidence, but she seemed pleased, so I don't think any harm was done.

TD said the next time we work on the long line, he wants me to choke up and get her more fired up before the release, to get her to fire out. The helper said he wanted to remember to present the wedge higher to get her to launch.