How long have you had this female? Sadly, if you just started training her, 15 months of foundation has already been missed.

Does she show any prey drive at all? chasing balls, frisbees, etc,?

One option would if she has just started training is to simply turn her loose on the field once she is comfortable with the other members and decoys, and getting them to play tug with her.

Start small, and work up in very small steps at first.

She LOVES the ball. I have had her for almost four weeks and started working her right away so as to not lose any more time. She is running small tracks already and some obedience. She just can't seem to tear her eyes off of me to watch the tug and play. We tied her out with the other dogs last week and she joined in with the barking, but still no tug interest.

Get one of those long horse whips and attach a kong to it. They are about 5 or 6 feet long.

This can put a lot of action in the prey item. Have the dog drag a 15 foot line so the option of control is there.

If the dog has prey drive this will work.

It is best to start drive building with balls on a string (or kongs). I am working on a new video that goes through Drive building, Grip building and Focus. The video is edited out of 4 seminars (about 50 hours of raw footage) with Bernard Flinks. Keep an eye on the table of contents of this web site to see when it is finished.
http://leerburg.com/table.htm

PS: Don't worry about the tug until your dog is solid on the ball on a string. The dog must grip it calmly, carry it calmly and Out it when told before you worry about tugs.

If your dog is chewy on the ball it will be chewy on the tug and chewy on the sleeve

Having the dog only 4 weeks, I wouldnt worry too much. Prey objects, ( on the end of a whip, rope, or anything else that can be used to create movement in the prey object) will help greatly.

Having the dog only for 4 weeks, I am sure she is just looking for your approval in whatever she does, and you could possibly be needing to work through some issues in previous training, or lack of, whichever may be the case. Patience is very important in your situation.

If you've had the dog for a month and she won't chase a tug you first have a identified a problem. The dog is low in the prey arena. Don't do any work except prey deveopments with the dog. Post the dog on a 8-10 ft. line on a fence on a flat collar or dead ringed fur saver. Use a medieum sized soft tug to start and make it move like a a squirrel jumping around in front of the dog and lunging away from the tug. If she doesn't do it, crate her, and deprive of half rations (hunger stimulates prey drive). Repeat every day in the same place until the dog is really energetic about chasing grabbing and countering the tug. Don't make it easy for the dog. She must learn that trying is what creates success not several lazy half hearted attempts.
Since the dog plays ball you can see she has play drive (if it were prey she'd be chasing the tug) this is not what you want to propagate. Close your mouth while doing this work and don't make the physical and verbal cues she associates with play. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

How about in the beginning praise her when she shows the slightest interest in the tug. After a while, praise her for grabbing it. She will quickly get the idea after that.

I'm in the same situation. I have an older dog that does not have much prey drive. I have a book written Tom Rose that say prey drive is an extension of play drive. First you should begin by with her using the tug. As her interest increases make more difficult for her to get the tug. I think you have to make sure she associates the tug as something to bite.

dw

I agree with Dwwoodsjr. Identification of the prey item is important and I also recommend all of Tom Rose's work. He also has a great training school and an excellent video (Training the competition heeling dog with Ed) If anyone is interested in learning more.