hey i am trying to get some oppinions on a question i have so here it is. i was playing with paco, my 6month old APBT this week with his tug and also with a dummy on a string. he hasnt ever done bite work before and i am trying to join a schutzhund club in my area but am not a member yet. we have been working on trying to develop his drive and focus with toys on a string etc. for a few months now. while we were playing the other day he grabbed a towel and started shaking it like he wanted to play with it. i thought it couldnt hurt so i got an old bath towel that we could tear up and traded it with him. he really loved it and so i wrapped it around my arm and let him tug on it whith me attached to the other end. i did this mostly out of curiosity and to see what he would do. for one reason or another it made somthing in him switch on. after i got a lot of encouragement from him i wrapped it up tightly and put rubber bands around it, then presented it like a sleeve. for the first time, i saw him really want somthing.. he went nuts; he was so exited. ive never gotten any kind of reaction like that out of him with any other toy. he thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. not only was he amazingly enthusiastic, he wasnt getting bored with it (like he does after a few minutes with most of his other toys) either. mind you i wasnt going to put his attention span to the test; at this point i will be thankfull for whatever i can get. i put it away after 5 minutes while he still wanted more. i was so impressed with the way he was playing. his didnt hesitate to bite, and when he did he grabbed it with his whole mouth and held on for dear life. he would come running and i would back up to encourage him, and he would launch at the towel from several feet back. after a short tug of war id slip the rolled up towel and he would prance around, shaking and tossing it, obviously proud of himself. i dont want to rush things; im really out of my league when it comes to this training knowlege. so, what im trying to find out is, is this type of play is productive or destructive or neither? or should i just leave it for club training sessions? what do you all think?

Productive.

Rag play is one of the best ways to start dogs out in bite foundation work.

Try burlap sacks, they transition nicely to jute tugs and jute sleeves.

Take a look at the videos Bite Training Puppies, and The First Steps of Bite Training.

That will get you rolling.

I don't see how teaching your dog it's ok to bite your own arm is productive? I know sacking the dog is productive but I would think making a simulated sleeve on your self and encouraging the dog to bite would confuse the hell out of the dog.

I know this is only prey work but still, the dog is still biting it's handler's arm. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Is it any different than playing with a puppy sleeve on your arm with your dog? It is still the rag the dog is interested in, not the arm of his handler.

Besides, with this work you are teaching the dog a game that can be transfered to another person later. It is the game you are interested in, the dog will learn the specifics of exactly what you want later when it is older.