A few questions about the drive building exercise in the Flinks DVD:

(1) When I build drive with my pup and finally let him have the ball, I go through the tugging, running, and 'into my arms' routines, but he never gives up the ball unless I tell him to OUT. (He's got a great OUT, by the way.) Given that I'm only supposed to OUT him once a day, how should I get the ball back in order to build more drive if he won't let it go? He grips calmly when he's in my arms and won't drop it. I can't yank it from his mouth. I'm afraid if I OUT him too much he'll get nervous and start to mouth the ball. So how do I get the ball back?

(2) The DVD recommends trying to yank the ball from the dog's mouth while he's in my arms in order to test the firmness of his grip. If the purpose of bringing the dog into my arms is supposed to calm him and make him know that he will be allowed to keep the ball when he's near me, how does trying to yank the ball from his mouth contribute to building his confidence in me that I'm not trying to take the ball from him? This seems odd to me.

(3) When I build drive with him and get the rare opportunity to drop the ball for a bite, he doesn't catch the ball in mid air much. He'll probably catch it 2 out of 5 times, and when he does it's mostly by the string. My pup is 7 months old. Is this because he is still clumsy in his youth or should he be catching it by now? If he should be catching it, what should I be doing to help him be more successful?

Thanks.

1) You have to get a little creative sometimes. Try trading for food, or try trading for a 2nd ball. A 2nd ball works best with my dogs. What used to work well with Tiko was dangling ball 2 behind one of his ears just tickling the back of his ear. He'd drop ball 1 to bite at ball 2, then I'd put my foot on ball 1 to stop him quickly picking it up off the ground. Warning: Wear REALLY GOOD SHOES. Or slowly dragging a ball through the grass in front of him... gotta be quick with that one.

2) The dog learns not to weaken his grip when he's calm. If you do it right, the dog will hold his firm grip and not be bothered by you touching the ball.

3) He's a pup. Pups suck at catching and prefer the string. Makes for great comedy.

Good stuff, Mike, thanks. I'll give it a try.

 Quote: Mike J Schoonbrood

1) You have to get a little creative sometimes. Try trading for food, or try trading for a 2nd ball. A 2nd ball works best with my dogs. What used to work well with Tiko was dangling ball 2 behind one of his ears just tickling the back of his ear. He'd drop ball 1 to bite at ball 2, then I'd put my foot on ball 1 to stop him quickly picking it up off the ground. Warning: Wear REALLY GOOD SHOES. Or slowly dragging a ball through the grass in front of him... gotta be quick with that one.

if you use food aren't you just using compulsion to get an out? Still an out if you ask me. And the DVD advises against using a second ball. I got the impression from the DVD that when you can't take the ball off your dog this means he is at his full potentiiol for grip and drive and at this point you should move on to the focus work. I'm no expert, I've just watched the DVD, did I interpret it right?

 Quote: Andrew Myers

 Quote: Mike J Schoonbrood

1) You have to get a little creative sometimes. Try trading for food, or try trading for a 2nd ball. A 2nd ball works best with my dogs. What used to work well with Tiko was dangling ball 2 behind one of his ears just tickling the back of his ear. He'd drop ball 1 to bite at ball 2, then I'd put my foot on ball 1 to stop him quickly picking it up off the ground. Warning: Wear REALLY GOOD SHOES. Or slowly dragging a ball through the grass in front of him... gotta be quick with that one.

if you use food aren't you just using compulsion to get an out? Still an out if you ask me. ....

In what way is trading for food using compulsion?

 Quote:

In what way is trading for food using compulsion?

I second that motion and I raise you a "wtf?"

Sorry, I got my terms mixed up. I'm new to this, I just want to get it straight in my hgead. Forget that post. What I meant to say is that if you use food is it not still classed as an out? You might not give the command but your going through the motions. Isn't that just using food drive to get an out? What I'm saying is an out is an out, whether it be for food or whatever. Is that so?

My other point was that the dvd also advises against the use of a second ball. in the next DVD "perparing your dog for the helper" it talks about getting your dog so focused on the first ball that it won't accept a second ball. This is to do with building focus. You have to train your dog to do this, building his drive and foccus along the way. If you're using a second ball in the way you described, doesn't that compramise the dogs focus on the first ball and make it a lot harder to get it to ignore other prey items as the other dvd advises?