I have a 3yo Dobe that has an extremely high prey drive for one toy (frisbee) but not much else. He will play tug, etc. with other things but only with casual interest and after some level of coaxing. The difference in both grip/focus is like night and day between them.
I am looking for ideas/suggestions on transferring his great drive with one toy - to another toy that is less then joyous (such as a tug roll).
I'm debating two paths - the first being to eliminate all other toys except the one I want him to work with, the second being to start with the less interesting toy and then build up to finish with the toy he loves.
As of today I can usually bring him up with the frisbee then work him on the tug roll if he's not terribly motivated (but only after sleight of hand to remove the frisbee's from the field).
If anyone has a third suggestions or more insight into either one of the first two - it would be greatly appreciated!
I would put the frisbee away for now. Also, do you throw the frisbee for him? I would stop doing that too, thus making the action of tugging on the tug toy the only outlet for his drive/energy. I would recommend using a leather rag on a line/pole or put the tug on a line to really get it moving. I would entice him to chase and then bite the rag/tug with prey-like movements of it. If he doesn't chase/bite it, I'd put him up to build frustration (in his crate preferably) and try again later.
At 3 years of age, it's going to take some work. What's the reason for transferring him to a tug?
Working on giving a very active animal some basic work to do.
It's a dobe that was tossed around by a shelter to a few bad households.
I'm working him with a local Schutzhund club here and been trying to get a feel for something that he really enjoys doing while building up our relationship and his confidence.
This is purely sport/fitness for the dog as he can obviously never be transferred to defensive work based on his past and very late start. Luckily there is a club nearby that doesn't care about or focus on trying to title dogs.
I should note that my term "casual interest" probably needed to be clarified. He will certainly play with the roll - it just takes a little more work/enthusiasm on my part to get him interested - once he does he performs very well, lots of countering, eyes focused up on me, etc. The duration is much shorter however. I usually let him win after a strong counter about 3-5 times and then his intensity starts to fade so I end the game.
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Transferring Prey Drive from One Toy to Another
#239273 - 05/10/2009 09:32 AM 
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