I'm looking for suggestions from you good folks about transferring
drive from one kind of toy to another, if this is possible.

I have a 7 month old puppy that is absolutely bonkers for sky balls
(and the hose hehe). I really want to harness this drive but sky
balls seem to rip really easily if I put a rope through them.

I'm trying to get this excitement transferred to a ball on a string
or similar more easily handle-able toy. Even better, a toy that
isn't chewable (we pop the sky balls because he loves chewing them).
This is great for running him around for energy management,
but not so great for schutzhund-type training.

Should I not worry about this until he's a little older? I made
a flirt pole that I put odd objects on he loves (a fake robotic
dog, his old harness that is too small, etc.) His drive is
extreme for his favorite items...I'd be so happy to have him
be this excited about an easy-to-handle prey item (ball on string, eg). We have many different types of balls, including
the orbee (which he likes at about 4 on a scale of 1 to 10)

Any help much appreciated!!

Judging from the picture you posted and the behaviors you talk about.. I'll wager a guess that he is out of Show lines, right?

At 7 months old I wouldn't expect much. Keep working at building his drive for whatever he's interested in, and eventually there'll be more interest in other things as he gets older. My show line was 2 before he started caring about a wider variety of things, and getting him interested in biting a sleeve was a challenge in itself.

I've actually done OB with show lines using the hose. I've worked a lot of them in bitework too. At 7 months old its pretty much:

"Ooh! Ooh! A rag on a string! I want it! I want it!.... Hey look a butterfly! I want that instead!"

Some of em stay that way, just look at the 2008 USA Sieger videos :-P

Nice tip to remember: Show lines always want the thing that they're not allowed to have. Find a helper that knows how to make the dog want something.

Thanks for your reply, Mike! I think he is from somewhat mixed
show and working. It seems the show is more apparent though, you
are right. I love the butterfly comment! So true, except for the
sky balls hehe. Nothing takes him off of those.

I teased him with the orbee today for the first time with my pole,
that went fairly well, I think if I continue the tease work things
will shape up (I hope!).

How exactly did you use the hose in training? His excitement
for the real working hose didn't transfer to the cut off segments
I've been using. So I play with him, and blow through the segment
which gets him nuts, to work on his excitement for that tug
game--but I'm not sure if this is a great thing to do, as he's
not really playing in 'prey' but more 'that is freaky, kill it'.
I don't know yet whether this is good or bad.

I haven't started sleeves yet, but from his delight in biting
me and everything else I'm thinking that part is going to be
easy.

I think your comment about show lines always wanting what they
can't have is interesting! I thought all dogs were like that...
Is it not so?!

 Quote:

How exactly did you use the hose in training? His excitement
for the real working hose didn't transfer to the cut off segments
I've been using.

My dog is water obsessed, so I had a sprayer on the hose with a trigger. When the dog did what I wanted to he was rewarded by playing with the water. The downside is that when water doesn't come out of the hose, he obsesses about chewing it apart to try and make water come out.

 Quote:

I think your comment about show lines always wanting what they
can't have is interesting! I thought all dogs were like that...
Is it not so?!

Yes, but show lines have less desire to have what they "can" have, so there's a bigger contrast and emphasis on making them believe they're not allowed to have something/going to lose something. If you tie a show line to a post and put a toy they don't usually care about just outside of their reach, then act as if you're going to steal it, suddenly they'll become interested in it... where a more driven dog would be interested in it more readily, without theatrics.

I wish this discussion was concerning drives not the breeding of the dog. Being provacative with the dog and teasing is a drive building exercise and how a dog behaves is based upon his genetic makeup, previous experience and age.
I would like the owner of the dog to have an open mind. We, as humans often look for excuses as to our animals behaviors, often short changing our dogs capabilities. Low drives occur in all lines and all breeds.
JMO.
Happy Training,
Roni

Thanks for the replies!

Mike, that is exactly how I started with my pup. Now I have
to repair all the hoses. That turned on my first light
bulb about drive training.
I am going to make a more serious teasing effort, taking your
explanation into consideration. I have half-heartedly done
this and I think I could do a better job. Thank you for
writing that out.

Good point, Roni, I will make sure to keep an open mind as
well.

Claudette,

I am far from being an expert but I find once my dog is in drive; anything I am willing to play with is good stuff. Have you tried while he is focused and crazy for the sky ball offering the ball on the string, pull back, sky ball again, pull back until he is driven by both?

Hmmm...I haven't tried this. I'm going to sacrifice a sky ball
by putting a string through it so I can try this out (before
I just put them away for a while to get them out of the
picture as an outlet). Thanks Sheila!

I took what Mike said to heart with the leather tug that
arrived from Leerburg today...I wore it on my forearm dangling
like a purse, walking around ignoring the dog. When I saw him coming
for it I pivoted my body and kept moving away, eventually I let him catch it and
he did great with it. I teased him the same way again and then put
it away right after an 'empty snap'. I'm going to keep doing this for a
while. It was fun for me too. (haha)

I wanted to post an update--I know reviving old threads is
discouraged, but I like to see an ending to a story! Shortly
after I made this thread, I just simply put away the sky balls
and used the orbees for his twice-daily field exercise.

He liked them! He liked them enough to satisfy our need for
him to get his regular exercise. Then we bought another kind
of orbee, the glow in the dark type. He was crazy for them!
I don't know if it was an age or experience thing, but
now life is a lot easier. I have various tugs that he goes
crazy for and several kinds of balls that he likes a lot.
He even goes into good drive for the original orbees at this
point.

Thanks to you guys for your willingness to help through a
rough patch...I'm slowly learning the tricks and pup is
maturing every day.