Well the treat thing didn´t work out so well. With the tug she got less interested in the tugging and more interested in the treats. Using low value kibble made no difference here and she did still tug but with alot less intensity than usual and seemed more focused on checking when the treat is coming while hanging on the tug meanwhile.

With the ball she couldn´t care less about the treats. When I took the ball away she would eat the treat when I basically put it in her mouth but it was pretty obvious that the ball is way more valuable.

But the tactic to mark and throw my ball when my hand touches her ball, seems to work. Today she started stopping near me and didn´t move away at all when I reached to touch the ball. We will play again in the evening and see how it goes. Right now it seems that I have been doing a great work tiring her

Though I would like to get her tugging game in a better shape if anyone has any other ideas.

Do you by any chance have a little video clip you could link us to?

Unfortunately not

Today I tried the ball game outside in front of the house. She couldn´t care less of the people and strollers going by that she usually wants to go and greet- she was completely focused on the ball. But she obviously doesn´t get the "ball in my hand" thing- as I was standing up this time, she just dropped the ball on the ground most of the times and looked at me waiting for the toss. I tried to get the ball to touch my hand but with not consistent luck. I still would like for her to wait until I get my hand there eventually. Could I get it later on using a command taught with different objects (as she gets a little insane around the ball)?

But I started teaching the retrieve to ease my mind. We have done just one session so far and I got her to touch the dumbbell with her nose and putting her teeth on it a few times. Just thought if I created good habits associated with the dumbbell then even if I am screwing something up with the balls, it will be less of a problem. Am I off here?

I think might just be in a puppy panic- no matter what you do, you just keep second guessing that if this is the right thing and maybe you are scarring the dog for life. I just consoled a puppy owner that thought she had massaged her 5 month pups permanent canine out (the tooth was touching the roof of the mouth) and thought to myself that people can worry themselves crazy trying to get everything perfect just to realize that I am doing the exact same thing..

Jaana, have you tried to go back to just using one ball, outside? I had/have the same problem as you when I play 2 ball or 2 toy.

What I am doing now is just playing w/ 1 toy, and when she starts running back to me I immediately start running backward in a somewhat stooped position. This gets her to continue coming toward me; when she reaches me I take the toy in my hand (no pulling on it), give her the command to out it, and then either mark and give her a food reward, or mark and throw the toy again.

I just got the formal retrieve done last night. Here's how I did it in 6 half hour sessions:

Put the dumbbell on a chair- reward for nose touches, looking at mouthing etc (you can put a treat there initially to entice them if they are shy).... Once they will do any one behavior 3 times, I up the ante by one further step.
(ie: If they mouth it but don't pick it up 3 times, then I wait until they get so frustrated that they take the dumbbell and either push it off the chair or take it off with their mouth and drop it-mark and reward. I really want them to take it off with their mouth so if they continue to push it off with their nose, I just say "nope" and put it back on the chair and wait for a mouth hold)

Once they will take it off with their mouth, I will start to put my hand out immediately after they have taken it off the chair and mark and reward for me taking it/catching it before it falls.

Once they start to turn their head expecting my hand to be there, I start standing up straight and keeping my hand closer to my body- so now they may have to come a step or two towards my hand to get me to reach for it-again mark and reward.

So once they will bring it to my hand without dropping it, now I will put it on the floor and start from square one again. By now they will mostly get the game and pick it up right away.

Then the final step is to throw it 2ft in front of me and let them get it and bring it back- don't worry about the sit quite yet! Then slowly up the distance as they become more confident-once the dog can come to you and hold the dumbbell standing in front of you without dropping it- then you can ad the formal sit in (if that is what you are going for)

Just remember stay patient and upbeat- let them figure it out. Try not to coax or command too much, let them get the game.

You can do this with the ball too, I just used the dumbbell so that is why I described it with one. But just sub the dumbbell with the ball and try the same way.

I hope this works for you!

Jaana,
Is the dog hungry? Skip a meal or 2 before this and you might get better results!

A little update of our girl. It is with only one ball that is not hers or even like hers and we had played for a while by the time of the video but I think it is pretty good. Though we have stopped playing ball right now to work on the stuff in the Michael Ellis Tug video. And she gets a little off when playing with our own balls- she gets a really retarded look on her face and the rest of the world dissapears (that is not bad really) and she can´t think of anything else but the ball- if I put it away to continue something with her she zones out to go searching for the ball and ignores anything I might tell her and this is the last thing I want.

Sorry for the loss of focus in the middle of the clip- men...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXnSSI-EexY