I have a 9 month old APBT girl. I did have two but a thief came one night and took one of them.
Now the one i have fears a clatter stick. She was doinf find before they took the other dog. I donot know if they hit her with a stick or something. Now she will lie down when i get the stick out with the tug. Before she would keep comeing after the tug and did not pay the stick any mine. I hope some one can tell how to bring her out of this. I am new to the board and hope i ask this the right way. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Without seeing exactly what is goin on I would say you should probably go back to dong just tug work for awhile and make sure everything is allright there and then introduce the stick again in a non confrontational way. Such as putting it in your back pocket while doing the tug work. When the dog is all into the tug and working hard turn your back to the dog and as you release the tug bang the stick on your leg or rattle it in the air.You dont want to introduce it in a threatening way but expose just the noise of it at the moment the dog wins the tug.You want to turn the sound of the stick into the sound of victory.

Hi Randy

Since you don't know what's happened w/respect to your pup and the stick; we can't really say IF it's something your dog can get over.

However, I would re-introduce the stick AWAY from any bitework for a while. Clatter it lightly when you do what your dog enjoys best (excluding tug work) whether it's when you throw a ball, or when going for a walk etc...With pups and young dogs a good way to make a positive non-threatening association is to rattle it gently against your leg at feeding time and during feeding. I've seen some later graduate to where they can stroke the dog with the stick down the back while it's eating. But again this depends on the dog and the level of possessiveness/aggression it can display when feeding. This last part doesn't apply to all dogs and individual differences have to be taken into consideration.

Later I would reintroduce it into the actual bitework--once the positive associations have been imprinted. Initially once on the bite, the dog only sees and hears the stick being tapped gently on the ground or against your leg...later, the dog is stroked with the stick once or twice and then the stick is held low and tapped on the ground/leg the majority of the time. I wouldn't raise the stick over the dog's head until much later. If possible when doing tugwork, squat/kneel on the ground to the dog's level as opposed to standing and bending over the dog with the stick.

Anyways just a couple suggestions.

Hope this helps.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> I have place her in a new home with two boys to play with her. There dog past way an was looking for a new one. She was a very sweet dog and only want the best for her. I hope i have made everone happy now.I called them and they said they love her. Hope to go check on her in a few weeks. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
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Love from our dogs makes us better people!!!

Randy