hi my male pitbull turns 6 months in about a week and i recently bought a small tug and a large 27x11 tug and he will jump right off the ground to get a bite and i can pretty much swing him around 360 degrees but hes still teething a bit so im not expecting his grip to be perfect. the problem im having though is that he has no drive outside at all he doesnt want to make drive in the park or anywhere besides inside and sometimes its even hard to get him interested. hes been an inside dog and spent a few nights outside and ive tryed putting him out there for that day and then greeting him with the tug and all he wants is to be loved up and to get inside as soon as possible. it might be that its cold im not sure, is this something i should be concerned about. And how would you go about teaching him to make drive in different areas. please help this is the first dog ive trained and im not sure abotua lot of things so i hope some of you can help. thanks

Since your pup is teething, I would not be giving him any bites.......you do not want to associate biting with pain. You say that his Drive is not very good outside, so I would be working on the Drive Work. Try tying a ball on a string to a broom handle and make Drive, or if your pup likes the tug better then tie the tug to the broom handle........When my pup was teething I would make a lot of Drive and he would chase it like crazy, but I would not give him a bite.......then after about two minutes of that I would put him in his outside kennel.

You know there are some other things you also might want to think about. I would have an outside kennel for my pup and I would keep him there for a few hours before I do Drive Work with him.........you want him to be rested and ready to work. You don't want him laying around on the couch in the house and then go and make Drive, IMO. You also don't want to take him for a walk and then make Drive and you don't want to feed him right before you make Drive......You want him ready to work!

I am having this problem as well, but my dog is 3 years old. I do not have an outdoor kennel or dog run, and I really don't want to just put her outside by herself because there are quite a few stray dogs in the area and my yard isn't fenced (though she thinks there is an invisible fence there and won't leave the yard). She will play fetch and run around growling and doing that thing where she tucks her butt up underneath her and runs around, and also play with her tug - but only inside. I can't get her to do anything outside at all. She is too interested in sniffing or watching the neighbors or whatever. She isn't interested in the tug or any toys at all, though she does obedience just fine while outside - it's getting her to want to play and tug on her rope toy while outside that I'm having trouble with. This will really be a problem since we want to train her in protection.
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Any suggestions? Ideas?

It doesn't matter if you have the dog in a run or inside in a kennel, the point is to isolate and somewhat bore the dog before you go out to play. If you have no outside kennel available, put the dog in a crate for a while before working with the dog, and isolate again for a period after.

Honestly, though, I have never had a dog that needed this in order to work for me. Not sure I would want one either.

Like I said, she performs her obedience just fine outside, regardless of how bored she is beforehand or afterwards and regardless of the distraction level. That's why I'm confused. I just don't understand why she seems to think that playing is only for indoors, or why everything else seems more interesting than anything I'm trying to do to get her riled up while outside.

Kristen, I would start by NOT allowing your dog to have toys available in the house at any time. In addition, don't initiate games in the house with her. If you want her to learn to play outside then you must be consistent. Try starting in a distraction free environment outdoors and work your way up to building distractions. Also, keep the play time very brief, to build up her desire. You want to leave your dog craving more, not tired and worn out. The other possibility is your dog may just not be a real high drive dog. JMO