When Pigs Fly_ Training Success With Impossible Dogs - Jane Killion [41]
Try to pick a tug toy that will play on your dog’s hot reinforcers. A birdy dog might like something that flutters as you pull it along. A terrier might like something with a vermin-like squeak to it. A ball-crazy Dalmatian might appreciate a rope toy that has a tennis ball attached to it. Use your imagination and come up with a toy that has some natural appeal for your dog.
If you dog cannot be enticed to tug no matter how attractive you make it for him, you can easily clicker train a dog to love tugging. Tugging is a good example of a cold reinforcer that can quickly become a hot reinforcer. Simply approximate the tug—dog touches tug toy, dog puts mouth on tug toy, dog holds tug toy with your hand on it, dog holds toy as you pull gently on it, etc.
Big dogs and Terriers often like to be shoved in the chest when playing. Face-on rough play, with lots of growling and shoving can be very appealing to large or hardy dogs.
Another great way to convince your dog that it’s fun to tug is to use a tug toy that holds food, such as the Tug-N-Treat™ The Tug-N-Treat is a heavy nylon pouch with a handle and Velcro closure. You can place great treats in the pouch, show your dog what is in there, close it up, and present it to him. He will almost certainly take it in his mouth and try to get to the food inside, and you can begin your tugging game.
Small dogs tend to feel less inhibited if you hold your body at an angle to them while playing. Many small dogs find face-on tug games to be intimidating.
If you teach your dog to tug, you also need to teach him to release the toy on cue. Take your dog by the collar and let go of the toy. That immediately stops the fun, and keeps your dog from running off. Do not choke, shake, pull or otherwise do aversive things with the collar; just hold it so that your dog is stuck in “boring mode.” Usually, that is enough to make a dog immediately drop a toy, and you can click and treat that. After a few reps you can add a cue. “That’ll do” is a good release cue because it has a sing song quality and is hard to say in a nasty voice.
If you patiently shape your dog to hold on to the toy, after a while they will suddenly realize that it is FUN to hold on to the toy and tug!
If your dog is a toy madman and just holding the collar is not enough to persuade him to drop it, put a piece of food under his nose and click/treat as soon as him mouth opens and the toy falls out. Depending on how obsessed your dog is with the toy, it may take many, many repetitions, but in the end you will have a reliable toy-give.
A Tug-N-Treat toy.
Eventually, you can fade holding the collar to just placing your hand under the dog’s chin while he is still holding the toy. Your dog will understand perfectly well that there is no chance for any further play at that moment, and he will drop the toy on cue. Teaching a dog to drop a toy has the added benefit of teaching him to go from frenzied playing to calm instantly, which is an extremely important life-skill, especially for selfcontrol-challenged dogs (which most Pigs Fly dogs are).
Augie immediately releases the toy and settles down when I put my hand under his chin. When I was first training this, I gave him a cookie every time he let go. Now he lets go whenever I put my hand under his chin.).
There are some dogs, like my Nicky, who are so toy-obsessed that they will not let go, even for a piece of food. Nicky’s freaky obsession with tennis balls is legendary. He has similar obsessions with just about any toy you can name. If he finds a Frisbee, he will put his mouth on it, lick