When Pigs Fly_ Training Success With Impossible Dogs - Jane Killion [42]
Augie is enjoying this tug game and hanging on for all he is worth. This tug game is a lot of fun for both of us.
1. Put your dog in a stay (if you have not yet trained a stay, have a friend hold your dog) and put the toy on the ground a few feet away from him.
2. Release your dog and click him as soon as he gets to the toy. This will probably stun him and chances are he will drop it. Feed him, and immediately tell him to get the toy again before he does it himself. Click as he reaches the toy.
3. If, at any point in the training session, your dog drops the toy for any reason, Click and treat that, too. Your dog will learn that he can earn treats by both getting and dropping the toy.
Why does this work so well? First of all, it is simple to teach a dog to do things, but almost impossible to teach him not to do things. With this technique you are teaching your dog an acceptable way to interact with toys, rather than trying to prevent him from interacting with them at all. Furthermore, as we discussed in Chapter Six, it is a convenient truth that, when you put a behavior on cue, the dog will tend to only do it when you ask for it. In addition, most dogs are very willing to work with you and do things your way, so long as they have the opportunity to earn the things that they want by doing what you want. If your entire training program is built around keeping your dog away from toys, your dog will spend all of his time figuring out how to get around you and get to the toys. If your training program is based on giving your dog a way to earn his toys, he will generally play by your rules.
Notwithstanding all of this talk about teaching a toy-drop, the most important rule that you must follow when playing tug games is to let your dog win often, and let him get a lot of enjoyment out of winning. I make a big show out of allowing the dog to wrest the toy from my hands, and then applaud and cheer as he leaps about, brandishing his prize. Much of the time I give my dog the cue to release the toy, but very often I make sure that my dog “wins.” Don’t worry about controlling the game by winding up with the toy, because you always have the ultimate control. If you won’t play anymore, there is no game. A dog alone with a tug toy is like one hand clapping. Not much fun, at all.
See how much FUN it is to win at a tug game? Let your dog win sometimes and he will enjoy your company more than if you never let him win.
It is not necessary or advisable for you to get the toy away from your dog every blessed time. If you knew someone who would only ever do something social with you if they decided it was time to do it, and then beat you every time at any game you played with them, would you want to be friends with that person? Your dog wouldn’t want to be friends with them, either. Neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp has done many years of research on functions and neuropsychology of play. He makes the following observations regarding play among lab rats (New York, Affective Neuroscience, 1988):
Play dominance clearly emerges if two rats are allowed to play together repeatedly… One rat typically tend to become the “winner,” in that it ends up on top more often during pins…but the continuation of play appears to require reciprocity and the stronger partner’s willingness to handicap itself. If one animal becomes a “bully” and aspires to end up on top all the time, playful activity gradually diminishes and the less successful animal begins to ignore the winner. There