Build Drive Early!!!

Building drive is absolutely key to motivating your dog to do things for you! A select few dogs are born with naturally high prey drive but the vast majority are not. With drive you can have a dog who wants to do things for you as opposed to a dog who thinks things have to be done or I don't get the stimulant or worse I get corrected. There are many ways to train dogs but motivation is always involved in training methods that produce dogs that love doing things for you.

Using bribery by giving the dog a stimulant for doing things right gets the dog used to working for the stimulant (like food or praise). On the other hand by building a dogs drives motivates him to work for you (not the stimulant), because you are the leader and working for you is lots of fun!!!

I cringe every time I hear a trainer or a veterinarian tell people that games like tug and following shouldn't be played with dogs. It happens very often and it is just plain wrong. I also hear a lot that if you do play games the puppies should never win. This is wrong again the puppies should always win, it builds confidence, a confident dog performs very crisp and quick actions. We need to let our dogs be dogs and think that playing with you - their leader - is the most fun thing in the world, nothing else really matters. Training puppies should not destroy personality it should enhance it, focus it into acceptable behaviors and away from unacceptable behaviors.

Drive with ball technique #1: Ball-on-the-wall game. Back tie your dog to a garage door, or a tall wall that has a hook or an eye-bolt. Attach the dog to a short leash (two to three feet, depending on the size of your dog), and make sure he is wearing a soft leather flat collar— something which will not hurt his neck when he strains against it.

The idea here is to playfully throw the ball against the wall near where the dog is tied. Your dog will begin to jump and prance for the ball. As he begins to get excited, encourage him. Occasionally (once or twice a session) let him win by getting the ball. Drive is built through frustration. When your dog appears most excited about the ball, end the session. If you work past his most
excited state you will actually decrease your dog’s drive. Frustration without the chance of ultimately winning lowers drive.

If you put your dog away right before his interest in the ball reaches its highest peak, the result will be that the next time you bring him out to play the ball-on-the-wall game, his interest will peak even higher! And this creates stronger ball drive.

Drive with ball technique #2: The Ball-on-a-String gadget. Buy a ball on a string or make one. Start by taking an ordinary tennis ball. Use a knife to puncture two half-inch slits— one on each side. At a local hardware store, purchase a piece of string, approximately the same width as a shoe-lace, three feet in length. Next, use a piece of wire, such as a bent coat hanger, to guide the string through the ball, and tie a knot in the end so the string will not accidentally slide back through.

Bring your dog out of the crate after an hour or two, and make the ball jump and roll. Every time the pup thinks the ball is “dead,” you should make it jump again, just enough to keep his interest. Pretty soon, you should be able to work your dog into a frenzy over “killing” the ball. Just like the ball-on-thewall game, quit when your dog is most excited, and the next time you bring out the ball-on-a-string, your dog will be even more excited. Soon your dog will be ball crazy, and you will be in a position to use the ball to motivate your dog to do anything!

There are many more games you can play, these are just a few suggestions. Tug games are absolutely great to build drive with your dog, even at an early age.

The secret to playing this game successfully is for you, the human, to control it. For this game, choose one particular toy that will be used as your tug rope (don't use one of your socks, or food items, or the leash!). Never play tug with any other toy. You start the game by picking up the toy and encouraging your dog to also pick it up. Give a particular cue that the game has started, like "Let's tug!". Some dogs will refuse to do this with you, especially if they've been punished for tugging in the past. You can start small by saying 'yes' (or any reward word you use with the dog) and treating them for holding one end while you hold the other. However, tugging is instinctive for dogs (it's a cooperative act in pack mate feeding) so your dog should catch on quickly. Tug a few times, then tell your dog "drop it". (You can use the same cheerful tone of voice you use for "sit" or "come"). You can reward him for dropping it with either a treat or another round of tug (preceded by "Let's tug!").

Make sure that you end the game if your dog gets too rough or agitated. Simply ask for "drop it", praise for it, say "we're done" and put the toy away. If the dog refuses to let go, you let go of your end and walk away (it takes two to tug). Don't try to take the toy back because that will be starting the game over.

Ignore the dog if she or he tries to start the game. Wait until she or he has stopped bugging you and is doing something your want to reward (even if that's lying quietly). Practice Tug - Drop it - Tug - Drop it. If the dog starts anticipating and grabs the toy, drop your end and leave in disgust. You decide when the game is over; say "we're done" and then put the toy away where the dog can't get it.

Some books will warn against this because of the fear that the dog will try to establish dominance, or that the dog will refuse to drop other items. Dogs and wolves do not try to establish dominance through tug-of-war games, and the fact that you start and stop it the game at your will maintains your "dominance". If your dog has a problem with guarding items or refuses to drop things, work on that first. One way to train "drop it" is to give the dog a large item to hold, then offer a very desirable treat in exchange. Be patient -- don't try to chase the dog around, offering the treat (why should the dog take food from you when getting chased by you is so much fun?) Don't grab for the toy yourself. If the dog picks it up again, try another exchange. When the dog is dropping the toy regularly, start giving the cue "drop it" before each treat offer. Another thing you can try is to make the toy seem dead to the dog. When there is no action on the toy the dog quickly gets bored and will drop this. Start this by pushing the toy forward until there is no tension and holding the toy absolutely still. If the dog continues to tug then use a leash to hold the dog in place, keeping the toy still with no tension in the tug.

Their needs to be caution taken when combining tug games and children. Children tend to get carried away with games. That's part of the joy of childhood, but not a good combination with a dog who has been shifted into high gear by tug of war. A handler with self-control and control of the dog keeps the game in check. The handler thinks at all times about how each move is shaping the dog's future behavior. A child, or anyone who gets into tug of war with a dog as a wild game, can be hurt and can also damage the dog.

If you learn to use the tug in a controlled manner it is a very very effective training tool.