ENGAGING YOUR PUPPY : training for recall and retrieve

[skycat 6,174]

Found this vid of Michael Ellis with his puppy. This guy is a top trainer in the US, and never mind the fact that he's working with a Malinois pup, you can do this with all types of dogs. This type of training is guaranteed (in my experience) to make a good retriever. I've used these methods for a couple of years now, and not only with pups, but also turned previous non-retrievers (adults) into retrievers. The young dogs I've trained during this period love retrieving as much as catching, and it helps the recall better than anything else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiTMEA4vZ3s&feature=relmfu

[MrsChamp606 553]

Great video! Pretty much exactly how you explained the tug training in CMW penny!

[skycat 6,174]

That's the whole point of the game: it is an interactive game which keeps the pup engaged at all times: the retrieve is just part of the game, and the fun doesn't end when the pup brings the toy or tug back to you: that's the really important part of it.

[Casso 1,261]

Thats a good video penny, another point is that all our dogs have drive energy to give which is where a lot of problem behavior starts , if a dog can see you as the focus for its energy unwanted behavior such as chewing, whining, barking and tearing up things will subside because alot of the problems are associated with drive energy, which seep out in other areas of the dogs environment

Give the dog the answer to his energy before he starts asking us the questions of what to do with it

If you get a dog hooked on tugging, that is the start of the training process, that becomes the reward for heeling , sitting , stay or anything else you can master with the dog, it can be a game in itself but can lead on to so much more,

The dog is in drive and in our space , the trick is to then get him taking instruction in that high drive state of mind, a state of mind where most times we find we run into problems with our mutts,