Working & Sport Dogs
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7 month old Mal keeping toy away from me
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7 month old Mal keeping toy away from me
Hi all! I have a 7 month old mal and we are training for SAR. I have a problem where she will keep a toy or a stick or something she finds of value away from me. This happens almost any time she is off-leash and she will ignore the recall which is otherwise very good. I have tried motivating her to come to me with food, high value treats, her favorite toys and she seems to ignore everything in that moment. I have never scolded her or given her a reason to play keep away (at least knowingly), also never chased her so she would make a game from it. This has been a problem since she was 3 months old and I would really like to solve it as it makes her really unreliable off leash and also when doing SAR training where I need her to bring the toy to me. Any tips and tricks are appreciated. 🙂
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7 Replies
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I think I’ve seen a similar question. The answer was to add consequence to her non-compliance… a long line was the suggestion for that… not an ecollar.
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Thank you for the reply. I can’t seem to find the discussion mentioned tho. Could you point me to it? Thank you!
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My working GSD puppy wouldn’t bring the tug back and was very much interested in possessing the item (more than the interactive play part). It took me a while to get her back!!!
Some prerequisite:
– A solid “OUT” command that works both while tugging and away from you (drop it).
Here are a few things you can try:
– Always finish the game away from you.
– Teach a cue (coupled with light leash taps): when the dog turns mark and reward with a game of tug. Practice until a very strong response to the cue/leash tap. Then you can use this cue when the dog has the toy to come back to you.
– Tug only a little (3sec) and not too strong.
– Never reach to grab the toy.
– You can try getting on the ground / running away from the dog.
– Attach a string to the toy so that you can both possess the toy at the same time.
– Pushing the dog away from you makes him want to come back more.
– Keep your body back and don’t show that you intend to take the toy from your body language.
Remember: your goal is that the dog understands that it is FUN to play with you, much more fun than keep the toy.
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This is incredibly good advice! I will try it for sure. She is actually crazy for tug playing and will literally jump on me and growl to initiate play, but for some reason when she ”finds” the toy it is hers and hers only and will not bring it.
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With patience and trying things differently she will come for sure 🙂 my pleasure if I can help
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The first step is making sure that she doesn’t think for some reason that you want to take it away from her.
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Another thing that comes to my mind: acting. When you are playing tug, make her feel super strong and when she finally gets the tug, you can act like you are falling on the ground etc…
With mine, I felt that she loved winning in that way, built he confidence and it incentivized her to come back to win again (and play more vigorously).
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