[Val]

Agree with suggestions regarding IGP or other sport dog trainer. In the meantime, you will get a long ways by purchasing Ivan Balananov’s cornerstone collection in the Training Without Conflict website. It may seem like a lot of money- but learning how to play with a high drive dog (you have to be fun and competitive) is not easy, nor is getting them to out a toy on command every time. Once you’ve established your authority during play- the biting will stop. The dog will see you as fun but firm parent and respect your boundaries and commands. Using these games (with rules) is how many high drive dogs learn to compete.

Good luck.

Ps: get a trainer who doesn’t blame you and can actually help you have fun and control your dog. You’ve done nothing wrong- you have a high drive dog.

[Val]

Hi Steve,

Sounds like Layla is lucky to have found you. As you’ve noticed, she will have a difficult to impossible time learning while she is ill or in pain.

Might be a good idea to listen to Jay’s post again- assuming you mean his talk on differential reinforcement. It’s complicated.

Have you seen the daytodaydogtraining pateron? He has an entire reactivity case (board & train) posted. It’s a shepherd. He is somewhat aligned with Jay & Larry Khron and deals with all kinds of dog aggression. He is very involved with dog rescue and volunteers his services to local shelters.

If you are interested in working with a trainer- he’s TWC certified and on the TWC website you can find certified trainers that work his way, in your area.

Good luck. ❤️ (it should not take thousands of reps to help Layla or any dog).