BCDreamer Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 So, Psyche's a toy dog. She loves toys - in the house. We tug, and throw toys for hours, and she loves it, and it's good exercise for her when it's snowing or raining and we can't spend a lot of time outdoors (can't wait 'till this summer!). I'm wondering about a couple of things. She's a toy dog, but not obsessive about them. I don't want her to be obsessive obsessive, but I want her focus on toys to be very high - higher then it is now. I'd like to use toys as rewards, and right now, when she's outside of the house, she's not interested in toys. I've tried all of our toys, and she's just not into them. She'd rather sniff around, or wait for the treats - even when I don't have any. What are some suggestions you'd give for building the toy drive up (I have a frisbee that she's only allowed to play with when I'm with her, and even with that, she's just not into it outside)? And how would you suggest starting with toys outside? Bringing other toy dogs out to play too? Or will it just come when the toy drive builds higher? As an odd semi-side note - she doesn't like anything rubber. I have a tug toy, a tire on a rope, and a rubber frisbee and she doesn't like them. Only think she likes about the Milker (rubber tug toy with rope handle) is the rope handle. Only thing she likes about the rubber tire on a rope is the rope. Doesn't like the frisbee at all. It's not a problem, as I prefer fabric or rope tug toys and such. Just thought I'd mention it. So? What are your words of advice or knowledge? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Solo is not excited about tugging outside the house either. I wanted to use a tug as a reward for agility because everyone says you're supposed to use some sort of extrinsic reward, and food gets unwieldy. Solo is REALLY excited about agility and will do it all day for no extrinsic rewards whatsoever. So one day, I have him on the start line, and he's all revved up like he always is for agility, and my useless tug is in my back pocket, and my agility trainer says, "Give it to him now." "The tug?" "Yes, give it to him now." So I stuck the tug in his face, and damned if he didn't swing from it. Basically what we did was take Solo's excitement about agility and use it to turn the tug into a motivating toy for agility. Weird, but it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in2adventure Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 What you can do to help with training is find the ONE toy she is totally in love with and only use when training. It then becomes the replacement for the high value treat. It's now the high value toy. Lucia and Grady have an obsession with the cuz toys. They only get to play with them during training sessions. This has helped a lot when it comes to building drive (Grady really needs no help in this dept though ) The nice thing about a Cuz is it has a squeaker to get their attention with. I know you said yours doesn't like rubber, but maybe some kind of tug/rope toy can be used instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCDreamer Posted April 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 I've tried her with Squeeky toys (She's got a faux fur tug, and squeeky tennis balls), and the squeek does NOTHING. lol. I'm looking into buying her a Wonder Bar tug toy, as I think she'd like that... I once read an article (may still have it saved - I hope), about hiding it, and taking it out while your dog is out and bouncing about and playing with the toy on your own - for three days, then letting the dog play with it, but for a while only... She wont be starting agility until May (prolly closer to early June), so before then I'd like to try to get her playing outside of the house... Or at least even in the front yard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeman 101 Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 What about a toy that can be stuffed with food? http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...mp;ParentCat=22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumpin Boots Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 I once read an article (may still have it saved - I hope), about hiding it, and taking it out while your dog is out and bouncing about and playing with the toy on your own - for three days, then letting the dog play with it, but for a while only... I have done this with dogs and it worked great to motivate them. I talked about how I did it under the agility section under the topic 'dog runs to fetch and walks back' or something like that. Let me know if you have any questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riley-dog Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 I don't know exactly why but these are Riley's favorite. You can sometimes snag them cheap at Walmart or CVS. They used to have a sheep version, too! http://www.shopfatcat.com/tenascdogtoy.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizmo Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 What about Planet Dog toys? Made in US Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCDreamer Posted April 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2009 Lizmo, aren't all those planet dog toys rubber? I think you may have posted in the wrong toy thread, not sure though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizmo Posted April 15, 2009 Report Share Posted April 15, 2009 Lizmo, aren't all those planet dog toys rubber? I think you may have posted in the wrong toy thread, not sure though. Yup, I did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yancey fancy pants Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 4 year old Male BC won't let go of the frisbee until he to tired to hold it in his mouth. Now, he will drop it if you throw another frisbee, but will play tug of war until I drop. The one year old Red BC female drops it right at my feet unless she tugging on it with the Male. Still the most wonderful doggyde in the world!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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