Clean Run - September 2017 - 45

you would when adding a cue to any
other behavior. Mark each successful
drop with "Tug" just as before, and
then give your dog either some fight
time, or a brief fight followed by possession time.
Before switching to one-toy tug
games, make sure you are getting
a high rate of success on the "Drop"

cue with two toys first. Then try the
same pattern, but instead of dropping toy #1 completely, after saying
"Drop," let your arms go limp, like
a rag doll's. If your dog continues
to pull backwards, step closer to
release pressure on the toy. Wait.
Breathe. Be passive. Eventually,
your dog will realize it's pretty boring
to stand there holding a toy in his

mouth that appears to be "dead." As
soon as you feel him starting to relax
his mouth on the toy, immediately
cue "Tug" and activate the game
again. At first the dog does not have
to drop the toy completely; you can
work up to that. Your first target behavior is mouth relaxing on the toy.
Using the "Tug" cue, you can shape
full drops from there.

Using the "Go" cue to capture drops
just as with "Tug." Time "Go" to the
instant the dog opens his mouth to
spit out his toy. Try to say it before
the toy even hits the ground. Then,
immediately toss toy #2.

In the early phases of teaching
"Tug," it sometimes helps to keep
the toy hidden behind your back
initially, so the dog can focus on the
cue without having to worry about
resisting the toy. But later on, you'll
want to teach him that even when
the toy is in view, the green light isn't
on until you say the verbal cue. This
level of stimulus control is extremely
important for tug safety

Troubleshooting: If your dog ever
snatches the toy without a cue, the
best thing to do is immediately let
go of the toy and be boring for 5-10
seconds. No fight. No contest. But no
play either. When your dog comes
back and looks at you, immediately
re-cue "Tug" again. Go back to playing the game with the toy behind
your back until after the cue. Then try
with the toy in view again, but out of
reach. Whenever the toy is in view,
wait for eye contact, then mark with
"Tug." Over time, if you are consis-

tent, the default of wait-with-eye contact-even with an enticing tug toy in
full view-will grow very strong.

Summary: Toy Cues as
Marker Signals
Once you and your dog have a fluent vocabulary of toy-specific cues,
the sky is the limit to what you can
do! You'll have a veritable arsenal of
precision, high-energy, high-value
reinforcers at your disposal. If you
need to shape a quiet wait-for-thethrow behavior, use "Go" to mark

your dog for standing still and not
barking. If you want to infuse certain
behaviors like heel-work with extra
sparkle and enthusiasm, try reinforcing with fun "Catch it" games, or use
a Zen-style "Get it" release cue and
then race your dog to an exciting,
toy-jackpot. The "Tug" cue is a handy
way to teach fast drops, and you can
use well-conditioned end-of-session
cues, such as "Trade," to help the
possessive dog experience less conflict about giving up his toys when the
game finally has to be over. D

Sarah Owings, KPA CTP is passionate about reaching the difficult dog and specializes in using clicker training principles to help transform the lives of fearful or shy dogs.
As the owner of Bridges Dog Training, and a regular contributor to online training forums, she is known for her innovative approaches to tough behavior problems, and
her compassionate and insightful teaching. She serves as faculty at ClickerExpo, an instructor for Karen Pryor Academy, as well as an advisor to the Glendale Humane
Society in Los Angeles. She can be reached at www.bridgesdogtraining.com and on Facebook.
September 17 | Clean Run

http://www.bridgesdogtraining.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - September 2017