Clean Run - October 2011 - 20

their searching skills. Even the herding breeds will nip and threaten more than choose a full-kill grip-bite. These are often the dogs that learn really bad re-bite habits, because there is a high rate of un-cued releasing. For these breeds the un-cued release often happens because

Playing by the Rules
Tug can be enjoyed quite safely as long as you stay awake on the job and play by the rules. first clean bite area of the tug, · Always offer ajaw height, awayto a specificbody, and with a preferably at from your small follow-through movement. The natural sequence we are emulating is chase-kill, not stand-kill.

as contact, pulling presmouthing of · The dog is used tothey let go, and re-biting as partbackthe · As soonthatthe dog makes good youmaintain athe tug again sure. If first bite is not will own game; every time you give it straight to them. Mouthing is just a micro version of letting go. Maintaining the grip on first bite is a natural kill-skill that must be refined. If you had just spent four hours stalking your prey, a poor first bite would result in the critter escaping and yet another day going hungry. All that effort is not to be wasted, nature teaches this lesson quite fast. A poor bite means the prey may escape. The first bite also needs to do the job of pinning down the prey to immobilize it. Mouthing and sucking it to death would not cut the mustard here. The rabbit is not going roll over to wait for a “better bite.” The Physics of Elastic Besides the benefit to your health, the elastic nature of the tug exaggerates the loss of the toy during mouthing or early releasing. But you must keep that elastic stretched. The longer the elastic element, the more the tug is going to spring out of the dog’s mouth once the mouthing begins; and yes, you stand the chance of a slap with a soggy tug. This does an excellent job of punishing you for allowing mouth slackening or opening. Do not punish the dog for biting your hand. You should have been more awake and made sure the loss of the tug extinguished the beginning part of the behavior, opening the mouth. Playing with a slack tug encourages mouthing and re-biting. Chatting to your friends while not paying attention to the tug encourages re-biting. very soon. Enjoy it, do not hand it back straight away. No rabbit wants to die without putting up a good fight.

The grip is uncomfortable. Make sure you present the toy to give the dog the best chance of a clean “mouthful” grip and that the bite area is suitable for that dog.

block · If the tug becomes yours unexpectedly, be ready to block the re-bite. Bring the tug into your body space and

ask before bite; will · Always of anfor controlbite. Building this dog’sincrease the chance accurate the self-control

the reflex movement. Once the dog is in control of his arousal, the play can begin again.

is a key part of the mental discipline required to support the game’s structure. You will want to be able to move the toy without risk of getting bitten. Play begins with the dog focused on the toy but clearly understanding that he can only bite when you cue it, not just because you move it.

A Gentle Partnership
Tug training can be enjoyed by the most gentle partnership if you release the need for adding aggression to the game. Think of the breeds that would kill small birds, rabbits, rodents, or even those that work as a pack and kill deer; their prey is designed for flight, not fight. The rabbit doesn’t get its teeth out for protection; it relies on running fast and getting down the hole. Focus the training games on the chase-kill element, the shared killing, and not the dog-fight-dog element and every dog can enjoy the game. Aggression would only be part of the game if the dogs were in defense or attacking predators. That is not the role we should associate with our play. D

Kay has run training classes for many years, beginning in 1978 with evening classes at the local dog training club to her full-time business, Learning About Dogs. The class content is as wide ranging as the types of dogs and owners that Kay has successfully trained, from obedience to nosework, from freestyle to lifeskills. Kay regularly travels the world presenting at seminars, conferences, and training centers. With 11 self-published training books and videos she continues to encourage “outside the box” thinking with a mixture of practical application, online courses, and an enquiring mind. She shares this enthusiasm for learning with her ninth generation of Border Collies and, for variety, her Gordon Setters. Her website is www.learningaboutdogs.com.

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Clean Run - October 2011

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