Guest Anonymous Posted December 5, 2003 Posted December 5, 2003 Ok so the dogs play tug of war with each other, but not with hubby or i, We taught Zoey tonight how to play tug of war with us, but Cody doesn't like it. for zoey we put it in her mouth and said get it zoey and pulled on it and when she pulled back we said good girl. she really liked it. but if you put anything in cody's mouth he spits it out, fingers, toys, food, treats. lol i've tried he likes to pick it up and if it's in his mouth and i grab it, he drops it... so any ideas how to teach my deaf cody how to play tug of war.. ohhh and NOT to throw the damn tennis balls under the christmas tree.. this is his new favorite game. becuase he goes in after it and all the sudden i see the tree swayin' from side to side... Quote
JudyHoffman Posted December 5, 2003 Posted December 5, 2003 I wouldn't teach him to play tug if he doesn't like it. He sounds as if he is being respectful of yourself and your husband. Since he seems to love "fetch" I would teach him to play fetch away from the Christmas Tree. If I remember correctly, you want Cody to be a Therapy Service Dog? I would not teach him tug unless you can get him to release on command or with a hand signal. Tug is a wonderful stress reliever, but if you already have a dog that shows some aggressive/protective/possessive tendencies I would not teach it unless you can reliably 100% of the time control it. Stick with fetch ...... it seems to be what he prefers. Quote
imported_Kat Posted December 5, 2003 Posted December 5, 2003 you can still teach your dog to tug even if you want to enrol in a therapy scheme. Meg has been taught to tug since she was a very young puppy and loves it. She is also a registered pets as therapy dog and visits sick kids in hospital, and it certainly doesn't have any impact on that! From a training point of view, playing with a tuggy ball is the best way to interact with your dog and to ascertain dominance or submission issues. Don't force him. Cody sounds a submissive dog, but let him see how much fun that Zoey is having with tug and invite him to join in. With him being deaf, use your body language. Be open and present the tug to him or wiggle it a little on the floor and see if he will chase it a bit in a circle. If he does, play a game of teasing with him then let him get it. I know a deaf BC that has worked Crufts Obedience in test C and she is a very interactive dog and loves her tuggy. It can be done! :wink: Quote
JudyHoffman Posted December 5, 2003 Posted December 5, 2003 I do agree that playing tug is a great game! I play tug with all of my dogs who like it .... Kira will only play tug at agility practice or trials and that is fine. At home, she just prefers not too. I would not play tug unless you can get a reliable release of the toy and I thought Naomi had mentioned that Cody showed at one time "protective/aggressive" tendencies. If I am incorrect, then I apologize. Therapy work would have no bearing on teaching tug of course, unless any dog gets aggressive with tug games as some do. I personally think that dogs should have zero aggressive/possessive/protective tendencies to do Therapy work. 100% biddabity is best for a Therapy dog IMHO. Just my opinion tho .... I am a big believer in training using what the dog already knows & likes (it helps to build a closer bond)...... then you can move on to teaching new things, which is why I suggested teaching fetch away from the Christmas Tree, since he seems to enjoy fetching more than tugging. Quote
Peng1zrule Posted December 5, 2003 Posted December 5, 2003 some dogs just won't tug! he could refuse to play because he sees you as a true alpha and is nervous of even playfully challenging you. some of mine won't tug, some will...depends on the dog. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted December 6, 2003 Posted December 6, 2003 THanks for the idea everyone.. Yes i did want Cody to be a therapy dog. but right now it's nt a good time for him. We are working on his problems first with the bigger dog aggression.. all his other problems have disapperad after many months of training with Lee Anne. Thank god! now we are just working on why he goes after big black dogs. As for the tug of war he plays with Zoey all the time with tug of war of their animals but he wont do it with us. i found a page that a freind posted for me on another board about to soak the toy is chicken broth or with liver and just use it as a special toy and act all crazy and excited about it. so i will try that. also i'm sure my family freind Kim will be able to help me when i am down in Arizona.. As Cody will be staying with her, becuase my mom is allergic to dogs. so maybe she has some ideas also anyways thanks for the replys! i'll let you know how it goes! and if all goes well soon and we get over this dog agression, cody will be a year old in Jan and i'm going to start looking back in to fly ball for him!! :) Quote
courtnek Posted December 6, 2003 Posted December 6, 2003 DAL if Cody sees you as true alpha, and he might because of all the aggression training you are giving him, he may not want to play tug. He will play with Zoey because Zoey is not Alpha, but he may feel uncomfortable playing with you....The fact that he drops it as soon as you pick it up is a sign that he is being respectful to his alpha. He is thinking you want it so he has to give it up, which is actually a good thing in a dog'with aggressive tendencies. If he doesnt want to play, I wouldnt push it. Play fetch with him instead. How tall is your tree? I put mine up on a small table for just this reason, so the dogs cant knock it over trying to get at stuff under it. I have found that works well... :) Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted December 7, 2003 Posted December 7, 2003 thanks for the info Courtnek. i guess i'll just stick to fetch with Cody.!! Our christmas tree is 7 feet tall.. lol won't fit on a table!!! cody now likes to knock the balls off it and try to play with them also. but they are glass so he gets in big trouble for that!! Quote
courtnek Posted December 7, 2003 Posted December 7, 2003 well, this is drastic, but it works....Use the old mousetrap trick. Put traps under the ree, under a doubled over sheet or a blanket, and when he steps there it will snap and frighten him a little. Make a perimiter around the tree with them, so he can only get so close. In most dogs (not all, however) the sound of the traps and the sudden movement will make them back away. Good luck! My first cat climbed my (real) tree in my 1st apartment.When he got to the top his weight pulled the whole thing over. I found 3 gallons of water soaked into my apartment carpet when I got home.....and silk ornaments unravelled all over the place. What fun!! so I know what you're going through....the traps worked for the cat though. He never climbed another tree. Quote
Malamum Posted December 8, 2003 Posted December 8, 2003 Indy is not too fussed by the christmas tree but I know some people put car mats upside down under the tree. They use the ones with the little plastic spikey bits on the bottom and as the dog won't like to walk on them they apparentley stay away from the tree. I haven't need to try this myself so can't really say how well it works- but just a suggestion. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted December 8, 2003 Posted December 8, 2003 WOW!!! never thought to use the car mats.. that's a good idea! we use the mousetraps on the counter tops for zoey.. but now we just kennel her up becuase instead of getting on the counter... she has decided to eat our new furnitrue. that is not even paid off yet... *sigh* Quote
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