to play or not to play!?

S

serena2005

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 April 2006
Messages
1,971
Location
London
Visit site
All I seem to do is moan about this dog!
we recently moved to a bigger place, dog seems to have settled slightly in the last few weeks but OH feels like hes still following him, and bascially falls over him all the time!

anyway... I walked him this weekend, as I did on friday I played fetch with Nook, but I didnt take the ball off him when we went home and he ended up losing it!

Being short on balls I decided to take it off him on the way home... well he didnt like this at all, but since I had started the fight I thought I had to finished it! when i finally got it off him he threaten me I told him of and he done it again!! I would say he went for me as I think he if wanted to he would have!

but it did worry me a bit as my last dog bit me. Anyway told OH about this and he said he had done that to him before so he stopped playing ball.

I dunno what to do with this bloody dog, I sort of feel like we are ruining him :( by not having enough time or patience with him, I dont know how to try and sort out the problem we have with him and there seems to be more and more plus the bomb shell of the new baby in 2 months!

HELP please!! :( :(
 
Take two balls on ropes (SO YOU ARE PROTECTING YOUR HANDS! Hold the rope, never the ball) out with you. He does not get one unless her 'outs' the other one. Problem solved.

Do let him 'win' the ball sometimes, then tease him with another one to make him come back and let go of the original one.

If you want it back, grab the rope end, while he is tugging, pop his jaw and put the ball in your pocket very quickly. Or distract him by throwing the other one.
Also, if he wants to carry it home, let him, it is pacification and will keep him happy.

I'd kill for a dog with a higher ball drive. Use it to your advantage and don't complain!!!
You want the ball? Well then you have to be quiet/wait/sit/speak/down.
Your OH was right to stop it dead when he was getting too bolshy.
You can exploit the ball drive to train all sorts of things.

TBH, with big dogs with high ball drives, you DO run the risk of getting caught with teeth, happened to me a few months ago, went to A&E, got patched up, no panic - it wasn't the dogs fault, it was mine, I'm not as fast as he is and I shouldn't have gone diving for it at the same time as him! It's not aggression, they just don't have hands and we do. He wasn't going for you, he was going for the ball.
 
CaveCanem said:
Take two balls on ropes (SO YOU ARE PROTECTING YOUR HANDS! Hold the rope, never the ball) out with you. He does not get one unless her 'outs' the other one. Problem solved.

Do let him 'win' the ball sometimes, then tease him with another one to make him come back and let go of the original one.

If you want it back, grab the rope end, while he is tugging, pop his jaw and put the ball in your pocket very quickly. Or distract him by throwing the other one.
Also, if he wants to carry it home, let him, it is pacification and will keep him happy.

I'd kill for a dog with a higher ball drive. Use it to your advantage and don't complain!!!
You want the ball? Well then you have to be quiet/wait/sit/speak/down.
Your OH was right to stop it dead when he was getting too bolshy.
You can exploit the ball drive to train all sorts of things.

TBH, with big dogs with high ball drives, you DO run the risk of getting caught with teeth, happened to me a few months ago, went to A&E, got patched up, no panic - it wasn't the dogs fault, it was mine, I'm not as fast as he is and I shouldn't have gone diving for it at the same time as him! It's not aggression, they just don't have hands and we do. He wasn't going for you, he was going for the ball.
Click to expand...

He plays ball lovely, and will play for hours he gives the ball up when he knows its play time, but as soon as he knows its home time he wont give it back. (he use to!)

I know what you mean about him going for the ball and thats all it was, hes done this before.
but today wasnt like that, he was pissed off he growled/bark type thing and wasnt even going for the hand with the ball, and when I told him off for it he done it again.
 
How does he know when it's home time/time to be an arse? Do you remove the ball from him at a certain point on the walk, after a certain amount of time, under certain circumstances, or behave differently with him when asking for the ball for the final time? (For example reaching for the collar, ready to attach the lead whilst asking for the ball. Or attempting to remove a ball from his mouth rather than having him spit it into your hand etc.)

I'd be looking at those things if he's normally happy to give up a ball mid game. Then would take the ball away mid-game in the same way I take it at the end of play time- but with the instant reward of throwing the ball for good behaviour :) Essentially my aim would be to have him happy to give up the ball regardless of whether or not we're (for example) near the gate and about to leave... Because giving the ball up is a great thing in ALL situations.

I'm not sure anyone could help on here with the situation you had earlier when you took the ball from him and he reacted. For example, it's impossible to tell on a forum if it was excited barking or frustrated/bossy barking. If it was the demanding 'give that back now, or I'ma nail you' type reaction then I generally deal with that behaviour in two different ways. One is equally confrontational- as in direct eye contact, square my body up, step forward into the dogs space and give a low/harsh vocal warning. Other way is stay still, stand sideways onto the dog, avert eyes and be generally boring until the dog calms down (and is thus ready to listen to instruction in order for Good Things to restart). I should point out I've only ever used the more 'in your face' method on my own dogs or friends dogs, all of whom I know very well. In all cases the dogs were more 'full of themselves' than aggressive. I can dodge a horses back legs with my wellies stuck in 6" of mud, but I'm pretty sure if I push a dog to nailing my arm, my arm will indeed be well and truly nailed :rolleyes:

Balls on ropes are just generally awesome for saving your hands. My current dog has very high drive for a ball, and my hands are far less bruised since buying the variety on a rope. He has a solid 'out' but in all honesty, first thing in the morning I'm quite likely to make a grab for it at the same time he will. Lack of caffeine is bad. As CC says, get two, so you can dangle one temptingly while you claim the other. Tug of war games are good for teaching 'out' also. Just stop in the middle of a game, be very still and boring. When he stops tugging ask for out and gently remove toy (don't pull, that restarts the game! If he spits it out and stares at you that's even better) then it's all 'good out! Out!'.... Continue game while praising genius dog etc.

Hope some of that helps. It's mostly personal experience and opinion so quite happy to be corrected by anyone if I'm talking big hairy balls :D
 
Ditto the 2 ball idea, Evie will play swap for ever. She will sometimes try and have a tug of war in the field when my son has her out but will alway let go for me. She has also learned that when I say "finish" that is the end of the game and she will give up her ball to go in my pocket. I did this by offering her a treat when the game has ended.
If he grumbles at you I would reprimand with a strong "No" and then do some heel work, left and right turns and a few sits, so he realises you are in control.
 
Pix said:
How does he know when it's home time/time to be an arse? Do you remove the ball from him at a certain point on the walk, after a certain amount of time, under certain circumstances, or behave differently with him when asking for the ball for the final time? (For example reaching for the collar, ready to attach the lead whilst asking for the ball. Or attempting to remove a ball from his mouth rather than having him spit it into your hand etc.)
Click to expand...

I use to say " last one" when it was the last throw... then he would stop dropping the ball. If he thought you were going to put it in your pocket this is when he would jump for it!
The other day I did just ask him to drop when putting on the lead, he point blank refused this is when i grabbed ball and pulled it from him, then him telling me off-me telling him off then him telling me off again!! lol
[/QUOTE]

I'd be looking at those things if he's normally happy to give up a ball mid game. Then would take the ball away mid-game in the same way I take it at the end of play time- but with the instant reward of throwing the ball for good behaviour :) Essentially my aim would be to have him happy to give up the ball regardless of whether or not we're (for example) near the gate and about to leave... Because giving the ball up is a great thing in ALL situations. [/QUOTE]
how can I get him to give up the ball at end of game, putting it away then throwing it again!? that dont make sense! lol
[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure anyone could help on here with the situation you had earlier when you took the ball from him and he reacted. For example, it's impossible to tell on a forum if it was excited barking or frustrated/bossy barking. If it was the demanding 'give that back now, or I'ma nail you' type reaction then I generally deal with that behaviour in two different ways. One is equally confrontational- as in direct eye contact, square my body up, step forward into the dogs space and give a low/harsh vocal warning.:[/QUOTE]

he was being bossy (to put it nicely) and I reacted how you have described
 
Sorry, I obviously wasn't clear. I meant that I would take the ball away as if it was the end of the session, when it actually isn't. Therefore having several practices of 'end game' during a play session. Having two balls rather than one makes it easier to reinforce by throwing another ball, although as long as you can drop it into your pocket and then quickly swipe it back out and chuck it, it wouldn't make too much difference. That said, two balls (esp on a rope types) is a good idea anyway.

I probably wouldn't give a signal for the end of play time either, until he is happily giving up the ball whenever you do so during a play session. Some dogs settle instantly but your lad obviously feels the need to argue at the moment :D So I'd take the ball as normal (normal for during play sessions) and walk. No arguments, no fuss, and it doesn't reinforce his idea that your game-over signal is the end of his world and he needs to argue about it.

Regarding the temper tantrums I can't comment as they could range from just that- a childish temper tantrum, to a more aggressive behaviour. I'm sure somebody with more wisdom than me can step in :)

Hope that clears up what I was rambling about a little :)
 
What I used to do with Fred as CC suggested have 2 balls on ropes, when he brings one back I throw the other but I did it quickly not to give him a chance to think or react. At the end I would pretend to throw one and whilst he went looking for it I picked up the other and put in pocket out of sight. I would then call him and give a treat and say all gone he knew then the ball game was over and I would put him on the lead.

I would be careful about being confrontational as is can backfire and you can get bitten, I was never confrontational with Fred just had to outwit and divert his attention.
 
Dobiegirl said:
What I used to do with Fred as CC suggested have 2 balls on ropes, when he brings one back I throw the other but I did it quickly not to give him a chance to think or react. At the end I would pretend to throw one and whilst he went looking for it I picked up the other and put in pocket out of sight. I would then call him and give a treat and say all gone he knew then the ball game was over and I would put him on the lead.

I would be careful about being confrontational as is can backfire and you can get bitten, I was never confrontational with Fred just had to outwit and divert his attention.
Click to expand...


The trick throw is a good idea! This might work! Lol
I didn't mean to be confrontational with him the other day, he's never not given up the ball for me and the more stubborn he got the more annoyed I got. :( I knew I shouldn't have.

OH spent an hour waiting for him to give the ball up today at the end of playtime, but there was no bad reactions!
So next time I'm going to try the 2 ball trick! Lol :) thanks everyone
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top