- Location
- SW London UK
Thanks. That sounds like a fun game. He’s not that great at retrieving. He will drop the ball on the way back distracted by scent and smells.Sock on a bungee cord - is my version of a flirt pole (easier to carry). So it's different from a tuggy game. You move the cord and the dog chases the sock - when they catch it the cord goes slack and that 'round' of the game is over. I used to give a treat at that point in the early stages to restart the game. Eventually you don't need a treat because the dog understands that releasing the sock is what causes the chase to restart.
Once they're good at this you can start either asking for a simple behaviour before the chase restarts or ask them to wait for a spoken cue before chasing even if the sock is moving.
Tess loves this game and is very good at it. I'm not seeing her till next Monday but I'll try to remember to video it.
I wonder if switching to gun dog training may help him a bit so he can get to run a bit more than he does with scent work.