My 9 month old labrador puppy wants to tug with every toy and will not release the object no matter what we try, can anyone offer help?
Re: She wont let go! Hi and welcome from me Helen, Hattie 7 years and Charlie 3 years. Have you taught a release word such as, "drop", "give" or do you use a clicker as you could train her to release the toy, you will need lots of tasty treats and patience? Someone will be along with great advise I am sure
Re: She wont let go! hi welcome from me and jasper black lab 20 month old, i use the leave it command as with any training this will take time
Re: She wont let go! Welcome to the forum What is your pup's name? Does s/he take objects that you don't want him/her to have, or are you just talking about his own toys that he wants to have a game with? With objects that you don't want him to have, to be honest, the easiest thing is to just keep them out of reach. With his own toys the easiest thing is to simply not engage in a tug game (your pup is probably on another forum right now, typing "how can I get my humans to release the toy?? They just keep on tugging no matter what I do!!" ) The other option, that Helen described, is training him to release an object. What have you tried so far in the 'actual training' department? What kind of approach have you been using to train other behaviours?
Re: She wont let go! if my dog has her toys she wants to play tug with us and not give it up so we can throw it again we dont do tug with her we just give her a treat and then she will give up the toy i find gravy bones work if i go out with a ball and no treats she runs up to me but runs round me just out of reach they soon learn milly knows that to get the treat she must sit same when i am putting the lead on she sits without me speaking good luck keep trying
Re: She wont let go! Try having 2 new toys which are yours,(which will be put away after training) with the pup sitting in front of you, give her a toy and then show her other one, command to 'give' and try to swap toys. Do this several times, when she gives the toy for the other, say 'Yes gooood dog'. Do not play tuggy games with her at any time, she is being possesive with her toys, so do not use these for training.
Re: She wont let go! Controlled tug is a great game - it can teach control and listening when excited, and it's proving to be great for my over excited dog (still in the garden at the minute, but I'm hoping to develop it to use as a reinforcer in training). It takes a while to teach properly, you don't just get out a toy and start playing. The first thing to teach is the release, and this is then hugely useful in all sorts of other situations - you teach this calmly and it helps the control of the whole game and it also helps you when your puppy grabs something else you don't want her to have. It is not a game to be played in wild excitement, shaking the dog from side to side. It's all about controlled interaction (which is also great fun). I think it would be a big help to owners of puppies that grab leads, toys, clothes etc - and then hang on - to teach playing tug properly, with rules. Which as mentioned, first involves teaching the "stop playing tug" cue.
Re: She wont let go! Take hold of her collar, this will stop her pulling away consequently there is no game. reward when delivered how you want it. occasionally ours will try and instigate a game of tug which we allow at timea but he knows that if a hand heads towards the collar then it isn't time for tug. When you hold the collar you are not yanking or tugging, you are just holding in that position to stop any backward or sideways movement.
Re: She wont let go! I choose not to play to tug in order for Jake to keep a soft mouth plus i have a 2 year old niece he regularly visits so think it is important , I have trained him with the word release and it took 2-3 months but like all things it is time and perseverance . Mike
Re: She wont let go! [quote author=Mike link=topic=7557.msg105712#msg105712 date=1409371418] I choose not to play to tug in order for Jake to keep a soft mouth [/quote] Some people, not everyone, think this is a myth - ie playing tug does not cause a dog to have a hard mouth.
Re: She wont let go! I would be inclined to agree JuileT as with our first dog she loved playing tug of war with any toy and adult as soon as you picked it up she would latch on and never let go and pull as hard as possible . But as soon as my other niece who stayed with us quite regular over the years from very young was to pick a toy she would just take hold of the toy gently and walk with her and never consider tugging . When we first rescued Jake at aged 18 months he was inclined to play bite a little so with him we have tried just to discourage any possible boisterous actions with having a young child in the house at times .
