Luke W Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Barkly looooves tennis balls. I'm trying to transfer his love of food to tug and while it's slowly working - he'd much rather I just throw a ball for him. Anyone using a tennis ball as a reward during training? I've seen frisbees used occasionally but not tennis balls. Any downsides people can think of or practical problems I might run into? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I incorporate tennis balls, squeaky toys, soft toys, tug and food into training - mixing it up keeps Ziggy fresh and on his toes. The only problem is ensuring that another dog doesn't want the tennis ball as well so I use it carefully and try to keep track of what's going on around me In fact, I started with a squeaky tennis ball - only a few weeks ago Zig really got excited about it and last week he transferred that enthusiasm to the tug toy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) Yep tennis balls wear the teeth down . I use rubber chuckit type balls when I train. Also I would advise everything in moderation after being given a lecture by my girls chiro about ball playing. So yes use it as a reward but I wouldn't recommend using it all the time and make sure the dog is thoroughly warmed up. ETA. Here is a link of my girl playing the two toy game using her i-squeaks (can easily incorporate training into it). First part of the video is using food by then I switch to toys. Edited February 27, 2009 by ness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelpie-i Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I have seen people use tennis balls but I would rather the reward come from me and stay with me so that I can continue to control it. Having a dog fetch a ball is a reward in itself and the ball is doing the rewarding, not me, therefore whilst it will certainly work I still like that element of control over the reward. JMO. Downsides: the dog sees the game of fetch ie. the ball, as reward rather than youself with the reward, also some dogs may choose enough is enough and run off with the ball (not all dogs of course). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 You can also throw the ball to the dog and have them catch it. What about one of those tennis ball tugs on a rope if he likes tennis balls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 My mother has trained a pretty good recall on her fetch crazy kelpie/boxer using balls and rope toys. It has also really helped her to keep Jill's attention on her, actually, as when she is asked to do something whilst off leash she thinks there might be a game of fetch in it for her. She would do pretty much anything for a game of fetch. She has even discovered a low key way to use fetch as a reward using those cheap little squeaky animal toys you can pick up in supermarkets for about $2. She tosses the toy as a reward, but does it inside where there isn't a lot of room and just tosses it so Jill can catch it from less than a metre away. With less running involved Jill's excitement stays at a more sensible level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granny Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 You can also throw the ball to the dog and have them catch it. What about one of those tennis ball tugs on a rope if he likes tennis balls. Personally I would never use a tennis ball! Some years ago I knew a GSD that chocked to death after jumping and catching a tennis ball! it lodged in his throat so have never used a tennis ball since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke W Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 BTW - Rubber balls just don't seem to have the same appeal as tennis balls and I try not to let him chew them. He's nowhere near as keen for his Orbees as he is for a found tennis ball (he finds them at the park). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laeral Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) Have you tried an Orbee Luke? You could use it as a tug or a ball. Doh posted at the same time. Edited February 27, 2009 by laeral Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopuppy04 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I have seen people use tennis balls but I would rather the reward come from me and stay with me so that I can continue to control it.Having a dog fetch a ball is a reward in itself and the ball is doing the rewarding, not me, therefore whilst it will certainly work I still like that element of control over the reward. JMO. Downsides: the dog sees the game of fetch ie. the ball, as reward rather than youself with the reward, also some dogs may choose enough is enough and run off with the ball (not all dogs of course). While I use tennis balls as a reward for sure - the above reason is why I still try and motivate with a tug also combine both with a ball on a tug and you should get more interest.... if not - what is it about the tennis balls that he loves?! Can you incorporate that into another game (eg is it the chase etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke W Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 I have seen people use tennis balls but I would rather the reward come from me and stay with me so that I can continue to control it.Having a dog fetch a ball is a reward in itself and the ball is doing the rewarding, not me, therefore whilst it will certainly work I still like that element of control over the reward. JMO. Downsides: the dog sees the game of fetch ie. the ball, as reward rather than youself with the reward, also some dogs may choose enough is enough and run off with the ball (not all dogs of course). While I use tennis balls as a reward for sure - the above reason is why I still try and motivate with a tug also combine both with a ball on a tug and you should get more interest.... if not - what is it about the tennis balls that he loves?! Can you incorporate that into another game (eg is it the chase etc) You know it's funny - he loves the chase, but he also loves the chewing factor of tennis balls as well. He often find old, damaged tennis balls, so maybe there's some destroying factor there as well. I play tug and chase with an orbee but it's not quite the same as a tennis ball for him. Maybe I should concentrate on building the tug drive (which has improved a lot - but isn't very strong under a distracting environment yet, only strong at home). A tennis ball on the other hand is a bit more motivating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cockerlover Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Hate to be a party pooper but I have been told TENNIS balls r not advisable for dogs ,Rubber balls ,(good Quality )on the other hand r ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I use them regularly for agility training but also use tugs & frisbees. Funnily enough, I like them for the reason to Kelpie-i doesn't. I generally don't want the reward to come from me in agility, I want it to come from a direction the dog moves in. I will use a tug if & when I want to reward from my hand. I like tennis balls b/c my dogs do & b/c they are cheap & easy to get. I know I always have one in my car & Trim seems to find them wherever we go so she keeps me in supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I use a rubber squeaky that Kaos loves. I also use it for agility for the same reasom Vickie does - to reward in a direction away from me. I have heard tennis balls wear dogs teeth down. Kaos will not yet tug outside the home reliably, so if I want the reward to come from me at the moment I use food. With Diesel I sometimes use the squeaky that Kaos likes and sometimes use a wubba. Diesel won't tug either, he also prefers to chase, though sometimes I can get him to chase me and grab the toy while it's in my hand. Not necessarily ideal for obedience but at the moment I am releasing and then throwing after an exercise, or releasing to the toy or food on the ground. My next dog will tug though darn it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 :rolleyes: Kavik about having your next dog will tug. Hmm yep thats why my pup was playing tuggy with me whenever we were out and about from the moment she arrived home . Actually it did help she came off the plane a born tugger too and it was one of the things her breeder encourages all the babies to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptolomy Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 The one down side to using tug or balls as a reward when a dog is learning is that you can't do as many repetitions and playing takes much longer than delivering a piece of food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 (edited) :rolleyes: Kavik about having your next dog will tug. Hmm yep thats why my pup was playing tuggy with me whenever we were out and about from the moment she arrived home . Actually it did help she came off the plane a born tugger too and it was one of the things her breeder encourages all the babies to do. Kaos was happy to tug the day I got him home and other places when a baby but as he got older it got more difficult to get him to tug in places other than home. Not sure why. Edited February 28, 2009 by Kavik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdude Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 The one down side to using tug or balls as a reward when a dog is learning is that you can't do as many repetitions and playing takes much longer than delivering a piece of food. I guess that would depend on how you train, and what level of drive your dog has. The one advantage of prey drive is its usually stronger than food based drive. Horses for courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptolomy Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 The one down side to using tug or balls as a reward when a dog is learning is that you can't do as many repetitions and playing takes much longer than delivering a piece of food. I guess that would depend on how you train, and what level of drive your dog has. The one advantage of prey drive is its usually stronger than food based drive. Horses for courses. Prey drive has nothing to do with it - in the space of 2 minutes you can do far more repetitions rewarding with food than you can by throwing a ball where you might only get 3 throws and 3 behaviours in the same time period. You may not get the same attitude using food but you can do more repetitions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 I think that the dogs 'natural' drive is the strongest. Both my borders have a strong pack drive. I am happy to have that. :rolleyes: They think I am the most marvelous thing in the world, that is not bad! You can use fetch to create drive, you don't just throw the ball though. You do some 'teasing' with the ball until the dog really, really wants it and then throw it. Know your own dog and what it needs/wants! Not surprised that a dog of Barkley's breed would prefer to retrieve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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