You know the old adage about the cobbler’s children having no shoes? Well, our case isn’t quite
as bad as that – our dogs have all the “stuff” they need. But despite having a wealth of toys to choose among – Teddy doesn’t play with toys. He just doesn’t. Never has.
For most dogs, it probably wouldn’t be an issue. But as a firm believer that “work is play” and “play is work” in obedience/rally/agility training – it’s a source of frustration for me. Teddy would rather lie down and chew on a bone than join in the games of fetch/tug/wrestle with me and the other dogs. He’ll calmly watch a ball roll by and pretend it doesn’t exist.
The benefits of play/training are many – it helps build the bond with your dog, it helps him get focused on you, it heightens his energy level, it teaches him to think even while excited. But despite all the toys I’ve tried in the last five years (Teddy’s whole life), the only thing he really adores is food. Cheese, to be specific. Which he can’t eat too much of, because it upsets his stomach. It’s never easy.
So I’ve gotten creative in getting Teddy “hyped up” for training. I stick a quarter of a stick of string cheese in a sock and tie a knot in it. I’ve tried all the dog toys with pouches, and his French Bulldog (emphasis on the bulldog) jaw mows through all of them in minutes. So I buy a huge pack of cheap men’s work socks and go through about three of them per one hour class.
It’s not the first time I’ve had to get creative getting my dog to tug with me. My first Frenchie, Dax, was also a non-tugger at first. Her major turn-ons included vegetables, so I was the weird one in agility class toting the wilted celery stalks – the only thing I could get her to tug on, at first. Over time we were able to switch to actual, real tug toys and Dax became a champion tugger. But our instructor still tells our story. Our little piece of agility class immortality.
e dog/handler pairs have to perform them. Any failures and you’re “out.” The problem with this game was trying to do it with competition obedience dogs. Only the two youngest/greenest dogs were “out.” After 10 minutes, we declared everyone a winner. Not really bad, but the caller will need to plan some more challenging behaviors before we try it again.
om the acres and acres allowed for the main part of the park. The problem is that you and your small dog have to walk through the big dog area to get to the small dog portion. And as soon as the outer gate opens (it’s a card key system, only for those who purchase dog park passes), all the dogs in the park gather at the inner gate to see who’s coming in. The only time I brought my little guy to the park, I had to carry him to “run the gauntlet” – with the big dogs trying to bowl me over. They almost succeeded, I’m only five feet tall.