Tor's program of outing more and more different tug toys in different places seems to be paying off. He is starting to see tug as more of a 2-participant game now rather than a game that he has to win all the time. He's starting to do his positions for a tug reward and the speed of them is almost up to what it is with food. So that's all good.
The weird thing that I've noticed with Tor is that after training sessions that are quieter and calmer, as opposed to "all on", where I spend a significant amount of time petting him, stroking his face, etc. he is immensely more possessive of me when we get home. He is pesky and willing to take on Gata to try to get closer to me. This is the second or third time that I've seen this with him. Today we were working on some down stays. I would return to him and stroke his face (rather than giving him treats which I didn't have) and then reward with the tug. To finish up our exercise session this evening we went for a nice walk around the park that we visited. Since he was pretty tired by then we stopped a few times to just chill out and I would just pet him and talk to him during those times. He is an absolute pain in the butt at home this evening.
I know it sounds like he is starved for attention but, honestly, he gets lots of attention. He's a very affectionate boy so it is easy to give him lots of attention. Yes, I have to balance it out with Gata in mind but he really does get plenty of attention. Plus, it seems like it is only about the attention that he gets during a work session or outing that counts. I can spend more time playing with him at home or let him out of the x-pen for longer and I don't see the same thing. I can't really explain it but it's definitely real ...
Anyway, both dogs had fun this afternoon. Tor ran retrieves and played tug for 2 different toys - a linen tug and a jute frisbee. He did well with both and was able to switch back and forth between tugs and ball easily. His positions for a tug are definitely improving. Most of his outs were very good. Maybe 10% were slow or required a second command. Definite improvement.
Gata practiced long send outs on the park field. I sent her to a sign in the middle of the field. Played around with timing and direction of the throw. Some after the down and either behind her or beyond me. Behind her to emphasize that she could keep going; beyond me to give her that opportunity to really sprint that she seems to love. I also marked and threw the ball past her a couple of times on the run out when she was running well. She has a beautiful send out but once she knows a location she starts to anticipate the down. This seemed to work well today but we'll have to see what happens in the future. In the past when I have messed up her send out, she would turn to look at me and occasionally spin on the run out. Will keep my eyes peeled for any of that stuff.
Finally, they are both quiet :-)
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