# Help me with Reinforcement!



## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

I am training my whippet for agility. On a scale of 1-10, food is a 7. Toys are a 4. RUNNING with a toy is a 10. 

At home, she prefers tugging and toys over food, but in the stress of a new environment, she doesn't want to tug. She wants to grab the toy and do a lap with it. She will recall and bring the toy back, but the reward is the motion.

Anyone have any ideas about how I can use "motion" or something like it as an ultra-great reinforcer?


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

Roll/toss the toy as she's ending the obstacle. Like just as her feet leave the ground on a jump, as she's leaving the last weave pole, coming out of a tunnel, to release her off a contact. A couple people in my class use rabbit fur treat pouch tugs. They zip closed. The treats inside, they're great to toss and good for tugging too. I'll use a ball, some people use regular rope tugs, a frisbee, whatever the dog loves. I saw a flyball competition where the dog ran back and grabbed a big Nerf Battleaxe to tug.










Have you tried different kinds of treats? For agility I use ones my dogs find very high value. I've used hot dogs but am recently finding string cheese to be better because it's less slimy and smelly and still high value for her.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

She trains nicely for food. She loves ALL toys if she gets to grab them and do a running lap with them. However, my trainer doesn't want her to run with the toy. My trainer wants her to grab the toy and immediately run back to me. (Eliminating the victory lap with the toy.) If my dog can't run with the toy, she doesn't really want it. For her, the real reinforcement is the motion of carrying the toy.

I have tried putting the toy in a long line, but she hates the line.

My dog will work like a feind if she suspects that I will throw a toy and she will get to all-out run with it for 30 seconds. She will recall to me, but she doesn't like it.

How can I incorporate "motion" into a reinforcer? Tug works great at home, but she isn't in love with tugging on the road. I suspect that the answer will involve resolving the tugging inhibition in novel environments.

Perhaps I can use a fribee with a quick recall???

I'm frustrated.


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

I use a tennis ball for Frag and frisbee for Recon. At the end of their runs/sequences, whatever, I throw the ball 5-10 feet for them and recall them quickly. OF course they hate the recall, but they look forward to running the course for the frisbee or ball to be thrown, again!


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

Thank you for the replies! 

I am asking my question poorly. My dog works hard for food and toys. However, her real spark is running. (she's a whippet!) So, I am trying to come up with some obscure way to incorporate running WITH ME as a do-able reinforcer. Probably can't be done. Perhaps a couple of tosses with a frisbee or a "chase me and get me" game, but no one that I know of is using anything like this. 

Just looking for ideas to capture a whippets love of straight-line running as a tool for agility. 

Probably a dumb concept, or at leash inpractical.


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

Running by itself is a great reinforcer for Denali. What we do at class is I'll reward her with a treat for awesome stuff throughout the run, a treat at the end, then we go Wahoooo!! GO GET THE BUNNIES!! and I have her run all around (kind of with me) the other end of the field. I'm glad the field is big enough we can do that without disrupting the next dog. I let her run for ~10-15 seconds then call her back, give her a treat for coming, then we relax and wait for the next run.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

That's brilliant! I think I will give that a try and let her tackle me while we're at it!


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## Candydb (Jul 16, 2011)

Sibe said:


> Roll/toss the toy as she's ending the obstacle. Like just as her feet leave the ground on a jump, as she's leaving the last weave pole, coming out of a tunnel, to release her off a contact. A couple people in my class use rabbit fur treat pouch tugs. They zip closed. The treats inside, they're great to toss and good for tugging too. I'll use a ball, some people use regular rope tugs, a frisbee, whatever the dog loves. I saw a flyball competition where the dog ran back and grabbed a big Nerf Battleaxe to tug.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Rabbit fur treat bags! That zip closed?! Where does one acquire such an amazing tool?! Or is there some radical hard core dog person out here in San Diego skinning bunnies and sewing them into said thingies.....
Have you tried something squeaky (it sounds like she has high prey drive)....Also I have seen a battery powered giggle ball that wiggles at random intervals of its own accord (kinda freaky) that might really fit her bill....


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

LOL! You can get them here http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.searchresults and maybe local pet shops, Amazon.com, and other places.

ETA: I think most velcro closed, not zip. My bad.


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## CaffeineKat29 (Jan 20, 2013)

Considering she's a sighthound, have your tried tying a toy to a whip and letting her chase it around a few laps? I do this with my Borzoi puppy as a reward sometimes, I have a long horse whip and use a plastic bag on the end, but you could buy a short horse crop and tie a favorite toy from a string. I let him "kill it" after he's chased it a bit and he thinks it's great fun. 

These hounds keep us on our toes and force us to be creative don't they?


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

CaffeineKat29 said:


> Considering she's a sighthound, have your tried tying a toy to a whip and letting her chase it around a few laps? I do this with my Borzoi puppy as a reward sometimes, I have a long horse whip and use a plastic bag on the end, but you could buy a short horse crop and tie a favorite toy from a string. I let him "kill it" after he's chased it a bit and he thinks it's great fun.
> 
> These hounds keep us on our toes and force us to be creative don't they?


They really, really do. My other dogs are terriers... I sometimes wonder if I hate myself on some level.


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