When playing tug, with my puppy (four months old Mal) he will chase hard if the tug is on the floor being dragged around on the end of 3 ft. rope. As soon as I take the tug into my hand and lift the tug off the ground whilst making prey movements the dog will make half-hearted attempts and very few of them, almost like is trying to creep up on the tug. I guess it must be a handler error, any suggestions.
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Only by knowing ourselves will we truly know our dogs.
I think you have your focus too much on the bite and not play: too much force and not fun. Temperament, character and social status of the pup counts too, sure. My advice would be: forget what you look the pup to do. Focus the play itself and enjoy.
play = interaction between you and pup. temperament = everything as drives, motivation and potential quality. character = I think that part is clear. I believe as J. Tinnemans: "dogs aren't born with character, people make them". social status = the rank position of the pup. In your situation it looks like your pup is submissive to you and look to climb up tug, lick you and show you he is lower in rank.
Thanks a lot Teus, Makes perfect sense Having ideas of the way the? training should go, get in the way of the natural development through play. Thanks again, Ian
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Only by knowing ourselves will we truly know our dogs.
My advice to handlers: when you play with your pup, make sure it is play. Don't worry about the fullness of the grip, the pressure of the grip, etc. Just play. Play in a way that the puppy fully expresses itself. Play in a way that the puppy gets crazy and silly.
Too often handlers become somewhat robotic in their play and the puppy can sense when the handler is not 100% satisfied.
Remember, you want drive. You want the most drive possible. Drive is behavior. Drive is animation. The more behaviors, the more animation, the better. So do everything you can to develop your puppy's pure joy when it interacts with you.
Not long after reading suggestions, I went outside to stop Koru from tearing open rubbish bag, he came running at me with apple juice carton.? We had the best game of tug yet, he was flying at me and ripping chunks out of the carton he bid me three times on the fingers, never been so happy to be bit? .? I am now looking to sale empty juice cartons to IPO clubs spot on advice thanks a lot. Ian
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Only by knowing ourselves will we truly know our dogs.
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As soon as I take the tug into my hand and lift the tug off the ground whilst making prey movements the dog will make half-hearted attempts and very few of them, almost like is trying to creep up on the tug. 
I guess it must be a handler error, any suggestions.
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.? I am now looking to sale empty juice cartons to IPO clubs 
