# Wierd Drive Behavior



## Krystina Gursky (Feb 13, 2008)

I have been reading alot (being that I am a newbie at schutzhund) but I have a question that I would like some input on.

My new 7 month old seems to be really talented. She has crazy ball drive and really good prey drive. She has a bit of a stubborn streak but her obedience work is coming along. The issue I have with her is that she will not do any prey work with my TD. I mean none....If I am working with the prey item she is great but the instant he touches it she stops. I can take it again and she'll go right back into drive.

I have taken her to all sorts of different places and worked her around people.....she works no matter whats going on. She is not afraid of strangers nor is she overly anxious to go see them so I am not really sure why she is doing this.

Should this be something I am really concerned about? What can I do to get her over this?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Krystina


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Are we talking dog or kid? :-#


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## Krystina Gursky (Feb 13, 2008)

Sorry for all the adjectives. It is a dog and it is treated as such. The protection training is new to me so I am unsure of exactly how to describe things....so again sorry for the wording.

My TD says she is a mule. He said she can do everything but she's just stubborn. That is his wording not mine. I did not buy this dog she was placed with me by my TD 2 months ago as the person that bought her could not keep her with their other dog.

Maybe it was a stupid question....I just want to get her over this if I can.


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## Krystina Gursky (Feb 13, 2008)

I did a little research on my own and I guess as long as she bites well she should be fine in the future. I guess we'll see what happens.

Thanks for the post Howard.....The new fluffy here will remember to re-think her terminology prior to posting in the future :-D


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Krystina Gursky said:


> I did a little research on my own and I guess as long as she bites well she should be fine in the future.


When you say 'as long as she bites well she should be fine' do you mean well on you? If so, I would not agree with your statement. I've seen dogs like this that came out of it, but I've seen more that didn't. As long as they were able to get drive satisfaction from one thing (their owner, a certain toy, etc), they saw no reason to get it from somewhere else, and never progressed to the point of getting it elsewhere. I think it's some sort of weird nerve glitch, but I've never pinpointed just what it is. For some dogs it's a certain toy, they will bite that one toy or material with strong intensity, but won't bite anything else. For other dogs it's certain people.

In these cases I gently insist the dog work on toys they don't like, or people other then the owner, or they don't work at all. The owner doesn't play tug with them at home. They bring them out to training, let them watch, let them frustrate, someone else offers the dog a bite, if they take it they win immediately, if they won't take it the person just leaves and the dog is continued to be frustrated by watching and eventually another bite is offered. If the dog gets to the point where watching is no longer building frustration, they are taken off the field. And this is repeated at the next training session until the dog finally decides to bite with anyone and anything. 

Otherwise I've seen the dog get locked into only biting what it likes (toy or person) and refusing to bite anything else. And that's no good unless you plan to only trial at club trials on your club helper, assuming your dog will at least bite equipment with that person.


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## Simon Mellick (Oct 31, 2006)

Have you tried a flirt pole, or even tying a rope to a tug or sleeve? Anything to make it less personal between the dog and helper? When the helper tries to engage her, will the dog make eye contact?


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## Krystina Gursky (Feb 13, 2008)

Thanks Kadi & Simon.

Kadi others have said as long as her grips are full and hard on the item most dogs have no issue transitioning to another person for the work. This I think is what my helper is hoping for. Her grips are full and hard and if she does get a shallow bite she will adjust it to a full grip. During Saturday's training he had me work her next to him and she does great as long as she can see him. If he moves behind her she starts tugging in a different direction that allows her to see him. She never let's go of the item unless he takes it from me.

With her she will bite any material and any hardness. I haven't found anything she will not tug with. It is more a person issue. She will look at the helper but will not engage in the game with him. I have given the item to a neutral person and she did engage with that person. So far it seems to be just with my helper that it is a problem. 

I am worried that she is going to get into a trend where she will only engage if it is me doing the work. I am trying to prevent this from happening but am stumped at how to get her over it.


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