# focused on the stick more than sleeve.



## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

Looking for opinions on dealing with a 14mo Rottie who is crazy about the stick or whip more so than the sleeve. 

He's not afraid of the stick, just crazy for it. I might have messed him up earlier in his life when we'd walk out in the desert where I'd say "go find me a stick" he would and then I would throw it for him.

I'm working to desensitize him by putting sticks around the kitchen floor when he eats. I've also just been carrying it around in my back pocket. So far none of this is working. If it's in my pocket he'll jump at me to get it and if it's in the kitchen, he guards them from the other dogs.

He's nutty to the point if you have a stick and lay it on the ground out of reach while he's staked out, he will ignore the bite wedge and focus only on the stick. He'll eventually bite out of frustration.

We're thinking no more stick period but I feel this issue will pop up again.


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## Julie Ann Alvarez (Aug 4, 2007)

I would switch him to a ball or tug for play and try to keep the twigs picked up before you attemp training. That way he can not self reward. He will only get rewards from you. I would get rid of all the sticks and twigs (out of sight out of mind).

I would think for protection that you need to put the stick away and develope the dog more before you reintroduce it and only with the helper.

Good Luck,

Julie


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict he will quickly figure out that there is a difference between your sticks and the helpers stick.


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

he goes for the helper's stick as much as he does any other stick. We don't use the stick often but when we do he goes nuts for it. The one time we showed him the whip he wanted BAD. So the helper popped him with it to show him that he doesn't want it. All it did was make him want it even more. He took 6-7 stingers and didn't flinch. That made things worse because he was absoultely nuts for the stick.


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## Tim Martens (Mar 27, 2006)

Julie Ann Alvarez said:


> I would switch him to a ball or tug for play and try to keep the twigs picked up before you attemp training. That way he can not self reward. He will only get rewards from you. I would get rid of all the sticks and twigs (out of sight out of mind).
> 
> I would think for protection that you need to put the stick away and develope the dog more before you reintroduce it and only with the helper.
> 
> ...


this is assuming you want this dog primarily to do SchH...

i agree with julie. put away all sticks. re-direct his drive for the sleeve. NO STICKS AT ALL. EVER. after a couple of months without sticks, hopefully, if he has the drive for it, he'll be crazy for the sleeve. now you can try to slowly introduce the stick. while the dog is on the bite, have the helper pull it out of his back pocket and run it down his back. if he goes for the stick, put the dog away. play time is over. after 20-30 minutes, start him on the sleeve again. a good, animated bite. lots of fun, get him going and then try the stick down his back. if he goes for it, put him away. when i say put him away, it has to be immediate and with no emotion. just heel him back to his crate.

try that. the thing to realize is that your dogs drive for the stick has developed over a long period of time (in the dog's life). probably several months. it's not going to go away over night. hopefully with consistent work like above, the dog learns that the fun stops when he goes for the stick...


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

I agree, no play with sticks and no whips or any other hand held tems by the decoy. The stick is pleasure and the interest/focus is not the sleeve. We have a Rottie here that had some bad foundation work with the whip. I use my hand and if the whip is used, I keep it tucked as a safety decoy tool.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

The whip stimulates drive, so whipping with a dog thats already fixated on it will elevate the drive even higher and make the situation even more difficult. As has been said, stop using sticks and whips for now entirely, then eventually the dog will place the importance on the sleeve. Hopefully when the stick returns in the future then the dog will be so in love with the sleeve that the stick is less interesting.

Someone told me a while back: "Don't let your dog bite the whip, it will come back to haunt you when the dog bites the decoys stick/whip instead of the sleeve"


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