# Reward Toys



## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Most of use use a tennis ball or small tug as a physical reward toy. I went to the garden center yesterday and saw 16" pieces of hose, used to tie back planted trees. What about these items a reward toys? Looked like it might be an interesting item, anyone ever use it?


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## tracey schneider (May 7, 2008)

I use whatever the dog thinks is great and really prefer a dog that thinks EVERYTHING is great.
I like to switch it up esp if Im able to keep them hidden in a pocket or something so they never know just what they are going to get. 

Ive certainly seen folks use hoses, I THINK gotfriend is very big on hoses (going by memory)........dont see why it wouldnt work

t


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## Kyle Sprag (Jan 10, 2008)

I have used hose before, last a long time and you can cut to the exact size you want.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

The old TD of my old club used to say you can use a stuffed pink fuzzy poodle if that gets them excited.


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## Terry Fisk (Jul 26, 2007)

Our dogs love garden hose for toys. They are cheap, easy to throw, easy to target on and easy to sick in a pocket to free up your hands. We cut old hoses up into manageable size pieces and have never had a problem with them chewing the good garden hose. We play a two hose game which is great for drive building and then the hose can be used for focus and reward.

Another of our favorites is the Orbee-Tuff ball on a rope or their version of the tennis ball. They are tough, clean up nice and are not abrasive on the teeth like the real tennis balls are.


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

The Orbee ball is mint-scented too.  

I vaguely remember something about hose being hard on the teeth? Or something like that? I use a pocket tug which is about the same size and shape as a piece of hose. 

My dogs also love the "click and play squid" and it's one less thing to hold on to when using a clicker.

And one of my dogs likes a wheelbarrow tire for a reward. :yikes:


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## tracey schneider (May 7, 2008)

Anne Vaini said:


> And one of my dogs likes a wheelbarrow tire for a reward. :yikes:


 
My previous dog, if the mood ever struck to do OB and I was empty handed I would just sick him on a tree to release all pent up drive.:-k 

That could actually be an interesting thread........strangest thing you have used to motivate :roll: 

t


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## tracey schneider (May 7, 2008)

orbee ball? Click and play squid? I must be living under a rock.........never heard of em  

I do like my bende balls on a string though. 

t


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

Orbee Ball: http://leerburg.com/788.htm

The Squid: http://www.aboutdogtraining.com/panel.php?4


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## Terry Fisk (Jul 26, 2007)

Orbee Tuff Balls http://www.showandsport.com/shopping_cart.htm#Toys

We are also adding their verison of the tennis ball soon but they are on back order :-(


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## Michelle Reusser (Mar 29, 2008)

Well since my dog has dispatched 3 hoses in the backyard last year, I wouldn't go with a hose. Though his favorite tug is made out of and old fire hose. Still has a few good years in it I hope. I use a kong allot. I loved the one with a rope but the damn ropes always come off or break. I don't like tennis balls my dog has a huge head and mouth, I'm affraid of it getting lodged and they get slimey quick, he colapses them easily and likes to get chewy on them. I have used allot of gappay balls with a rope, but my kids like to throw them over the fence and at $11 a pop, that sucks.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I've used hoses before but, as Michelle commented, it doesn't bode well for the garden hoses. I want the reward to be the interaction between me and the dog WITH the tug. Once the dog gets his ball, you are out of the picture as part of the reward unless the dog has a great natural retrieve. He has his ball/reward. Why does he need you anymore!


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Tennis balls:

I have read so many reports about tennis balls -- like saliva combining with the glue that holds on the fuzzy turning into a dentin wearer-away, to the fuzzy being abrasive enough on its own to wear off enamel..... to the choking hazard.

Anyway, I found at least one in a pretty authoritative source: The AVDS* says:

"Dogs that chew on tennis balls ...... (think of tennis ball as a scoring pad), will often wear their smaller front cheek teeth (premolars), and the back aspect of the canines. This abrasion won’t do much over the course of one day, but chewing every day for years can cause significant wear."




And from answers.yahoo.com (not authoritative): 
"Also studies have shown that the glue in tennis balls break down the enamel of adult dogs teeth and they recommend that you don't let adult dogs play with them."




* The American Veterinary Dental Society


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

Bob Scott said:


> I want the reward to be the interaction between me and the dog WITH the tug. Once the dog gets his ball, you are out of the picture as part of the reward unless the dog has a great natural retrieve. He has his ball/reward. Why does he need you anymore!


What Bob said


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Connie Sutherland said:


> Tennis balls:
> 
> I have read so many reports about tennis balls -- like saliva combining with the glue that holds on the fuzzy turning into a dentin wearer-away, to the fuzzy being abrasive enough on its own to wear off enamel..... to the choking hazard.
> 
> ...


This is something that I was thinking about. The big problem for me is this silly Bouv will chew up anything in a fit to bite. I put a garden tractor tire in the kennel, in two days the side wall as eaten away! The garden hose opens up issues with my garden hose...erh! I saw the hose pieces in the store and was kicking the idea around, easy to carry and to clean. Thanks all!


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## Patrick Cheatham (Apr 10, 2006)

I have two items that I like and my dogs really love. 
One is a piece of hydrulic hose that I get from a local vendor for free. Its bigger and stronger than the garden hose. The one I like best is a fire hose tug. I make them with a handle so I can custom make the size I want and put one or two handles on it. Have not seen one destroyed yet and the people who have tried them say there great. Because their dogs love them they can fit in a back pocket and can be washed.


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## Dan Long (Jan 10, 2008)

Our Dane tore up a hose and loved to carry a piece of it around. It was a good toy for her, but I like using a toy they will go nuts for. For my GSD that's a kong or an old smelly tug he's had since he was a pup. For the Dane, she likes pretty much any toy that the GSD has.


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## Greg Leavitt (Aug 31, 2006)

I had a male gsd that was tennis ball crazy. I used to buy them by the bucket. Never saw any tooth damage.

i have a female who is crazy for food and can atke or leave any toy. 
one of my cureent males sulks if you get out a toy but goes crazy to bite water coming out of the garden hose, makes decent obedinece for the hose piece though. Auctaully using a hose on and kinkng theend to block the water flow makes his heeling really nice.
My other male like any toy.
i had a female my first dog that I titled that liked toys but would just do anything I asked because I asked.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Bende Ball (hard rubber) on string, a tug and/or Jute Rolls (I don't like Orbee balls, too soft and squishy). I don't throw the balls during training, but I will pull one out and spin it around then stick it back under my arm or play tug with it, great as a reward and also for drive building (to the moon).


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## Katrina Kardiasmenos (Aug 5, 2007)

I use tugs mostly...but have one dog that goes crazy for a ball on a rope...and another who will do anything for a kong....


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

The hydraulic hose works - nicely and you can get a good grip with it and it is great in a pocket but...........

The cressite floating ball on a string has been my fallback - I have yet to have the rope pulled out of this [cannot say that for the kongs and that awful braided rope] and it floats. My dog can tug pretty vigorously too. They can sometimes be hard to find - don't know why. It will fit in a BDU pocket. The rope is easier on the hand than some others. I throw like a girl [imagine that] and can wing it a pretty good distance too for an after work play session.

http://www.amazon.com/Multipet-Cressite-Floater-Ball-Rope/dp/B0002DK3IO


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## Russ Spencer (Jun 2, 2008)

*Nylabones rule around here. Great stress busters. Kongs are iffy. Only use tugs for work. One loves to bite water too. *


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## Ann Putegnat (Mar 11, 2008)

tracey delin said:


> My previous dog, if the mood ever struck to do OB and I was empty handed I would just sick him on a tree to release all pent up drive.:-k
> 
> That could actually be an interesting thread........strangest thing you have used to motivate :roll:
> 
> t


Strangest motivational object:

......A bully stick to teach heeling with focus..........it lays on the inside of the forearm perfectly till needed and the dog I used it for would heel for EVER with focus to get that damned thing. 
Ann


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## Jennifer Marshall (Dec 13, 2007)

Don't know how I missed this thread. Probably because I'm blind. I make my own tugs out of bucksin or sueded undyed cow leather and 1/2"- 1" tubular webbing for handles, Rolls of leather without handle. Tires. The kong ball with the hole in it for treats, I put that on 1/2" tubular webbing and it works well as a ball on string. I buy regular kongs and drill a hole through them about 1/3 of the total length down from the skinny end and put the 1/2" webbing through it. Works MUCH better than trying to get a knotted rope to stay in the little hole, though it depends on what size the kong is.

I also have used tugs of all sorts, french linen and firehose seem to be preferred. Don't have many official tugs though, Duke is the only dog I play tug with on a regular basis and he prefers the leather paws down.


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