# Suggested Games for Devoloping Drive While Teething



## Dave Immure (Oct 15, 2008)

My 5 month old GSD is currently teething so I've laid off the tug games for awhile. I still let him go after the rag but he seems kind of bored with it. Before teething he would go absolutely crazy for it. We use to play rough and now it's all on hold. :-( Can anyone suggest any prey games they played with their pups during this painful stage. I would still like to encourage his prey drive regardless of teething or not just minus the tug part. How did you guys get through this?


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

Dave,

Put your pup in a body harness and leash. Tie the leash to a doorknob to backtie him. Then stimulate prey drive with your prey object, but don't let pup get it. Keep it super sort - less than 10 seconds! - or all you will do it teach your pup that it can't get the rag and teach it not to bite or bother.

If it's a decent pup, you won't cause any harm by putting away the prey items for a month or so until his teeth are in.

You can do more damage by trying to play tug, or trying to stimulate drive during teething. For instance, you've already taught your pup that th prey item is "boring."


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## Dave Immure (Oct 15, 2008)

So do not let him have the rag while he is teething? Just tease him with the rag while he is on the pole for 10 seconds. Let him have it, and then take it away?


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## Chad Byerly (Jun 24, 2008)

If your gsd likes to carry toys, encourage him chasing with things in his mouth. With my dog, I make it hard to get the toy to my hands, and then I give a good fight. With my friend's mali pup, he growls and wants to push whatever is in his mouth into the legs. So he didn't get the tug for a while, but he'd run with things in his mouth all through his teething. 

If not the chasing game, at least retrieve and carry can be fun. 

You can still build the dog up with teasing or misses, or frustrate them like Anne mentioned. I usually try to incorporate myself into that possessive picture, so they want to drive back into me. Or you can play with 2 toys... 

Recall games for food (with 2 people), after the dog runs to the person the other runs to another hiding spot... For added fun: after caught hold the dog while giving food and don't release until after the other person calls the dog, then they do the same (and repeat..).

There's a couple ideas. Maybe others will give better ones.


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## Khoi Pham (Apr 17, 2006)

Tease him until his drive is at the highgest then stop, he will want it more on the next session, that is how you build drive, if you tease him too long and past his peak then you are not building drive, back tie him and throw the prey object to his left side or right side, when you see him chase it at his fastest speed and showing upmost drive to bite that is when he peak and you should stop, it might be hard for a newby to read the dog but after you go past his peak a couple of time, hopefully you will recognize it. BTW don't let him bite it (-:, but if he accidently got the hold of it then ofcourse don't pull it or you will pull some teeth with you.


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## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

If the dog is that sensitive, why can't you just wait for him to finish changing the teeth ??


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Exactly, just wait. Too me a dog that is too weak to bite during this phase is not what I want. I do not actively work them during this phase, but I often find teeth on the tugs as they have started teething and I didn't know. 

If your dog doesn't want to play during this time it is a pretty good sign of things to come. If it is you that is sensitive, then stop worrying, it is not that big a deal.

If you have to build drive in a dog, then forget it. It is such a pain to constantly have to build a dog up, then go and trial, and then build the dog back up.

As far as the advice I have seen here, other than leave it alone, I would not take it. Since you are not an experienced decoy, no matter what the guy in Wisconsin says in his videos, leave that to people that know what they are doing.

It gets old fixing what the owner ****s up in a dog. Join a club.


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

Totally agree with the marvelously eloquent Mr Oehlsen on this one. 

Throw a ball for him or get a new dog before you're too invested in your current one. 



Jeff Oehlsen said:


> Exactly, just wait. Too me a dog that is too weak to bite during this phase is not what I want. I do not actively work them during this phase, but I often find teeth on the tugs as they have started teething and I didn't know.
> 
> If your dog doesn't want to play during this time it is a pretty good sign of things to come. If it is you that is sensitive, then stop worrying, it is not that big a deal.
> 
> ...


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## Dave Immure (Oct 15, 2008)

I'm the sensitive one. He spit out a tooth last week on the tug and I had blood on my hand but he kept going after it. Honestly I was bit freaked out by it. He is consistently pulling on my pants leg or anything else I put in front of him. I guess I'll get over it.


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## Jerry Lyda (Apr 4, 2006)

I agree with Anne and Khoi but I also agree with Jeff.

It sounds to me like the dog doesn't mind loosing teeth it sounds more like the handle gets freaked out. This is what I would do. I would frustrate him with the rag or tug for short periods of time, watch your dog and read what he is telling you.If you are a new handler this may be hard.DO NOT let him win the prize untill you are through and then don't tug. Let him win and run around with it. WAIT on him to release it and then take it away and let him see you do this, show it to him as you are putting it away. Frustrate and Frustrate that will build more drive. When he is through teething, see the difference.


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## Daryl Ehret (Apr 4, 2006)

I've not experienced any drawbacks from waiting, either. Work on other important stuff.


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## Michelle Reusser (Mar 29, 2008)

Work on his retrives and maybe some OB.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

michelle, i was just thinking exactly that: wouldn't this be a good time to work on retrieves/recall/some environmental/agility stuff at the playground? teaching him to use/learn his back legs are there and where they are...that sort of stuff? (but not crazy agility/jumping stuff) maybe scent pads/tracking (that's what i was doing w/Brix at this age)?

here's a question: if you do drive building, no tug work, crate the pup for half an hour, then do a scent pad excercise, will the drive building take away, or add to, the scent pad work? or will it even matter? and is it even a good idea?


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## mike suttle (Feb 19, 2008)

I do drive building exercises with all of my puppies as a group normally from about 5 weeks to about 16 weeks. I put all of them (sometimes that is 15-20) on stake outs and frustrate the hell out of them with many different objects (ball, tug, rag, pvc, Jerry can filled with rocks, metal keys, copper pipe, etc) all tied to flirt poles so i can create lots of movement and stimulate prey drive. even when they are not teething they dont get a chance to bite often, but when they do, they bite with intensity. I also do the same thing with the litter when they are still together in the puppy kennel by teasing them from behind the fence before feeding time.....when they are insane for the object, then I take it away and put down the feed bowls.
When they are teething, my puppies are staked out along the edge of the training field and they just watch us train the other dogs. I have been on many clubs in Holland and the best trainers there do it the same way.....they will keep puppies tied out at the edge of the field for several hours while all the adults are being worked. Many times those puppies dont get worked at all, they are just tied out for a few hours to watch, then they go back to the car.


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