Last weekend I went down to Dunedin for the Zone 5 Games weekend. We don’t have a lot of opportunities to play games in the South Island, so this is one of the highlights of my calendar. Rik was very happy to be back in action after a couple of months off, and I enjoyed the chance to choose courses that played to our strengths.
This was Able’s first time in an indoor arena. Some dogs find these a bit intimidating. They are usually large uninsulated metal buildings, so they echo a lot – particularly when a barky dog is running round the course. Able took that in his stride, although he was a bit worried at first about walking over the metal tracks for the large sliding door. I’m glad that I had the chance to get him into this venue so that he could get used to it. We’ll visit another equestrian arena in Christchurch next weekend and I hope he’ll be calm and confident there too.
It was also his first appearance at an agility show in a couple of months, and I was pleased with his behaviour overall. He was polite towards the new dogs that he met (he particularly liked Zinc de Wit) and he mostly settled down quietly while I watched the action – except when he saw his favourite people, of course.
I realised this week that I haven’t done a lot of work on toy games with Able. This is fun stuff that burns up a lot of puppy energy – but also requires a lot of human energy, which can be in short supply for me over winter. As Able’s legs grow (see photo above) we also don’t really have enough room inside for some of these games, so I need to make the time to play outside while the sun’s up.
Running to a Toy
This is a very simple game that goes by several names (Race to Toy, Drive to Toy etc). The idea is just to throw a toy ahead, and then race your dog to try and catch the toy. We are looking for our puppy to laser-focus on the toy and run to ahead of the handler. Later on, this should lead to a dog that runs ahead of the handler to an obstacle at high speed.
My last two puppies were very good at this game out of the box. Able was not. In fact, Able latched onto the leg of my jeans when I was playing a similar game with him a couple of months ago, and that’s why I’ve been a bit slack about playing hyped-up toy games with him…
My game plan was to keep the distance to the toy very short at first, so that he wouldn’t have much time to get sidetracked by my movement before he reached it. I also moved slower – walking and then slow jogging – so that my legs weren’t quite so difficult to resist. I’m very pleased to report that my jeans survived, and Able went straight to the toy every single time.
There’s another issue that often pops up in this game, where the pup wants to stay close to the handler and matches their pace, rather than running ahead. Sometimes this comes with a lot of bouncing! I’ve not personally had one of these puppies, but here again I think it’s best to start with a very short distance, and get the puppy very hyped up about the toy so that they’re likely to blast forward without looking at their handler.
Agility handling is about a balance between focus on the handler (which I am doing a lot of work on) and focus on the obstacle (represented here by the toy). If your puppy is very good at this game, don’t overdo it – you may want to spend more time on different games where you are holding a hidden toy while your puppy runs alongside you, and then you pop it out to reward him next to your side.
Switching Toys
This is another fun game you can play with puppies of all ages, even when it’s miserable outside. Gather together 3 or 4 toys you can tug with, ideally ones that have similar value to your puppy – you might not want to use his favourite if he is really really nuts about it. Scatter the toys around your living room and you’re ready to play.
Pick up one toy and get your puppy tugging on it. Play with him for 30 seconds or so, then let go of the toy and run to your next toy station. Pick up that toy and see if you can get your puppy to grab onto it. This game can require some persistence on the part of the handler at first. If the first toy is still in your pup’s mouth, don’t try to take it out – just have a party with the new toy by yourself until eventually your puppy decides to see what you’re up to.
Once your puppy is proficient at the game, it’s time to introduce his very very favourite toy – for Able this is a mop handle. It is a really hard challenge to get your puppy to move from his favourite toy to one which he finds much less interesting – but a good exericse in puppy self-control. This is the same skill that your dog will need on an agility course later, to turn away from his favourite obstacle when you want him to go in a different direction instead.