# Pulling on Retrieve



## Duke_of_Birds (Aug 6, 2014)

Duke has been home 3 weeks now. He is an 11 week old ball of terror... no really he is the coolest pup ever. He has so much natural hunting ability I am more impressed every day. He will go on a casual point when out in the yard, stalked his toys after thrown sometimes, he will recall every once in a while... just so impressive I could go on and on. I am concerned that some things we do today will affect how easy the training is later.

I have a few situations where we are trying to train and Duke wants to go into a tug-of-war playing type situation... I understand the reaction I am getting is pretty much just puppy traits, but I want to make sure that I am not training something that will have to be untrained down the road (or him get hurt trying to pull).

*Situation 1:* I throw a toy (ball, stuffed bird, bumper, ect) about 10 - 20 feed away. Duke goes and retrieves the toy and returns it to me. I am not allowing him to put it on the ground. I put my had out and say "give" he will put the toy close to if not in my hand. At this point he will not release (I know this needs to be trained, which is what we are trying to work on) I continue with the command "give." At this point I either try to open his mouth for him, once open I give the command "good boy" and throw the toy again. Sometimes as soon as he gets it to my hand Duke immediately starts pulling on the toy to play tug-o-war. This is where I get confused... 
Do I continue to hold on to the toy (not pulling back, basically ignoring his want to play) and then when released praise with "Good Boy" and throw the toy again? I am concerned that this will teach him it is ok to Pull on items he has retrieved (i/e birds).


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## Duke_of_Birds (Aug 6, 2014)

I am sorry I hit the wrong Button... hit enter to add a space and it posted.

The other part of scenario 1... When Duke retrieves and starts to pull I will release the toy and ignore him until he returns to try to release again. My concern with this is I am telling him it is OK to pull and if he does he will get his way and get the toy... and if I release and ignore him and he doesn't return to give me the toy or play fetch again, this just reinforces it more... Advice?

*Scenario 2:* This occurs during lead training... Again I know this is just puppy that is causing this but I do not want to train wrong now and have an issue down the road. For the last week (after reading advice on the forum) When taking Duke outside to go to the bathroom, I would attach the leash and just let him run around with it to get used to it... The first few days he carried a portion of it in him mouth the whole time as the week progressed he would just let it drag from the collar. When this started to happen I figured he was used to the lead and I could start picking it up. When I did the first day I just followed him (almost like I was on the lead and he was in charge). I did this just so he could see that the lead is a good thing and not treating to him. After the next few days I started to take charge while on the lead. When I started to take charge he saw it as a game and grabbed the lead and started to want to play tug-o-war. This is where my question lies...
Do I stop in my tracks keep hold of the lead and ignore him trying to play. When he decides to stop pulling and trying to play. I will continue to walk... my concern with this is that it shows him he in in control, obviously this is not a good thing. The other response I thought of was just dropping the lead and walking away... this again shows him that he is in control and a simple pull or tug can get him out of doing what I want him to.

Sorry for the extended post, but I know that training is a big deal (this is not my first dog but will be my first hunting dog).

Thanks to all for you advise in advance.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Just slowly get him to give to the lead. I wouldn't worry about him grabbing it in his mouth, plenty of these pups do that at first. Lots of vocal encouragement for him to go with you. Keep the training short, to a few minutes at a time. If he pulled, I would wait him out. Then get him to go a few feet with you, before you release him to play. This way he sees going with you is what gains his freedom, and not the playing tug a war with the lead. 
It always better to end a training session with him doing the right thing, no matter how short it is.
On the retrieve 
I don't have my hand out when a pup is coming towards me. I pet and praise the pup, before I ever reach for what is in their mouth. Only do 2 or 3 retrieves at a time. This will keep him wanting more, instead of getting bored with it.
This is a good video made by Ken (Willowynd Ranch), if you watch the end of the video on how he removes the bird from the pup. This way there is not a tug a war for the bird.
http://youtu.be/R-DW6GSfn_U?list=UUpn0940nXjyDg6IGVONCC5A


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