Do you feel like your puppy training is missing something?
Now we referenced using food a lot as a reward and motivator for your dogs
training,
but there's actually something else that you could be using in your training.
That's going to increase speed drive and motivation.
We're going to talk today about how awesome it is to use toys in your training,
but it's not just about using toys.
It's actually about how to use them properly.
There's going to be certain exercises that toys are going to be great for
certain exercises that they're not,
and also how to use them in situations where your dog might be a little bit
distracted and it's hard to get their attention.
We can make it look really easy with how much attention and focus we get from
these puppies in our videos. Now we do use food to get their attention,
but something that we also always incorporate is a toy. Now,
after today's video,
you may realize that this is the one thing that you could be missing in your
training. That's going to make all the difference. I'm Kayl McCann.
This is 14 week old Border Collie puppy, Smooch.
Welcome back to McCann Dogs.
Let's talk about the value of toys in your training.
There's actually a lot of dogs out there that sometimes lack motivation to work,
or maybe they just don't seem that interested in doing stuff with you.
And it could be that you need to use a different motivator to get your dog a
little bit more engaged. Now, I really like to use both food and toys,
but there are certain things that I find toys can really enhance when I'm
training my puppy.
I'm going to show you some specific training exercises that are awesome for
teaching with a toy,
but I also want to let you know some of the other values that I find helps when
you're using a toy in your training one. Thank you. Hi.
One of the things that I find can really be great about using a toys.
It can really enhance some speed and drive.
So if you're looking to get a little bit faster response from your dog,
a little quicker reaction using a toy reward can often amp the dog up.
And in some cases that can actually really be beneficial to certain exercises
that you're teaching. The other thing that's awesome,
especially if you have a young, energetic dog,
is that when you train using toys as a reward, they get tired way faster.
Now, in some cases, maybe that's not what you're looking for.
If you're looking to pro prolong your training session.
But I know if I've just come home from a, you know,
a long day at work and I need to do something with a puppy and I want them to
get tired out quickly,
I will choose exercises that I can use with my toy so that I can play and tug
and retrieve in between my little training skills and that tires the puppy out a
little bit more and exhausts some of that pent up energy all while making sure
Hey that we're doing things together. Um,
so that we're using all that energy for good, rather than for evil.
I talked earlier about the importance of an interactive toy,
and I wanted to talk a little bit more specifically about what an interactive
toy is because the type of toy that you use in your training is actually really
important.
Now the toy I've used to train with Smooch today is one of his absolute
favorites. It's just a long sort of furry toy that he can easily grab.
One end. I can easily grab the other so that we can play together safely.
Types of toys that you want to avoid using are things that are hard for your
puppy to grab on to. You wouldn't want to use a chew bone or anything like that.
You need to use something that's light and fluffy and really fun for your puppy
to sink their teeth into. When you call your puppy's name or you use a recall,
do you find that your puppy is lacking a little bit of drive and intensity when
they're moving towards you?
I find sometimes when you can incorporate a toy into training those particular
exercises, you can actually ramp up their,
their dedication and their motivation to get towards you. Now,
I'm going to show you a little bit about how I do that with our puppy. Hey bud.
Now I've already put a lot of value. Hey, what's this?. Whoa,
I've already put a lot of value,
get it get it get it into playing and tugging with this toy.
So he understands that this is a really fun game.
So what I'm actually going to do is use this play because he's really into it.
I'm going to use this play to make a reward for moving to me.
When I call him now, the toy is just one element. This is the reward.
I'm also going to use really crazy, fun, happy tones with my voice.
And I'm also going to use running away, adding motion away. Yes. Good boy.
Naturally sort of ignites that dogs,
chase drive and gets them to move towards you.
So putting all those things together,
I'm going to show you how to work the toy into your response name or your recall
exercise.
Smooch is already had some training on teaching him to respond to his name.
So I'm going to test him today,
but I am going to use the toy as a bit of a reward.
So I'm going to start off with just sort of letting him get a little bit
distracted. And when I call him, if he turns and looks at me,
I'm going to take off and run. Yes. I'm
gonna run around like a lunatic. I got to let it have the toy. Whew,
good boy, tug, tug, tug, tug, tug, tug, tug tug. Oh,
that's so good. Now I'm going to end with a bit of control out.
Good boy. Yes. Excellent, good boy.
You can even reward for this gets get it good boy.
So he sat so nice and attentive there.
I can actually reward them by letting them do exactly what he wants to do.
And that's jump around and play with the toy. Boy.
You may have watched that last demonstration and think like, wow, that's great.
That looks great. But my puppy won't drop the toy like that.
So I'm actually gonna show you a trick that you can use to get your dog,
to drop the toy a little bit more easily,
especially if your dog's not that into food, you can actually use another toy.
Now I want to remind you guys that if your dogs don't have some of those
obedience skills already, where they will give the toy up and trade,
you don't want to necessarily start using your toy in all of your different
training exercises until you start with this first.
So let me just show you how to get the dog to drop the toy.
So I'm going to get him engaged with one toy tug, tug, tug, tug.
I let him get on it. What I'm going to do is stop wiggling this one around.
So it's not as exciting. And I'm going to switch him to the other toy out. Yes.
Good.
So I'm going to stop tugging with one toy and I'm going to shake around the
other one. So I'm going to hold it still out. Yes. Get it. Oh, okay.
So this is interesting.
This puppy is showing that this toy is clearly the favorite, so, Oh,
good boy. That was a good decision.
So knowing where my dog starts to show me that there's one toy,
that's more valuable than the other.
I need to make sure that this is my finished toy.
Then I'm going to start with this one. When he drops it,
I'm going to then use this one. He can have it as his reward.
It's just like if we were to trade and,
you had five bucks and I had a toonie and I said, can you trade me?
You wouldn't be very into that,
so I need to be very aware to what my dog feels is more valuable.
So I'm going to actually get rid of this toy.
I think I hide it away a little bit. And I'm going to get him on this one.
I'll get you to get it. I'm going to get him tugging, tug, tug, tug, tug, tug,
tug, tug, tug, tug. I'm going to sneak this other one out. Good boy. get it,
get it, get it, get it, get it. I'm going to get them on a little bit harder.
There we go. Now he's attached out. Yes. Good boy.
Good boy. Excellent.
So I'm always going to use that higher value reward to get them to drop boy.
Now, of course you could always trade your puppy for food as well.
If your puppy had a really tasty treat like steak or chicken wiener or something
that was really high value, but you don't have to be limited to food.
You also can just use the toy.
I hope you've noticed that Smooch when he tugs really,
there's a lot of growling and he sounds really crazy.
Now I know that when we're doing this,
this growling sound is a sign of enjoyment. There's no malice behind it.
He simply just having a good time.
And one of the things that's really important when you start to play with your
puppy, if you are getting a little bit of growling is really consider, you know,
whether you have control. So I have no problem with him,
really getting into the thick of things,
provided that I have enough control that I can start the game and stop the game.
Now,
there are some myths out there that say that you should never tug and do this
type of crazy play with your puppy because it can make them dominant or
aggressive.
And that's simply not true if you teach your dog that there are some rules. So,
you know, from a very young age,
he learned that you can't just grab toys whenever you want to.
We would start off with a little bit of control. So if I hold the toy up here,
good boy, when he was a puppy and he would lunge for it,
I would just pull the toy away.
I would work a sit if he was able to hold the sit, good boy. Yes, get it.
Then I would give him permission to play so he can be crazy as you want.
But at the end of the day, it's me.
Who's in charge that starts and stops the game. So don't,
don't be too alarmed by the growling. If you are concerned at all,
then stop the play.
Maybe speak to a professional and get a little bit more insight about it.
But this type of growling is simply just pure enjoyment.
We just switched locations to do a bit more training with Smooch outside our dog
school, in the parking lot.
And there are people milling around and there's a few distractions that are
here.
And the next thing that I wanted to talk to you about is how you can use your
toys to help you in situations where the food may be isn't enough.
So if your dog is highly distracted, it is common that some dogs, you know,
you can feel like you put a steak in front of their face,
and they're just not interested. If you know that they have a favorite toy,
you can use this as their form of reward. Now,
what going to do is I'm actually going to start off with more basic exercises.
So I'm not going to do, you know, a crazy distraction and a really hard skill.
All at the same time,
I'm going to start simple and I'm going to build from there.
So we're literally going to start with just some sits and downs.
I'm going to ditch my food and I'm going to use my toy. Hi,
what's this good boy. Ready? Sit. Yes. Good.
Now notice when I said sit, I stood up nice and tall,
look a little bit more like a leader. And they also have my leash loose.
Now he is on a leash to make sure I maintain control and safety. Good boy.
Good. Sit down. Oops. Down, okay.
Yes. Okay. So we'll talk about that first. I was trying to go for it down,
but I was getting a little bit of distractions rather than just standing and
saying down, down, down a million times without him paying attention.
Now I'm just focusing on getting some attention. Yes. Good boy.
If he chooses to look at me. We're going to have a little game of tug.
I'm actually just going to re sort of route my training here and get him a bit
more focused. And this is what dog training is all about.
It's about picking the right thing for that dog in the moment. Good boys.
I'm going to take the toy from him now.
I'm getting more natural attention. Good boy down. Yes. Get it. Yeah,
there we go. Now I have some attention. Good boy.
Good boy. Okay. Sit beautiful. Okay. Good boy.
Nice. Good. Yes. Good boy.
Now he's acing this,
but I'm holding the toy right in front of his face while I'm practicing this.
And I'm doing that to help him be more successful,
but I don't want to have to hold a toy out every single time I want him to
learn. So this time or wanting to listen this time,
what I'm going to do is I'm going to take the toy and hide it away.
I'm going to ask him for the behavior and if he responds,
I'm going to then bring the toy out.
So now it's acting more as a reward rather than a lure. Hey pup good boy.
Good sit. Yes. Get it. Woo.
Woo. Woo out. Good boy. Okay.
I'm just going to wait for him to disengage. Yes. Good boy. Sit. Oh,
you're so smart. Yes. Get it.
Do you see how he's actually starting to respond to the behaviors before I can
actually get a reward in our, get a command in?
And that's because he's starting to figure out that when he listens really fun
things happen. And because of this drive for the toy,
I can actually start getting him to listen and environments that are a little
bit more busy because he knows that the reward is something that he really truly
loves. We love to use toys in our training to work on building motivation,
drive intensity in our work with our pups, but there are some, uh,
puppy skills that require a little bit more precision.
And for those you're going to find that using food can be a little easier to
calm the mind, to get a little bit more thoughtfulness.
And as your puppy starts, get the hang of it.
You can then start to incorporate things like tugging and toys.
We've just come into the agility arena here and now Smooch doesn't know any
agility yet. He's just a puppy, but he has spent a little time in here.
And he's already learned that when you come in this building,
there is lots of fun stuff. So the moment we walked through the doors,
he was actually much more distracted than he was in the other locations.
So I'm actually going to take an opportunity to practice a little bit of
attention and follow in here using my toy as a reward.
This is going to be really great for those of you who have dogs that may be
don't pay attention quite as much.
This is a really fun follow game that you can use with food,
but it's especially fun if you use it with the toy.
So I'm just going to start off by having my leash gathered up.
So I have control and I'm going to start off by letting my toy be part of the
exercise to make it a little easier for him.
And then we can progress from there. So I'm just gonna show him the toy. Good.
I'm just gonna move around a little bit. Yes. Good boy.
If he chooses to follow me, I'm going to stop and yes.
And have a little tug and play with them. Good boy. Yes. Good boy out. Good boy.
Okay. Wow. Good boy. Yes.
Yeah. Good boy. So when I move around, I'm going to move around quite swiftly.
You can see my pace. I'm changing direction often.
That's to keep my puppy engaged.
I'm actually going to see how he does when I move sort of like a normal person.
Out. Good.
He automatically disengages me. But if I move like this good boy,
Oh, look at that. Yes. See how that movement. Yes.
Good boy. Really changes the attention. So you got to put a little into it.
If you're expecting your young puppy to really pay attention to you,
we don't want to be a bump on a log and sorta moving around nice and slow move
with quick changes of pace and also incorporate your voice.
You always have your voice on you.
And that paired with a little game of tug can go a really long way.
Especially you get it in a really distracting environment.
Maybe you have a dog that's already showing a lot of natural motivation to work
and play with toys,
but maybe you have a dog that is not that interested in toys quite yet.
So I want you to check out a link in the description below all about how to
teach your dog to be more motivated by toys so that you can do some of these
exercises as well,
using toys in your training as a great way to build that motivation.
But we've also referenced using food in this video as well. Now,
a really common feeling is that a lot of people are apprehensive to use food
because they feel they're going to become very dependent on it.
Now we have a video specifically about how to make sure that doesn't happen to
you. So make sure you click that card right there.
If you're looking for some more guidance on puppy training and you'd like to
work with one of us to get more specific tips on training your puppy,
make sure you check out the link in the description below to find out more about
our puppy essentials online program. On that note, I'm Kayl,
this is Smooch, Happy Training.