Another group of impulse control exercises goes under the label of “structured play,” also called “tugging with rules.” These exercises are not for every dog, but if your dog has good toy drive and ranks toys high on its scale of valuable resources, then structured play will work well for impulse control training. 

Also, structured play develops a strong relationship between your dog and you.  As you’ll see in the video, and is true for Dan in everyday life, Dan does not value a toy unless I’m attached to it.  I had to work for that, at least a little, and I don't cover how I did that here. To be sure, Dan was not as challenging in that regard as many other dogs can be.

 

The video is available on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqD1YwhwmEM

In this video, I show the exercises and here I talk a little about how negative punishment is used to train impulse control.  I don't cover any of the beginning steps of training though.

 

The exercises are:

1. Release to a thrown (moving) toy
2. Release to a dead toy (on the ground)
3. Release to a toy that you hold (can be moving or not).

 

Exercise1, release to a thrown toy: This is basically Susan Garrett’s 1-2-3 Game.  She describes how to build this game in her books, I think it’s in most detail in Shaping Success.  My version here is less elaborate.  My build up, which you can’t always hear on the video, is “READY…..” Some folks use Rachel Sander’s “Ready Steady” but of course it doesn’t matter what you say, because dogs don’t speak English.  The idea is that as you raise criteria in this game, you wind the dog up with a cue that says you are about to release the dog to the toy.

Although I don’t show the early steps of building this game, I do show at the end what happens when the dog breaks before released.  You stand up immediately, relax your body, and stop the game.  In Dan’s case, my disengaging is enough to stop him more or less.  You’ll see he still throws in a few token grabs at the toy when I give him his release word too (we’re working on this), but my reaction is the same:  I stay disengaged with Dan and the toy until Dan settles and waits for the next cue.

 

Allowing your dog to have access to the toy, to reward and build the behavior that you want (Dan waiting and controlling his behavior), is positive reinforcement (R+).  Disengaging with the toy and your dog, when your dog gets up before being released (a behavior you don’t want), is negative punishment (P-).  Well, to be precise, it is punishment if the getting up behavior diminishes.  

 

Pairing positive reinforcement paired with negative punishment (that is, adding and subtracting the same reward) is a powerful combination.  Positive reinforcement may still build a behavior when it’s used alone, but pairing with negative punishment reduces training time often. In the case of teaching impulse control, however, use of negative punishment is powerful. Effective use of negative punishment is key to teaching impulse control, and this is one of the two situations where I routinely use P-.  Otherwise, I use P- sparingly. 

 

The principle is:  Dog controls his behavior; he gets the reward.  The faster he settles to wait for the release, the faster he gets the reward. 

 

The advantage of using a toy, versus using food as in the Doggy Zen game, is that you can build the dog’s arousal to a much higher level and still demand that he settle and wait until he’s released. This higher level of arousal simulates an agility trial more closely than simply using food and teaching a sit stay.

 

A few more pointers about Exercise 1, some of which apply to the other exercises as well:

 

1.  I give the release “GO” while standing still, and I pause slightly before throwing the toy. I don’t release and throw at the same time.  If you give a verbal cue and move to throw the reward simultaneously, your dog will recognize your movement as the release cue, and not the verbal cue.  That of course is the kiss of death in agility.  Also if I give the verbal release and wait, Dan starts to run out ahead of the toy, a behavior that I will build with this game. I want that also for agility, to teach the dog that GO means move out ahead of me. If you’re not doing agility, these fine points may not matter at all.

 

2.  I reward Dan with a lot of play after each successful trial. This isn’t about retrieving either, it’s about Dan getting value from interacting with me.  Dogs exercised with a chuckit for example, might as well have a mechanical ball launcher.  They don’t need you for that game.  The tugging is part of my building value into ME as a resource.  The toy isn’t valuable to Dan unless I’m at the other end. For this reason, he naturally retrieves the toy to me.

3.  I never, ever, ever engage in keep-away.  My dogs learn that as puppies: that I will never run after them for any reason at all.  If your dog plays keep away with you when you throw the toy, you have some options.  First, don’t play this game.  Or attach a long line to the toy.  Or, use two identical toys, one that you throw and one that you keep on you.

 

4. When I say “OK” or "Let me see," Dan is to release from the toy. He’s not perfect about that, in that he throws in a couple of token grabs or leaps at the toy most of the time, but he’s not bad given how aggressive his style of play is. (With my knee injury, it’s pretty difficult to tug with him and stay stable.)

 

5.  To get Dan to release the toy quickly requires that, in early training, I release him back onto the toy immediately for more tugging, many, many times.  I do several other things too to reward Dan giving me stuff that he has, that I don't cover in this video.  I try to play the game as many times as I can put up with before I stop the session.  Then I give the toy to Dan and walk away, with my "no more rewards mark" which is "All done."  If you want a dog to give you something valuable reliably, you have to minimize the number of times you take it away from him and do not give it back.

 

Exercises 2 and 3 may or may not be easier for your dog. 

Exercise 2 is much harder for most dogs because the toy isn’t moving when you release, but also because it’s moving before you release, which is the worst combination for difficulty, given that dogs are going on prey drive for most of this play. 

Exercise 3 is often used as a way to build a startline stay, and you can see in this video that I build the distance I walk away before releasing Dan to the toy.

 

A final caveat is that many dogs cannot tolerate this level of control over play.  I have to be much more careful with my collies, a breed typically with weak toy and prey drive.  For my collies, I spend much more time letting them win the toy.  I  do not ask for them to release the toy to me during structured play.  I usually can just yank it away from them, so I rarely need to ask for a ‘give’.   I might have to run with my collies toward the toy after I throw it, to convince them I’m racing to the toy to take it away.  Luckily I don’t need to do that now, because I can’t run anymore. 

 

In other words, a dog with weak toy drive or low confidence (status) will react to my exerting so much control over its play by essentially saying “OK, you want the toy that badly, you win, it’s all yours.  I’ll go do something else.”   Rocky and Megan both had good toy drive for collies, Megan more than Rocky. Star on the other hand is of such low status that I always let her win with tug, always, and never ask her to release the toy.

If your dog quits on you during structured play, and want some tips, let me know and I'll show how I trained my collies to have whatever tug and toy drive that they have.