If your house is anything like ours you’ve probably got dog toys everywhere on the floor in every room. Dogs love toys so much that they’ll make anything into a toy given enough time, boredom, and lack of supervision.
Toys are also one of the most powerful tools to have in our positive reinforcement bag of tricks and there’s always been one that I keep hidden away – only pulled out on super-special occasions – whose value at the moment I take it out is almost as good as a bag of hot dogs.
When I need to go nuclear with dogs to distract them, direct them, reward them or (my favorite) teach them self control, I push the button with the Infini-Tug Dog Toy
The Infini-Tug Dog Toy is deceptively simple in its design, which is essentially a three-foot length of braided fleece wound through a ball at the end.
I started using the Infini-Tug Dog Toy at a shelter with a dog named Wesley who had some resource guarding issues.
I know it sounds crazy to play tug with a resource guarder, but we only play according to the rules and only began once he had a pretty good drop-it command.
The magic of this game was that he didn’t have to guard it: he knew that he could drop-it when asked and he’d get it back again. It has done a great job in helping me reinforce simple commands for him and a great job at teaching him that many things just don’t have to be guarded. (Stay tuned for more on crazy Wesley in future posts.)
When puppy Pinball came to live with us, I was in the middle of writing A Dog Named Boo and had to devise a game that he could play while I typed. Tucking the tennis tug securely under my foot or thigh – when sitting – I could work as he tugged away.
I can’t tell you why you would want a Infini-Tug Dog Toy, but I will tell you what I use it for:
- With Wesley at the shelter, because he got the Infini-Tug Dog Toy for good behaviors I was able to begin whittling away at some pretty big issues in return.
- If Pinball is in one of his “I’m young and have a lot of energy so why not eat the pillows?!” moods, I can redirect this level of energy to the Infini-Tug Dog Toy which wears him out and saves my pillows.
- Finally, if the dogs have been really, really good I’ll give them the Infini-Tug Dog Toy for a couple of minutes just for fun.
The Infini-Tug Dog Toy is a great dog toy that’s cheap, pretty durable for a tug toy (remember to put it away when done), and I think your dog would get a blast out of it. Mine certainly do.
I just finished reading your book, and I loved it! My Chessie is also named Boo , a direct correlation to To Kill A Mockingbird, as his sister ,an older and much more sedate Chocolate Lab is called Scout.I think your positive reinforcement techniques are the only way.Again, what a marvellous read! I laughed, I cried—thanks for the pleasure you gave me.