Starting a bullet to his dog is very certainly the way of playing with his most widespread dog. Nevertheless, it is better to avoid game sessions to launch. That’s why.
Starting a bullet (or a stick) to his dog is certainly the way to play the most widespread, the simplest and most observed in the master/dog binomial. Nevertheless, I propose today to discover why it is best to avoid game sessions to throw and especially what to do instead.
Why avoid throwing games?
Launch games strengthen the instinct of pursuit of dogs
Launch a bullet or stick to his dog; it is to teach him to pursue prey. In fact, if your dog is already used to run after the small (or wholesale) game in the forest, after cats, birds (yes, yes. My dog loves running after birds.), bicycles, cars or The joggers, you reinforce this (bad) behaviour by playing with him at games to launch.
They do not promote the strengthening of the master/dog relationship
Playing with his dog should have the main objective of strengthening the interspecific relationship that binds the pair. And clearly, launch as far as possible from you a toy is not really in agreement with this relationship-building relationship.
Indeed, playing games to launch, you learn more about your dog than the “pleasure” is far from you because it validates mainly by catching the toy launched, and so does not take pleasure when it is very far from you.
These games are “beasts” in a sense they have no educational scope
By launching a toy your dog, you do not teach him anything. At best, you just teach him to bring back the toy, but this is clearly not enough. It is for this reason that I give you just after all alternatives to play the ball, but otherwise.
They generate in dogs a quick excitement, intense and often uncontrollable
Finally, the major problem of the launch games lies in the fact that they excite the dogs very quickly, very quickly and very intense. You can not really go Crescendo playing the ball with your dog because it is often obscured by the ball and goes very quickly in excitement. Sometimes it is very difficult to stop the game and ask your dog to calm down.
Play the ball with his dog, but otherwise
Failing to prohibit the throwing games completely, you can make them more interesting, more educational, and play otherwise with your dog, even keeping the game’s principle with a bullet. Here are some examples :
Trail games
With a bullet connected to a rope or string (so that the plug is simpler for you), do not hesitate to play tugging games to work the self-controls of your dog.
So, while keeping the toy in your hand, invite your dog to catch the ball. Have a curved posture, an acute and enthusiastic voice and make circular movements with the toy, closest to the soil possible.
After a few seconds (the excitation phase should not last too long), straighten, straight like I and say “stop” or “loose” with a firm tone and without shooting the toy. Try to stay the most stable and motionless. As soon as your dog dropped the toy, wait until he calms down a little, sits and repeat the exercise.
This game allows you to spend your dog, strengthen your relationship, teach self-checks and especially give up to win.
Waiting before going to get
You can also teach your dog to wait while you launch the toy and go back only when you ask him.
This requires a long and tedious work that highlights the notion of static with great stimulation.
This learning must therefore be very progressive not to put the dog in a failure situation. Indeed, at first, you do not close the toy, let it just fall off at your feet without your dog rushing on it, then increase the distance from the throw.
Of course, to play this, your dog must have acquired the “step move” upstream without any distraction. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for him to keep a step moving while his favourite toy is launched, even right next to him.
The “Stop” in full race
To go further and work on the notions of renunciation and self-control, you can also teach your dog to stop in the race to his toy.
It’s a very good way to keep control of your dog. This game can indeed be a very good learning to recall your dog in everyday life if he runs behind a bike, a car, game or other.
Here, the “stop” must, of course, be acquired already at 100% without any distraction. Do not hesitate to start this learning when working on a leash, for example.
Search games
It’s a game that, personally, I love doing with my dogs. With the shelter, I hide their favourite toys (often kong bullets) in the garden and then asks them to find them. At first, it is necessary to help them, refer them, but after they quickly understand what they must do and take pleasure in using their flair to find their treasure.
Tribal
Then, finally, a game that meets the needs of the dogs completely “toques” of the ball, namely: the dogs of Shepherd! Personally, I have never met a shepherd dog who is not mobilized by the ball!
Thus, this discipline that finally similar to a giant football is particularly intended for the dogs of a shepherd with a marked but not exploited grouping instinct. The goal of Treiball is, therefore, to bring back a maximum of bullets in the goals in a minimum of time.
For more information, I also invite you to read our article on the games to be preferred and those to avoid with his dog.
