I'm rethinking the idea of trying to train Tyr for service work, and one of the biggest things I'd need him to do is retrieves.
Which is also one of the reasons he didn't work out previously as a SD, but the other reason was that he was uncomfortable in places like stores, and that's changed enough to retry the retrieve training.
He can retrieve a dumbbell with no problems. But that's it. For example, I once asked him to retrieve an old cell phone. He picked it up, he brought it to me and right before giving it to me, he closed down on it just a little more and put a crack through the middle of it. I also once asked him to retrieve a book, which he did, after ripping the cover off it. *sigh* He just seems to think retrieve is a fun game and anything he's asked to retrieve should be able to be enjoyed. Which I think has something to do with how I originally trained the retrieves...
So what's the best way to retrain this without him destroying everything I ask him to pick up? I've done a lot of take stuff from my hand retrieve basics, and that works and doesn't trigger the destructive playfulness. But as soon as I try putting it on the floor, he thinks it's a toy.
Which is also one of the reasons he didn't work out previously as a SD, but the other reason was that he was uncomfortable in places like stores, and that's changed enough to retry the retrieve training.
He can retrieve a dumbbell with no problems. But that's it. For example, I once asked him to retrieve an old cell phone. He picked it up, he brought it to me and right before giving it to me, he closed down on it just a little more and put a crack through the middle of it. I also once asked him to retrieve a book, which he did, after ripping the cover off it. *sigh* He just seems to think retrieve is a fun game and anything he's asked to retrieve should be able to be enjoyed. Which I think has something to do with how I originally trained the retrieves...
So what's the best way to retrain this without him destroying everything I ask him to pick up? I've done a lot of take stuff from my hand retrieve basics, and that works and doesn't trigger the destructive playfulness. But as soon as I try putting it on the floor, he thinks it's a toy.