A long time since I wrote anything about Stobie and during that time we have learnt so much. The last article was talked about playing but not with a ball. We now have a short homemade toy, a felt tugger David made with a tennis ball on it. I use this when out and about on walks, and simply introduce it as a fun toy to chase in a left or right direction. Get the direction right and the toy flies off in that direction for him to pounce on. As the tugger naturally draws an arc in the air when swung it works very well indeed. I do also use this in training particularly when outside as there is more room to throw it. However, I still would have to say that if asked what toy he would die for, 99.9% of the time it would be a tennis ball. The exceptions are two special toys which are not suitable for training/competition situations. One is a large air kong on a rope used primarily on the beach as it floats on water. The other is a “flinger” type toy called a Winger. He gets very excited to see the winger’s but I am loathe to use them in training as the whole idea is they go in a holder and are “winged” a long distance. Need to be careful of other dogs, people & windows with it!
So I therefore have to admit that at a show, the tennis ball always wins. Sometimes I find this frustrating but generally it works out alright. We play gently in the queue, me feinting short drops, hiding it quickly (behind my back or in a pocket) or just popping it speedily under his belly and laughing as he squirms and twists to pick it up again. At some point the “ball” appears in my right pocket (where it had started out). Stobie isn’t stupid and I’m pretty sure realises that many of the times the “ball in pocket” is actually my fist but, he has yet to work out exactly when the switch occurs. At some point the ball goes behind my back and into the control of someone else. Usually this is via a helpful member of the ring party or friend. If there is a bucket, the ball amazingly appears there at the end of our run at which point Stobie gets extremely excited and runs around like a lunatic. Hopefully I also manage to get him secured on his lead too!
I’m happy that I have a few options now when I need a toy and have accepted that Stobie benefits from different toys to play with in differing situations. For any future dogs? Ensure they adore the tugger as it is a fabulous toy for agility training/competing.
Jill
