Courtesy of Mental Properties Productions, Inc.
This video is a brief demo on building drive and focus and the fundamental principles behind it. There are several major drives or as I like to refer to them as — instincts.
I break them down into the following: Chase, Retrieve, Fight, Defense, Possession, Hunt, Food, and Social. These are all primal instincts that dogs have and as working dog handlers, we want to prompt these drives depending upon what the dog’s task(s) will be. For myself, all of these instincts are very valuable other than the defensive component for search and rescue.
When anyone ever hears me talk about maximizing the dog’s genetic potential I’m talking about building drive and focus through various exercises to develop these instincts. That’s what makes a highly motivated dog that has a good work ethic!
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Below are notes that I wrote for the 2009 Spring Federation K-9 Training weekend.
Building Drive and Focus by Kyle Warren
Accomplished in developing a solid reward system
1. Ball on string
2. Tug toy
Play with these types of toys can stimulate and build all the instincts listed in the following section. I prefer to do roughly two-thirds tug play to one-third retrieve play. The tugging is very connected engaging with the handler and the dog is consciously thinking about its handler (or subject) and the fun involved. The retrieving is more energy release even though the dog knows the handler (or subject) is needed to throw it for them. This combination has worked well for me.
Spectrum of Instincts important for K-9 SAR
If we can say one is more important than another. This is my personal order of importance among all the instincts listed.
1. Retrieve: dog returns its toy to handler.
2. Hunt: dog searches for its toy for an extended period of time.
3. Possession: dog carries toy everywhere and refuses to give it up.
4. Social: dog is positively excited to engage with people.
5. Food: dog ravenously devours snack or meal.
If your dog rates high in these behaviors then it is the handler that is preventing success.You must evaluate the genetics of your dog and understand what it’s raw genetic potential is based on its breed, breeding, and specific personality.
