Puppy Pong

I learned about this exercise from a Doggie Day Care employee. It works with older dogs as well as puppies.

The purpose of the exercise is to strengthen the dog's confidence when doing a recall to you or anyone on your team. In the excitement of a race, some dogs lose all focus and sense of direction. Knowing the "Pong" game will allow anyone to approach and call your dog to them and regain control.

Have you and 1-5 other team members gather in a loose circle around your puppy. You need at least two people (yourself included) to do this but, I wouldn't use more than 6 due to space considerations.

Everyone should have something yummy to offer the puppy. I wouldn't use a toy because a toy could actually be distracting and counter-productive to what you are trying to achieve.

Now, get comfortable and as close to the floor as you possibly can. Slowly, each person takes turns calling the puppy by his name and encouraging the puppy to come to them. Every dog is different. Some may not want to come at all or even totally ignore the person calling them. Others may come bounding enthusiastically. Most fall somewhere in between these two extremes.

The room should be fairly quiet without anybody or other dogs around to create a distraction. You want to build trust and confidence in your puppy.

Anyway, each person takes a turn calling to the puppy and rewarding him with yummy treats when the puppy actually comes. After the puppy shows willingness to come and also re-focuses on each new person who calls to him, try putting your fingers around the puppy's collar and take control for just a few seconds. Let him get used to his collar being touched and held. Reward lavishly for compliance.

This exercise shouldn't last more than 5-10 minutes at a time. You should see results within 3-4 times after introduction. After a dozen or more times, you should have a well socialized puppy ready to accept other's directions as well as his owner's.

Some are not as trusting as others and older dogs (particularly "rescues") may try your patience while getting to the compliance stage. Don't rush this just for "results". A skittish flyball dog can become a hazard during a race. Almost everyone has experienced a delay in racing while a "loose" dog is brought under control. This exercise can reduce the time necessary to bring a loose dog back to his owner. Good for dog, good for owner and good for race participants.

We all want to get to that "well trained dog" status. Plan carefully and execute and you'll be amazed how quickly that can happen. In the meantime,

Good Luck and Good Racing!

.........Chris