Even got some photos of Maddie and I training and playing.
It has been interesting to train with a toy. I have used toys as a reward at the end of a training session with my other hounds, but have never found them to be useful otherwise. My biggest problem is that greyhounds often want to run with their toys so I would have a hot and winded dog that really could not jump right back into the training session. None of my other hounds have been tuggers.... and I never attempted to create tug drive either.
But I did cultivate Maddie's tug drive and it is pretty strong. Unless very distracted, she will almost always engage in tugging when presented with a toy. So the rule is that Maddie should not take the toy unless told to "get it". For example, in the photo above, we are working on heeling and when Maddie focuses and gives me a few moment of good heeling, I will present the toy and tell her to "get it".
She too will run with the toy if I throw it, but a lot of times Maddie will bring it straight back to me for tugging. Or if she tugs hard enough for me to lose my grip, she will often push the toy back into my hands for more tugging. All good stuff!
