improving grip on 8 month old pup - Page 1

Hi guys! I am needing some advise on improving grip on my 8 month old malinois pup. I have been told by my trainer that everytime she grabs the tug you should put hardly any pressure on it and always allow her to take it off you however I believe this has created a weak grip. I asked him about this over the weekend however he doesnt believe this is the case and has told me to continue doing what he has instructed. I have a 6 year old german shepherd with amazing, crocodile crushing grip and I always remember playing with her rough and believe building up pressure creates a stronger grip. I believe because i have always allowed my young dog to take the tug off me without any resistance she doesnt feel the need to have a strong grip.

I have tried putting more pressure on her however she just wont bite down and always slips off the tugs. I have tried a numeroius amount of different surface tugs but her bite is still weak.

I am contemplating going to a very soft rabbit fur type tug to try and build drive and grip this way. I have done this with previous dogs of other breeds and found it to work very well however, she is a potential shutzhund dog, will using soft furry type tugs ruin her?

Thanks for reading :)

Heidi..a dog's grip is genetic, if the dog has the "heart" and wants to bite something, it will. People have for years tried to "improve" their dogs grip, bite and fullness, with very little results, because again, its a genetic issue. I dont know your dog, you could try increasing your prey attractions to arouse more prey drive and see if the dog is willing to engage in a harder bite, but, I do not think that using rabbit fur and such will make much difference, especially if you are trying to make this dog an IPO dog, never seen a rabbit fur sleeve being used in that or any other sport. One more thing, most Malinois do not have a deep, full mouth grip, except the NVBK lined ones that are bred for that since points count on grip quality in that sport.

Excellent advice above.

I would also take in to consideration that your pup is not fully done with adult teeth coming in.

This is why most people don't do a lot of biting with a dog at the age yours is at.

Your helper may be purposely telling you not to do a lot at this stage for several very good reasons.

Teething is one and the other, if he's experienced with Mali's, is that they are easy to ruin at a young age with too much pressure put on them. (GSD's, that you are used to, are a lot more forgiving in this respect.)

When they are young it's a lot better to take your time with them.

Bet it's her teeth, but in time she will bite ...don't you think...

How about some lure coursing practice, may entise her a bit... definitely to chase and have some fun...  JMHO. 

Thank you for the advice – I will stick to soft jute tugs for now and see how I go. I might even pole tie my shepherd and mal and tease them with a tug and see if that creates even more drive to bite hard.

I have purchased and watched the Michael ellis DVD power of playing tug with your dog so will see how I go.

i am going with teething issues and the old adage that whatver fault you focus on you amplify, it's counter intuitive i know but i have seen it play out multiple times with handlers obsessing on the one thing their dog is having a problem with and the dogs seems to get stuck on it.

you may have also operant conditioned your dog that biting = pain if you worked the dog in bite work while it had a unseen teething issue, that could take months/years to fix.

i would ditch all the vids and give the dog a break from bite work per se, lots of other stuff you can do and you can give a ball/tug reward without using reseistance like your trainer seems to be telling you.

hope you haven't caused a problem. good luck.