Marley and Fetch or Fetch/Tug

Marley is ball crazy. Loopy, nutso, out of his freakin' bean when there is a moving ball in his environment - I know this isn't good. He loves fetch though, and I really wanted to introduce him to Fetch Tug from Neil Sattin's Natural Dog Blog

I brought out the hoses that Neil recommends and while Marley was willing to fetch them (my dogs seem to find rubber an unnatural retrieval materials, so I have to ask them to "bring" rubber toys to me until they get over the smell/taste) even a mild, minor, barely there game of tug made him ballistic. The hoses were both shredded in one session and he was an airborne, bouncing, screeching, teeth gnashing beast, all 23 lbs of him - in my face.

Next day I tried the game again. This time no tugging, just fetching. It was ended fairly quickly when he made a full body launch that included my finger.

Next session we switched toys to a 12 inch rope tug, two of them. He was still vocalizing and leaping, and the game ended with a full body launch that involved half of my hand.

Session after that, bruised, but still game, because I'm sure there's going to be improvement somewhere along the line, we head out with the two rope tugs. After a few tosses, a young man helping out at the store next door started up a conversation over the fence. As he came around to the other side, I found myself mostly chatting with him while Marley was engaged in a full spirited, QUIET, non-bouncy, non-lunging very grounded game of fetch. With each return he released the tug and lay on the ground for the next toss.

The light bulb went off. Fetch is hugely stimulating for him. My voice and eye contact and general focus on him just put him over the top. The conversation redirected my focus and Marley was able to get in a fetch groove that felt good without my added stimulus.

We've had a few wonderful fetch games since then (I listen to the birds, or contemplate a new Yoga pose: Mountain Pose with Tug Toy) and today we threw a little tugging into it after he was tired and in a groove, which he quietly enjoyed.

It was awesome, and I am so grateful that he finally has a fetch game that feels good and doesn't overwhelm him.