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Thanks Allie. Yeah I would not advise blowing the ear for a dog older than about 15 weeks for the same reason you gave of snapping at the air.
Use of the raised platform gives the puppy a target to return to on his retrieve, and for casting, remote sits, etc which I help the team build into more complex chains. We spend at least a week luring the puppy onto it and rewarding him before we ever start retrieving from it. In order to play tug-o-war with a puppy you’ve got to be pretty low to the ground to start, and the addition of the raised platform pretty much eliminates stooping toward the puppy as a behavioral antecedent. Although I definitely think I should be more clear about that in my written instructions.
One thing you did make me notice was that I accidentally used the word “surprise” twice in the description of the exercise. It’s supposed to say, “The ticklish sensation will surprise the pup causing him to open his mouth.” Thanks for pointing that out. I agree with you that the way it’s written makes it sound like a startler or interrupter. It’s supposed to be a gentle blow like you’re starting kindling, not like you’re blowing out a birthday cake.
As far as teaching “Out” by offering another toy or piece of food, I don’t think it’s productive of the emotional response I want to see out of an obedience or field dog when I ask them to “Give.” I want the dog capping his drive so I can provide him with an outlet back to prey channeled through social. I’m not saying it can’t be done the way you describe, but keeping in mind that this is from my curriculum for puppies at about 7-9 weeks, I do want the earliest imprints of “Give” to be along these lines rather than what you describe. Each technique has different goals, it’s not that one is more correct than the other, they just have different end states in mind.
