Michael Ellis DVD

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Owned-By-Hendrix
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Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Owned-By-Hendrix »

Has anyone seen the "power of playing tug with your dog" DVD from Leerburg and Michael Ellis? (http://leerburg.com/221.htm) I'm curious about it but not sure if it should be a priority buy. Hendrix loves tug and wants it as a reward for PSA training. I've seen Ellis' "puppy bitework" and it's phenomenal. So I'm curious if this tug DVD is a must have or not.
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Dutchringgirl »

my girls just LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE playing tug !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant play with Sadie as she will rip my arms out so I will stand on a rope and let her tug, then I can step of so she can win.

We used the tug as a reward in Ring all of the time and it was a great tool. Thalie does anything for the tug. When I did agility with her, I would put the tug in my back pocket and as soon as she was done she would get it out of my pocket faster than I could.

He is really good, but I used the tug with out his video and did wonders LOL. I guess it would depend on the cost.
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Raven »

You can check out some snippets of the DVD, if I'm not mistaken, on Leerburg. You can also check out TONS of his mini-clips (on everything under the sun) he has on that site, too. You might be able to judge if the DVD warrants a dent in your checkbook...but Ellis is awesome and worth whatever you can justify spending, especially if you plan to trial.

Like Lisa, I didn't use his video to learn "the power of tug," but it might help refine what you already know, add much that you don't, and just generally help sculpt your technique.

I recently watched a mini-clip of him with an owner tugging with his Bel Mal. He caught something the owner was doing that didn't look "wrong," but he explained why not to do it when building engagement and it just made sense, yet it was a very simple thing we're probably all guilty of doing.

If you end up getting it, please follow-up with a review after viewing and using the information on Hendrix!!!
Though I can only hope to become the person who my animals believe I am, the things that they have taught me have made me a better human being. ~~~Sharon~~~
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Owned-By-Hendrix »

I've been going through all the Leerburg snippets and those rare pieces I can find on Youtube that aren't duplicates. He is brilliant… and teaches the way Hendrix LOVES. I think I will pull the trigger on it…. It's five hours and I'm mostly curious as to what makes it five hours long. Always money well spent on his DVDs!
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Dutchringgirl »

WOW, 5 hours on the Tug? Let us know how it is. Michael is great so Im sure it will be good too.
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by LyonsFamily »

Do you have a bowwow flix account? I had one for about a year and that's where I've watch most of the Michael Ellis videos. I think there's a lot of useful info on there. Michael Ellis is a phenomenal trainer and many people love the DVDs. Personally, for me, the long 3+ hour leerburg DVDs are really hard for me to focus on and I don't get a ton of information from them. I have to watch them in 2-3X speed and take notes just to get through and at the end I get the feeling that it could've been summed up in about 30 minutes. I'd much rather attend a seminar even for a less popular trainer. If you're someone that loves watching DVDs and you've enjoyed his other longer DVDs though, you'll probably love it.

If you're in PSA now and using the tug effectively, you should have a good foundation to get through without the DVD, but if you invest in a bowwow flix account, the cost to watch isn't bad.
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Dutchringgirl »

Nothing against Michael, but how does one do 3 hours on a tug? Give it to them, out, take it, make them do something else, give it to them. Sorry, only had one cup of coffee so far.
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Raven »

Dutchringgirl wrote:Nothing against Michael, but how does one do 3 hours on a tug? Give it to them, out, take it, make them do something else, give it to them.
I think his approach may assume that not everyone buying his DVD knows that tug is more than play. (????) Watching him over time, he seems to elaborate on cause/effect, why do this rather than that, etc., and not just tell you not to do something or to just do it this way or that...just sayin' I think that adds to it. (We won't mention that you can't sell a $65 DVD with only 20-minutes worth of play.)

Also, Leerburg has a huge market-base (first-time owner and up), so that may enter into it; instead of having different levels of something on a number of DVDs, they cram it all in one. IDK.

I bought a couple Leerburg videos some years ago (Ellis wasn't in them). The first one...I got absolutely squat out of. Zero. Less than zero, actually. I wouldn't call the second DVD a complete waste of money, but I didn't learn much more than I knew. They are part of the library that I loan to people who need some help, and they get stuff out of it, so all is not lost. :D
Though I can only hope to become the person who my animals believe I am, the things that they have taught me have made me a better human being. ~~~Sharon~~~
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Owned-By-Hendrix »

So I haven't bought it yet. I will have to sign up for Bowwowflix flix - I stumbled across them but just bookmarked the site. Thanks Stephanie!

I think he uses the tug to transition into bitework, from seeing clips of some of his other videos. All kinds of games to basically keep them bringing the tug back to you (which Mr. Felon over here has decided is not so much fun - trainer fail). Five hours is a looooooooong time though.... No wine drinking while taking notes for me! Lol.

As a short story, our PSA club is not working for Hendrix and I. The head trainer is good but is old school - the dog will do this without instruction. Hendrix is not a "do as I say" dog without being given a reason, nor does he easily understand what's expected of him without precise teaching. And don't get me started about the introduction to the distractions... I'm basically now rehabbing his bite technique, confidence, and environmental nerves myself. Point of this is that they never really taught us how to use tug as a reward or get that engagement with it. Hendrix loves it but if you ask him to sit before it, he will walk off, the stupid teenager. I know part of that is he associates it with PSA and the other part is him wanting to play for free. So I figure learning from Michael is probably a better place to start than winging it wildly. Even if it is a five hour DVD! Lol.

And yeah - most of the Leerburg videos could be summed up in 20 minutes. As a previous producer and recent video editor, it annoys the heck outta me. At least Michael's are informative in about thirty different ways. His puppy bitework one is the sole reason I'm able to get Hendrix into a full mouth grip for only me. Everyone else you'd think the sleeve is a corn on the cob!
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Dutchringgirl »

we used the tug to start bite work too. You hold the dog back, get him excited then let him attatck the tug, then train him to out on the tug. The tug can be used for many things and games and what ever. That was the first thing we did before introducing the decoy.

Do all of your training on leashes, short if you know he will walk away, then give him a good " hey stupid teenager, sit down !" then make the tug super fun and exciting to get.
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Raven »

I'm not sure that this would apply to Hendrix The Felon, and you can't do this in PSA, but I'll shoot it out there, anyway.

Thor loves the tug and it's useful, but I discovered that what engages him even more is to do something between using the tug (or a retrieve): "touch this or that," "push this or that," etc. They're just little sidebars of something, but they really amp him up and heighten his focus and drive. :eek:

I know it doesn't necessarily sound like something that would intrigue a teenaged felon, but as Thor grew, learned more, and actually became a dog who liked to please and work beside you, his "multi-tasking" blossomed and is good as a tool.
Though I can only hope to become the person who my animals believe I am, the things that they have taught me have made me a better human being. ~~~Sharon~~~
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Owned-By-Hendrix »

Yup. Hendrix will out on the bite pillow for me - slowly but it's at least there - and that's how we play now with the pillow. He is back tied because I can't trust him to not steal the pillow. I'll try incorporating maybe pseudo back tying him into our tug OB sessions… He's too fast and wilily for me to catch on anything shorter than a 30 foot lead.

That sounds interesting Sharon. Hendrix may like that… when we tried balls on strings and I became the master of the two ball technique (I know… puns puns puns) he liked doing something similar. We had to stop the balls since he wanted to tug using the rope instead of the ball and I got tired of rope burns.
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Owned-By-Hendrix »

A huge thanks to Stephanie for turning me onto Bowwow Flix!!!! I think I have all of ME's DVDs in my queue and for a fraction of the price! Just got the DVD today so I'm watching it tonight - I'll let you all know what five hours of tug lectures entails. ;) Can't wait!!!
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Dutchringgirl »

We would ALWAYS back tie when teaching the bit and out. we start with the tug, let them take it then out. then when we went to the decoy, the tug still had the excitement to it so it is a great reward.
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by Owned-By-Hendrix »

So this is a really great DVD. I'm more than halfway through it… okay, halfway through disk 1 - I might have gotten the old 2 disk DVD instead of the condensed one (that's an aside). Basically I'd say you should watch this DVD if:
1) you want a more engaged dog when you play tug
2) your dog doesn't seem all that keen when you include obedience and tugging
3) you want your dog running back to you after throwing a tug and practically barreling back into you just to restart the game

He does a lot of overview such as the correct way to hold the tug, the right type of tug, equipment bias, and how to make tugging an event. Then the rest of the DVD is basically going over these broad concepts with dogs of all ages, dealing with a variety of other factors. I'm pretty sure you'll find a situation that is very similar to your dog in it. He does back tying to build drive for the dog, why you should and shouldn't use a ball on a string in the beginning stages, distractions, environmental sensitivity…. lots of great tie bits in here and also a lot of minor things you probably don't realize you're even doing wrong. Main take away so far is BE ANIMATED and don't tug like you're yanking the toy out of your dog's mouth.

I tried what I learned with Mr. H tonight and besides me kinda crashing him into his water bowl and empty food dish ( :whistle: he was a good sport about it and didn't let go) he thought it was the BEST thing ever. His "out" has gotten even better. We went from the second pause before putting to a half a second within three minutes of playing. I think with time this system is the transition between food to tug for obedience I've been trying to piece together because of Mr. H's lack of enthusiasm.

Nothing in this DVD is not unknown info, but ME as always does a fantastic job of pulling together lots of information, simplifying it, and consolidating it into an understandable system. For the tid bits alone it's great.

Back to watching!
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Re: Michael Ellis DVD

Post by lazarusdmx »

Thanks for the informative thread--and super thanks for the bowwow flix info! I"ve been looking for a way to watch ME videos without going into debt, and this seems like the perfect way to try them out.
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