Free Navy SEAL Dogs by Mike Ritland

different types of environments. I’ll even set up a little puppy obstacle course. Basically, I put all sorts of different objects and obstacles in their path. This includes lengths of PVC pipe lying on the ground or a little baby pool filled with plastic bottles and a hidden toy or ball. I take the pups to a suspension bridge that’s elevated and wobbly and get them around fence grating and multileveled pallets. I want them to have to crawl up and over things, to go underground at times, and to be familiar with and comfortable in all kinds of terrain. One of my favorite sights is the dogs diving into that kiddy pool filled with empty plastic bottles in pursuit of that ball or toy. Later, when the pups get bigger, I do this on a larger scale with an old bathtub filled with plastic balls. This looks a lot like those pits of balls that some indoor playgrounds have for younger kids, but while some little kids might hesitate before stepping into one of those pits, it’s a rare dog that will pause on the edge of a pool or tub to think about it before diving in.
    I really enjoy working with the pups at all stages, but I do get a big kick out of the obstacle course. It essentially is a doggy Disneyland for the pups, and it’s great to watch them figure out all the “rides.” That doesn’t mean that my interaction with them is limited to watching. At this stage, I’m very much into hands-on play with them. That includes me throwing a lot of mini tennis balls and other toys. I also still do a lot of rag work and tug-of-war with tug balls attached to a string. I yank on the string to get that tug ball moving, which keeps the pups in pursuit of something—using their prey drive—as much as possible. I also really want these dogs to develop their sense of possession—that there’s something out there they have to get, and once they do it belongs to them. Later on, we’ll work more intently on the letting-go part, but at this stage we really feed their desire to chase and catch things.
    To reinforce the idea that these other locations are pleasurable and that actually being in them is some kind of reward, I will also feed the pups. Of course each individual Malinois pup’s food drive is a bit unique, as it is with any breed of dog. Even so, any reward experience a pup has that pairs the environment or place he is in with the receiving of a reward or meeting of a need is positive reinforcement.
    I also start to feed the pups to get them used to using their noses early on. While they are still with their mom, I’ll take a bowl of food and set it somewhere in the room. Not right out in the middle, but somewhere they have to search for it a bit. You’ll very quickly see the pups catch the scent and start using their noses to go find it. After a few days of that, I put the food in another room, somewhere just beyond the door to the room they are in. Now they come into the other room and the same thing happens. The pups get wind of the food, and they all use their noses to find that bowl.
    Every couple of days I’ll up the ante, so to speak, and make it more challenging for them. Next we’ll go outside to a field that is 270 to 330 square feet. At first I put them down very near where I’ve hidden the food, because I want to set them up for success, and a young pup’s attention span is incredibly short. As time goes on, I’ll hide the food in the deep weeds farther away. Then I’ll hide it several acres away, and they’ll just start walking toward it. It’s important to understand that I’m not trying to frustrate them. I just want them to earn their taste of success. That’s why when I go out to hide the food, I always place it somewhere downwind so that when they first step outside, they’ll pick up the food’s scent pretty quickly. Then, as soon as they do catch a whiff of it, they go charging out toward it.
    By doing things this