without squeaky toy...

Jack is doing really good on agility, but only if i hold a squeaky toy in my hand. well on the competition this is not alowed. i need an advice on how to motivate him without holding anything in my hand? please help

How exactly are you using the toy to motivate him? Does he get it at the end of the round, or do you lure him by squeaking it as you go round?

I would suggest that you get smaller & smaller toys until he will go round following your empty hand and then you reward him at the end with a toy/treat/game, whatever.

Or, depending on how you are using the toy, slowly increase the number of obstacles negotiated before he is 'rewarded'

thx sb
i squeak with toy first and then he is running after it. at the end of the round he gets it. it is the sound that motivates him, so i dont know how to replace it
food does not count...

Can you squeak?

Surely there's no rule against you squeaking!

grrr lottie
i am excused because im from slovenia and english is not really my mother language (so i squeak instead)
ok... i squeeze a toy til it squeaks? better?

No, I know what you meant!

I meant, if the dog responds to a squeak, can you squeak? Surely there are no rules against this!

That way, the dog responds to a squeak but you don't need a toy!

I was joking, I didn't mean that I had misread your post!

What happens if you don't sqeak the toy? Will he go over even one obstacle without first being 'sqeaked'?

Try getting him over just one obstacle and then sqeaking, then two and a squeak, then three, and so on, so that he starts to associate the sqeak with the end of the course rather than the start. Or, gradually reduce the volume of the squeak until you can phase it out altogether.

Is there another toy, such as a rope, that he likes? If so, can you get him over an obstacle and then reward with a game of tug? You can then build up gradually the number of obstacles he has to clear before he gets his game. If you can substitute a toy for the squeaker, and get him to associate a good game with the end of the round, that should solve the problem.

Most dogs will do agility for the sheer pleasure of it. I wonder whether your dog is enjoying the sport if he needs to be motivated with a sqeaker?

i believe that he does, because when he is "warmed up" he is running like crazy.....