Randy says:

Would you be able to direct me to section(s) of this course that may help me with a food v. toy challenge I’m facing? I’ve been having difficulty getting my dog, Jem, to respond to both food and a tug toy during the same training session. As a result, I try to structure training sessions so I may begin with a tug toy for reinforcement and end the session doing drills that work better with food as reinforcement. I’d like it to be easier to switch back and forth between food and toy. For example, I just went through weave pole training using the 2×2 method using only a toy that I would toss as a reward. She can now do 12 poles and training has been done exclusively with a toy as reinforcement. On the other hand, just the other day at a class, we had to do some drills that called for food rewards. Later, we moved to a tunnel drill. Normally I would throw a toy at the exit for this drill, and Jem would grab it. But this time, she looked at the toy but made no attempt to bite it and then looked at me as if to say, “Any food on you?” I’ve thought of throwing a lotus ball with food in an instance like this, but I’m fearful that I may weaken Jem’s responses to tug toys