Training dog to work in drive

Drive is the dog's desire, basically his level of persistence.  Drive will carry a dog through pressure and frustration. 

As for the concept of drive and how it's used in training, the foundation work is building a dog's drive for food or a toy or whatever it is you use to motivate the dog.  "Working in drive" describes the attitude, focus, intensity, desire, etc that the dog shows.  Often, a dog that has drive will usually have more drive/desire for certain things but generally has a higher level of drive in general.  Nikon has the highest drive for a certain ball as his reward, but also has much higher drive for food, tugs, even a stick or a random piece of fabric will put him in drive.

These are just random YouTube vids I found....

This is a dog heeling very nicely..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAIbfmu17BQ

This is a dog heeling in drive....  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN6CidhAUB4

There's also defense drive, fight drive, pack drive, etc.....

I'm coming to strongly dislike the phrase "training in drive" simply because there seem to be a heck of a lot of ideas floating around as to what a dog "in drive" actually looks like.

I have jokingly suggested I'm going to pioneer my own training movement, which shall be known as "Anticipatory Training" and shall be pretty much exactly the same as drive training but at least gives people a much clearer idea of what the aim is. It will spawn a whole new wave of "this is the solution to every problem" and "this is nothing new and loads of people have been doing it for years and much better at that" . Essentially, there is a point where the anticipation of a reward is so great that it's almost better than the reward itself, and it makes the reward more rewarding than if you delivered the same reward with no anticipation. The level of arousal a dog will display in response to this anticipation is what people often call a dog's drive.

I think Liesje has covered really well what that means for a trainer.

The anticipation is important, but you can (and should) train and work a dog in drive without at toy or reward present. It can act as a lure, but that's not really the main goal.  In Schutzhund, there's a lot of ritualization involved in training so that the dog can be popped into drive using a simple ritual or cue.  You can trial with your toys and rewards (and really shouldn't even have them around on a trial day even if you're not on the field yet).  The dog does have to actually HAVE drive in order to train IN drive, if that makes sense.  It is something that needs to be developed....actually I think "molded" is a better word (since you cannot develop drive in a dog that doesn't have it), but drives are a genetic aspect of a dog's temperament.  Here is a dog just a year old, doing his BH at the youngest age possible and showing very nice drive in his work, no toys present here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jURaEkImDWc

Sometimes when dogs "leak" drive, the concept of the drive is more obvious.  Here's a "leaky" dog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDxio9TORVU

I go one step farther than Corvus in that for me it's not just the level of arousal/anticipation, but the level of frustration and stress a dog can endure and maintain that level of arousal, and that this frustration and stress actually increases the dog's arousal rather than shut the dog down.

Also to go along with what I was saying above about a dog just having drive, a dog with a lot of drive is one that really "pushes" the handler, especially in obedience.  He pushes physically and mentally.  It's really hard to explain without seeing it or experiencing it.  Nikon has a LOT of drive for balls and toys, but he's not even at the level as many of the working line dogs that have this in their genes.  This level is not something that you can create.

Nikon has a lot of drive to play with toys and interact with me (tug, chase, etc) with toys.  A few weeks ago, my TD asked me to see if he had any "drive" for a dumbell.  I was curious so I harnessed him to a back-tie and put a dumbell on a leash and took a video (this is actually him getting tired, the first video was too zoomed in and the dog was out of the frame so we had to start over after we'd already been playing for some time).  This is the *first* time Nikon has ever seen a dumbell.  Just dragging it across the snow turns him on and he clearly shows nice drive, he wants to play with this dumbell even though he has no idea what it is or what it's for.  He has no concern for being restrained and the frustration of the physical restraint actually increases his arousal for the dumbell.  When I put it over my shoulder and give him some pressure by walking into him and making a head-on confrontation, he does not back off and maintains his arousal for the dumbell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klosg2qDqYY

The tieback reminds me of Erik's response to a mild challenge. He just throws himself into it even harder. I discovered this to our detriment with attempts to block him off from the carpet he'd been ripping up. Every time I put an obstacle in the way he would set about removing it and then attack the carpet with renewed vigour. I very quickly had a complete obsession on my hands with that carpet. And he just became more and more enthusiastic about removing the obstacles I could produce.

On a different note, your video really shows the frustration that a dog suffers when he's tied up.

 I wouldn't have thought to tease a dog like that to get him super interested in something.  Well, tease a little. I can't wait to use this.