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Does anyone have experience with the lotus ball and how you personally use it in agility? Peter has been a nut case during class. Any obstacle that goes towards people, he does the obstacle and runs over to the side where they are or gets the zoomies. A classmate of mine let us borrow her lotus ball and it seems to get his mind back on the course. So I was wondering how do you guys feel about it?

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Seems like you've answered your own question. ;)

 

It doesn't matter so much what other people think of it as how it works for you, your dog and your situation.

It's more of the fact that it was new to him and maybe that was the only reason he was interested. Will it work long term? Not so sure lol he is a weirdo. He is the least toy motivated dog I've had and only likes electonic toys which would definitely not work in agility.
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It's great for dogs who aren't toy motivated. I 'made' a similar thing for my non-toy driven small dog with a pill bottle with holes in it Stuff food, throw. Becomes a thing of value, reward can be given away from me and it's interesting and fun. Definitely worth a try.

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Love the concept, in one of the trick training classes I took the instructor brought one and let students try it out with their dogs. Just now did a search for Lotus Ball and only came up with a few sellers. One, on Amazon, only offered the large size and it was $83.00. Yes, I looked twice to make sure I wasn't mis-reading.

 

I found 2 more, both smalls, and both sold in Great Britain. Didn't do the currency conversion rate.

 

Since Gibbs isn't a paper eater, I've rolled or scrunched up newsprint, (it's the stuff they sell to wrap things in for moving) and scattered kibble in it. He gets to shove it around and tear it apart and he seems to like it. Not helpful for events like agility, but thought I'd toss it out there.

 

I'll try CptJack's pill bottle next.

 

Ruth and Gibbs

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Absolutely!! The Lotus Ball is the only toy-like thing Tessa cares about. She LOVES pushing it open to get the treat.


I had no distance on her until I started using the Lotus Ball. Now she does really well when we train with it. I also use it to maintain her running contact behavior on the A-Frame.

 

Very, very helpful for a dog who loves it.

 

Bandit doesn't care for it much. He would rather use an actual toy. I have taught him to push the Lotus open for the food inside, but he doesn't really get excited about it.

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Will it work long term? Not so sure lol he is a weirdo. He is the least toy motivated dog I've had and only likes electonic toys which would definitely not work in agility.

 

If you need to keep him interested, you can change up the treats you put in the Lotus to keep it interesting.

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That depends on your dog, doesn't it? I doubt there's any way anyone else can answer that for you. ;)

 

Hopefully Peter will keep enjoying it and it'll be a useful incentive for him.

I understand that, but I'm looking for opinions from people who have used it if it keeps them engaged. That's all. :)

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IMO, it's going to depend on how much your dog likes food. If your dog has a hard time not getting 'bored' with any reinforcer, no, it may not be long term. If your dog's just not into toys but loves food, you'll have more luck and build value into the ball.

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