This is where everything clicks. Obedience isn’t a separate thing Melon does when training is boring. It’s the key that unlocks the game. Sit to start. Down to earn a round. Out to pause. Re-engage to restart. The structure IS the training.
The Obedience Gate
Every tug session now starts with obedience. She doesn’t get the game for free.
Level 1: Sit to Play
- Hold the tug at your side. Don’t present it yet.
- Ask for a sit. Wait for it. Don’t repeat yourself.
- She sits → hold for 1 second → Present the tug → Game on!
- After tug → out → wait for re-engagement → ask for another sit → game restarts
What she’s learning: Sit isn’t just a trick. Sit means the best thing in the world is about to happen.
Level 2: Down to Play
Once sit-to-play is flowing smoothly (3-5 sessions):
- Hold the tug at your side.
- Ask for a down. If she doesn’t know down on verbal, lure it with a treat.
- She downs → hold for 1 second → YES → Present tug → Game on!
- Gradually extend the hold: 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 5 seconds in the down before the game starts
This is how you rebuild her down. She’s motivated now. Down isn’t an abstract command — it’s the thing that makes tug happen. This is 10x more effective than drilling down reps with treats.
Level 3: Sequenced Obedience
Once both sit and down earn tug reliably:
- Sit → Down → hold 2-3 seconds → Present tug → Game on!
- Vary the sequence: sometimes just a sit, sometimes sit-down, sometimes down-sit-down
- Unpredictability keeps her thinking, not just pattern-matching
Weaving Obedience Into the Game
The obedience gate is the start. But obedience also gets woven into mid-game:
Obedience Between Rounds
Tug → Out → Sit → eye contact → Tug
Tug → Out → Down (2 sec hold) → YES → Tug
Tug → Out → Sit → Down → Sit → YES → Tug
Every pause in the game is an obedience opportunity. She practices going from high arousal (tug) to calm thinking (sit/down) and back again. That’s arousal regulation in action.
The Arousal Ladder
This is one of the most powerful things you can build with tug. Michael Ellis and Larry Krohn both emphasize this pattern:
Calm obedience (low arousal)
→ Release into play (arousal climbs)
→ Active tug (high arousal)
→ Out (arousal drops)
→ Calm obedience (low arousal again)
→ Release into play...
What she’s learning: I can go UP in arousal and come back DOWN. Excitement doesn’t mean I lose my mind. I can think at any energy level.
This directly solves the “session falls apart when she gets wound up” problem. You’re systematically teaching her to regulate.
Building Duration in Obedience
Use tug as the reward to extend how long she’ll hold obedience positions:
Week 1 of this stage:
- Sit for 1 second → tug
- Down for 1 second → tug
Week 2:
- Sit for 3 seconds → tug
- Down for 3 seconds (GOOD… GOOD… tug)
Week 3:
- Sit for 5 seconds → tug
- Down for 5 seconds (GOOD… GOOD… GOOD… tug)
Week 4:
- Sit for 10 seconds → tug
- Down for 10 seconds → tug
- Mix of sit and down in the same session
Use the GOOD marker during holds. GOOD means “keep doing that, more is coming.” Treat in position if you want, but the big reward is always the tug restart. The game is the paycheck.
For the full duration protocol that applies to any behavior, see Adding Duration to Any Behavior.
Common Problems at This Stage
She won’t down, only sits:
- Her down isn’t strong enough yet. Use a lure (treat to the ground, L-shape motion) and be patient.
- Don’t skip this — accept lured downs for now. The verbal will come as motivation increases.
- Mark the down the instant she’s in position: YES → tug immediately. Speed of reward matters.
She breaks position before you release:
- You held too long. Back up to a duration she can handle, then build slowly.
- Make the release to tug fast and exciting so she learns: holding position leads to something amazing.
She’s so amped she can’t obedience:
- Start with obedience before the tug even comes out. Calm environment, no toy visible.
- Once she’s in position, then the toy appears. If she breaks, toy disappears.
- Toy appearance becomes the secondary reward. Tug is the primary reward.
She does obedience but seems deflated/disinterested:
- You might be asking for too much duration before the game. Keep it short and exciting.
- Make the transition from obedience to tug explosive. The faster tug arrives after the behavior, the more she’ll love doing the behavior.
Session Structure for This Stage
Warm-up:
- 3-5 marker reps (YES + treat)
- One short tug bout, no rules (just reconnect with the game)
Main work:
- Obedience gate: Sit or down → hold → tug (3-4 reps)
- Between-round obedience: Out → obedience → tug restart (3-4 rounds)
- Mix it up: vary which behavior, vary hold duration
Cool-down:
- Final out → calm GOOD sequence (3-4 treats in position) → BREAK
Total: 8-10 minutes
Ready to Advance to Phase 2
Move to Phase 2: Outdoor Fetch when:
- Melon will sit AND down to earn tug (both on verbal cue, lure OK for down)
- She can hold position for 5+ seconds before the game starts
- She outs cleanly and re-engages with obedience between rounds (full sequence flows)
- She can go from high arousal (active tug) to calm obedience (sit/down) within 5 seconds
- You can run a full 8-10 minute session with obedience gates without the session falling apart
- She’s visibly excited when obedience happens (because she knows what it leads to)
All criteria met across 3 consecutive sessions? Congratulations — you’ve built the foundation. Everything from here builds on this.