Jo & Honey, WCS, 1 yr old, NZ

Cool! Scratch marks are definitely a good sign! If things get too crazy you can gradually start to shape out a less invasive behavior – nose touch for example. But for now it is best if you bare with it for a while for her to really loosen up. You can always switch to food throws if she gets too wild.
I really like the dynamic! Overall you can start adding some fun and easy tricks she already knows into the mix. When you see she is focused and pushy, you can randomly ask for a trick and reward with lots of chasing and throwing treats. If you kneel down and expect her to poke you but she fails to do so initially, but looks eager and engaged, you can still reward a little and wait if she “upgrades”… at which point you reward more – add more action. Same goes for when you are doing engagemnt game. She was immediately focused on you and even offered to heel… give her at least a verbal prise for it – she has to know that giving you attention is the right thing to do. But you can break into action when she has given you something more.

Really cool! I love that we are turning her into a little maniac. 😉
“ My only problem with her now is if I’m stood around talking to people she jumps all over me – hahahaha”
Hehe, yeah well…. drive comes with some disadvantages sometimes. 😉 But no seriously – you can scatter some food and tell her to “go sniff” when you want piece and quiet to talk with someone. Or you can wait for her feet to touch the ground again and drop a treat as a reward. Repeat relatively frequently to keep her down.

Food games looking really cool. You can start including random tricks/behaviors she knows. Start with simple stuff & stuff she really likes. Sometimes when she offers engagent/jumps up, ask for something. Sit, down, spin, nose touch, figure 8 between your legs,… Or sometimes even a sequence of two or more. Than reward with some big action – food throws or hide and seek. Of course don’t forget to reward just engagent at times. But you can start asking for stuff. If you are around agility obstacles the “stuff” can also be individual tunnels, jumps or wraps around jump wings.

Food pocket play – also really nice! To turn it into tugging, make sure to use the free hand to grab the toy closer to her mouth after she bites. If you feel any resistance at all from that bite, let the toy slip through both your hands, so winning is the immediate consequence of the bite. Gradually you can increase the difficulty and not give it up immediately (even if she will be surprised and drop a couple of times – in that case just create the next fast chase) – “ask” for some stronger resistance before letting go. Grabbing the toy with your free hand and shortening the distance will allow you to keep better tension in the toy and usually that makes the dog want to resist you and therefore either lean back or even activelly pull back.