In this instructional video, Jacob Morgan argues that many dog owners unintentionally subject their pets to "purpose deprivation" by confining them to indoor, low‑stimulus lives. He likens this to sleep deprivation in humans, describing it as a psychological wound that manifests as reactivity, anxiety, and destructive behavior. Morgan contends that superficial enrichment (treat‑filled toys, lick mats) merely patches the symptom; the core need is a meaningful job that satisfies the dog’s predatory and working drives. He proposes recall, off‑leash exercise, and structured, predatory‑sequence play as the primary outlets. The video then shifts to a live demonstration with Owen and a reactive German Shepherd named Ollie. Owen employs a series of play‑based techniques—keep‑away, steal, out/drop teaching, controlled leash and prong pressure—to channel Ollie’s drive into a constructive game, gradually building effort, focus, and boundaries. Throughout the demo, the trainer emphasizes letting the dog win, using tension release, and maintaining the fun on the trainer’s side rather than the toy’s. The overarching message is that once a dog’s purpose deprivation is cured through a real job, many problem behaviors disappear.
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If you deprive a human being of sleep for a sustained period of time, it's considered a form of torture. It is a horrendous place to be. It breaks the mind. But every single day we are doing the same thing to our dogs and we wonder why they're losing their minds. We're depriving them of purpose. Dogs aren't houseplants. They are not accessories. They are predators bred for thousands of years to do jobs, to herd, to guard, to hunt, to retrieve. When you take an animal with that level of genetic drive and you trap it in a house for hours a day, You're creating a psychological deprivation, which is as damaging as starving them of food or water. And then when that dog inevitably starts destroying our furniture, lunging at other dogs, or barking at every leaf that blows past the window, what do we do? We try to fix it with counterconditioning. We try to fix it with threshold work. We try to fix it by rolling up treats in a towel and calling that enrichment. None of that matters. You cannot fix a dog that is suffering from purpose deprivation with a licky mat. You're trying to put a bandaid on a bullet wound. Before you even think about addressing the reactivity or the anxiety or the destructive behaviour, you have to fulfil the core necessity of that animal. You have to give them an outlet. You have to give them a job. For me, that starts with recall. It starts with getting that dog off leash, out and about in the field and letting them run until they are physically and mentally exhausted, fulfilled. It starts with play, real structured play that taps into the predatory sequence. Once you fulfil the dog, Once you cure the purpose deprivation, you'll be shocked how many of those unfixable behaviors simply disappear. Stop treating the symptoms. Cure the deprivation. Here's an example of Ollie, the reactive German Shepherd, learning how to expel those drives through play with Owen.
Ollie isn't the best at playing in regards to play drive. I tried to play with him a couple of times. We played yesterday a little bit, a teeny tiny bit. So the main thing I'm going to do is not wave the toy directly in his face. I'm going to play more—
already the keep away game. Oh good.
So I'm going to keep away from Ollie. I'm going to keep him on a leash, keep the toy away from him. When he starts to put an effort, then I might let him grab it. Oh, oh, so he's good at personal play. So at the moment he's kind of chasing me. I want him engaged in the toy. And the reason that I don't just want him to personal play is Ollie's owner Barry won't necessarily let Ollie bite him like I'll let him bite me.
Oh, fine. Ready?
So as you can see, I'm not trying to wave it too much in his face. I'm not trying to make him grab it. If I just give it to him, he's going to know I don't really want it, and he's going to be like, I'm not interested. Given that he's not kind of grabbing at it anymore, what I might do is throw it and race him to the toy.
And pick it up. Ready? And get it! Ah yeah, good boy!
So see, he's biting me. Ready?
Get it! Race into the toy and steal it!
Hey, hey, nope, good luck!
Hey, no.
Hey, no. So Ollie's nipping at me because we have personal played a couple of times, but again, I want him to try and translate the play drive that he has for me ideally onto the toy. But in regards to personal play, personal play as a general theme or play method is fine as long as you can turn it off. And Ollie and I can turn it off.
Oh, this looks more interesting. Come on then, come on. Oh yeah, good laugh.
Alright, so I've got Ollie's attention. Now that he's started playing with me, I'm gonna let him have a win. So I'm gonna let it slip through my fingers.
Oh, he's the biggest dog ever.
Now that he's dropped it, oh, I'm gonna steal it. So anytime that he drops it or loses interest in the toy, I'm gonna steal it and I'm gonna run away.
Good lad.
So I'm gonna be engaged in the game. He's putting in effort. I'm gonna let him have another win.
Oh, look at him!
I'm going to play the keep away game. Oh, he's dropped it. I'm going to race him back to it.
Oh, and I'm going to run away. Yeah, good lad!
So anytime that he drops it, anytime that he loses interest—
oh, he lost!
So he didn't have a good enough grip. I managed to steal it. I'm still not putting in loads of effort to win the toy because I know that he's a little bit unsure at the moment in regards to the conflict. In regards to just play in general. So I'm not really trying to rip it away from him just yet. However, I do want to get to that stage. So he's putting in loads of effort. Oh, he's not anymore.
Come on in, big lad. Come on, come on in. Oh, look at him.
I'm gonna play a keep away game. The fun is with me, not with the toy. I want him to want to play with me.
Oh, there we go, we've got him, he's engaged. Good lad, cool.
So what I might start to do now, now that I've got him involved in the game, is start the teachings of an out or a drop.
I'm gonna let him win it. Oh, I'm gonna keep away again. Oh, he's dropped it.
I'm gonna steal it and I'm gonna run away. Play the keep away game again. Hey, hey, hey. So there, Ollie's nipping at my legs. It's going to teach him boundaries of playing with the toy.
Come on, come on. Yeah, good lad, good boy.
So I'm just going to make him build up his position a little bit more, given that he had a bit of a telling off, and immediately, as you saw, he went back to being a bit soppy. Not really wanting the toy anymore.
Oh, he's dropped it.
I'm gonna grab it. I'm not really gonna ask him for an out until he really wants the toy. Otherwise I'll just kill his play drive.
Oh, there we go. That's what we want. Yeah, good lad. Oh, big and strong boy, eh? He's a big strong boy. Oh, he's dropped it again. Wow, good lad.
In regards to an out, I'm going to ask him to out, and I'm going to use my leash—
oh, that's my t-shirt, you dick—
to negatively reinforce it, doing light leash pops with his prong until he spits it. As soon as he spits it, I'll let him have it back again. So I'm going to take the tension off the toy and kill the prey.
Out. Get it! Good.
So Ollie's play drive probably isn't quite there yet. His position over the toy probably isn't quite there yet, hence why he let go so quick. Your dog might not let go as quick as Ollie did.
Wow, yeah!
Good lad. Good boy.
Yes. There we are. There we go.
Tension off the toy.
Out. Get it. Get it in. Yeah. Good boy.
And I'm going to let him have a win and play the follow me game. So he's getting a little bit bored. What I'm going to try and do is get him to engage with me again. I'm going to get a steal. Once I get the steal, I'm then going to try and get him to miss it and then call the game done to leave him wanting more. So I'm going to try and wait for a moment where he might re-grip it, and I'm going to— oh, steal it! And I'm going to get him to get a couple of misses.
All done.
And I'm just going to chuck the toy down on the floor. If he goes for it, I'll use my leash to stop him.
I'm fucked. Hey, that was our first proper play. Is that fun? Good boy.
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