The Fun Dog Trick Guide: Fetch 02/08/09
Surely the cornerstone of all games to play with your dog.
- Fun Dog Trick Guide: The Crawl
- The Fun Dog Trick Guide: Fetch
- The Fun Dog Trick Guide: Play dead
- The Fun Dog Trick Guide: High Five / Paw
- Teaching Your Dog that Good Means Good.
- The Fun Dog Trick Guide: The Lie Down
- Training your puppy to stay on command.
- Training my puppy to sit.
- Training your puppy to understand its name.
This can be a great fun and once you have taught your dog or puppy to chase and bring a toy back to you it can really improve the bond that you have with your dog and save on running back and forth yourself.
The Toy
Have one toy that you use specifically for fetch. Don’t let your dog have this at any time other than when you play fetch. This will make your dog much keener to engage with you and the toy. Start with something that your puppy can tug on and is soft for them to pick up. If you have a terrier then try to avoid anything that squeaks at this stage or they will be reluctant to return this to you, due to prey drive.
Get down on your puppy’s level and trail the toy in quick movements on the floor. Praise your puppy for chasing it. Work simply at this for a few days until when you get the toy out your dog is keen to play. If you haven’t done already so then this is a vital time to teach the ‘leave it’ command. Attach a washing line or long piece of string to their collar. Leave it trailing on the floor without any tension. Throw the toy gently and encourage your puppy to chase after it. If your puppy goes to the toy and picks it up skip to retrieving the toy.
Troubleshooting
If your dog won’t chase or pick up the toy then you should run over to the toy and point it out. Praise when they pick it up or even touch the toy. If they pick it up run backward calling their name for a few feet and make a huge fuss when they follow you. If they don’t pick it up, as soon as they sniff, pick it up yourself and run backwards engaging in a game of tug of war to encourage them.
Retrieving the toy
Once your puppy is running after and picking up the toy call your puppy back. If they ignore you then pick up the long line and encourage them over. Make a huge fuss, even if you have had to use the line. Reward with a game of tug of war for about thirty seconds, give the leave it command and take the toy.
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5 Responses to this article
Chatting to people who love dogs and have practical experience of specific breeds is a great way to learn about breed quirks. Try http://www.discussdogs.com for forum chat.
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
hi, sorry what do you mean?
My 7 month springador is good at chasing and pick it up. For some reason as soon as I bend down and praise him, he would drop the ball and walk off. He might go back to the ball briefly if i point him to but he would not pick it up and bring it back. any other trick I can try please?
Hold off on your praise until you actually have the ball in your hand. It sounds like he has just learnt a chain of behaviours. So when he comes over with the ball, already be in the crouched position and hold your hand out. You might have to do this on a lead at first to encourage him to come all the way over to you. When its in your hand lavish him with praise.
There are lots of other tricks to teach (see the category trick training to the right of this). Also you could try the play dead trick its pretty cool.