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Old April 9th, 2008, 07:43 PM
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Tash83 Tash83 is offline
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Fetching question

I was just wondering if anyone has actually had to teach their dog to fetch? I have a poodle/retriever mix (both retrieving dogs) and he will chase a ball to no end, but will not pick it up and bring it back. I am always the one actually fetching the ball (who has who trained?). Any suggestions?
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Old April 9th, 2008, 08:59 PM
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None of my dogs have ever liked fetching anything. My cats love it a whole lot more than any of my dogs.

Cindy
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Old April 9th, 2008, 09:29 PM
Jim Hall Jim Hall is offline
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lol sorry maybe throw something and then just do nothing till he comes back with it? Find someone woth a dog who does fetch? amd maybe he will get the idea or maybe Marly thinks youi need the exercise too?
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Old April 10th, 2008, 05:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Jim Hall View Post
lol sorry maybe throw something and then just do nothing till he comes back with it? Find someone woth a dog who does fetch? amd maybe he will get the idea or maybe Marly thinks youi need the exercise too?
That's very good Jim. Too funny.

Cindy
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Old April 10th, 2008, 08:27 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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I think it is par for the course. It's the chasing part they like. They have to be taught that fetching and giving the object back to you is what engenders more throws and chases. Look on any of the hunting retriever forums and you will find many, if not most, of the owners are teaching the dog to fetch.

There are many methods, here is one that is beginning to work with my Lab puppy. Make sure the dog knows you have treats ready at first. Use a favourite toy, give it to dog without letting go of it, take it back and say GIVE. Immediately treat. Repeat, repeat, repeat but only a few gives at a time, to avoid boredom. Once you think GIVE is understood start dropping the toy close to you. Ask for GIVE. Start tossing the toy a short distance. Longer distances. Start skipping the treat, and soon the reward will be the fact that you throw the toy for a chase.
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Old April 10th, 2008, 08:35 AM
SARAH SARAH is offline
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LOL, too funny ... we have two retrievers. Note the name, retriever! What do they do? Run after the ball, and lie down chomping on it lazy-bones!

What we do? Stand at either end of the garden and throw to eachother, with the dogs running from one to the other
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Old April 10th, 2008, 08:48 AM
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jealma jealma is offline
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That is just too funny. Abby loves to fetch. Giving it back is my problem. I have tried the drop it, and give her a treat,, but once she gets the treat,, she knows I have them and she won't go for the ball again. I think she is thinking " Why would I go chasing a ball when the snacks are here? Did you forget I"m a smart dog?" How to get your pup to bring it back, I have not idea Abby seemed to do that without a thought.
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Old April 10th, 2008, 09:39 AM
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Melinda Melinda is offline
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I had to teach a lab/dane/rotti to fetch because she was the embarrassment of the class, it's actually a three step process, I use a favorite toy.

step one , have your dog sit in front of you, with treats in hand, hold the object out to her, say "take" and if you have to, push it gently into her mouth, remove it and treat, "take" (hand toy over) hold it in her mouth if you have to, then remove it to treat. that took about a week with us,

step two- repeat above but when she is holding it, say "hold".......then remove and treat.....another week at least

step three- repeat the first two then add "give".....take it and treat. so by the end of the third week you should have "take, hold, give".......toss the toy a few feet, say "take"............when she picks it up say "give" and 9 out of 10 times she will come back to "give"...keep doing this tossing it further and further each time....eventually no words will be needed, mind you, I also used it to get her to bring me the remote for the tv, the cordless phone when it was ringing *L* all kinds of stuff you use to have your kids do for you , ok, I use to have my kids do for me *L*
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Old April 10th, 2008, 11:07 AM
Reality Reality is offline
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can't say how to get your dog to fetch I always thought it came naturally and the not giving back was what needed to be taught. About the only advice I can give is save your self effort and don't toss things too far since you are going to be the one fetching,, maybe figure out how to attach a string so you can just pull it back and than you and the dog can watch the fetch prosses together,,,, lol, sorry couldn't resist that one,, good luck teaching
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Old April 10th, 2008, 07:33 PM
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Tash83 Tash83 is offline
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Thanks for the tips eveyone. I am definitley going to give them a try.
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  #11  
Old April 11th, 2008, 01:36 PM
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TKW TKW is offline
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Originally Posted by Reality View Post
maybe figure out how to attach a string so you can just pull it back and than you and the dog can watch the fetch prosses together,,,, lol, sorry couldn't resist that one,, good luck teaching
No kidding. I remember when my kids were playing T-ball, we have had a training stand with a elastic string attached ball. You can bat the ball 20' away and it bounces back to you. It was many years ago but I am sure you can still find it in sports store.

My "also retrieve" retriever fetches sometimes and brings the ball back. But GIVE means you have to grab him and yank the ball out of his mouth. He just wanted to tease you to chase after him. We gave up training him with treats b/c he'd just nudge your hand until you GIVE. And he's on a weight watch too. Without reward, he'd fetch 3 times max. Anyhow, we figure out he loves to be chased and take him to dog parks more often to get his exercise. Some dogs are chasers, some are chasees.
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Old April 12th, 2008, 11:24 AM
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allymack allymack is offline
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i had to teach my dog how to play fetch, he will chase the ball, grab it and start back towards me and then veers off to somewheres else.

what i did to teach him was i got him a long leash, and put it on him. i would say "ready?!" (kind of a command to get him to pay attention to where the ball is going so i dont have to chase it) then i threw the ball (i started out in the house, just to get him used to bringing it back and dropping it) and then as soon as he got the ball in his mouth i said bring it back, and gave a light tug on the long leash, i had to give him a few tugs the first couple of times until he got it (dont reel him in like a fish though)and when he got to me i would have another ball ready and i would start playing with it, just by myself, i would throw it up in the air and catch it and so on, making it seem like i was having a grand ol' time and then of course he would want the ball i have and drop his ( at which point i would click, [ he is clicker trained] but you can just say 'good!' and if you time it just right you can say drop it just as he is letting go of it, to get the ball you have) and as soon as he drops the ball i would throw the ball i was playing with as a reward, and i just continue to do this. when we moved it out to a field, i held on to his long leash for the first couple of days to make sure he understood that he still had to bring it back and drop it no matter where we were. after a while i didnt even need to play with the other ball, he would just come and drop it for me. although sometimes he feels he doesnt need to bring it back to me, so i pull the otehr ball out of my pocket and say "ready?!" and start running theother direction, thet gets him to come running, because he knows the "ready?!" means the ball is going to get thrown. hope this helps, if you have any questions you can pm me.
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Old April 12th, 2008, 12:12 PM
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Chaser Chaser is offline
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My strategy was essentially the same as allymack - a long leash really helps! I found a very long one at the dollar store (not that I'd trust it outside of a fenced-in area!).

The problems I have with Chase now are:

1) sometimes he still gets distracted and tries to veer off to check something else out after he's picked up the ball - so I'm still working on lots of "Here!" and crouching down with open arms and lots of praise to encourage him. Even once they "get" it, it still takes some work!

2) Getting the ball away from him (is this a Lab thing??? Every Lab or Lab Mix I've ever known wanted to chew the ball and "kill" it before giving it back! ). So we're still working consistently on "Drop It".

Once he got the fetching thing down we also introduced "Sit" before the ball is thrown, "Wait" as we throw it, and "Free" when we want him to go and get it. This helps teach him not to run after every object that flies through the air!
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