One of the neatest tricks you can teach your dog is to fetch a toy or ball and drop it at your feet. This is a great way to give your dog some exercise without becoming completely worn out yourself. Plus, it gives your dog a chance to let out a bit of excess energy.
You will need to train your dog carefully so he understands not just the fetching behavior but also that he’s supposed to drop the item on command. Here are a few tips to help you get started. Then you can move on to some fun games that will help be stimulating for your dog’s mind.
Tell us about your experiences with teaching your dog to fetch in the comments section below.
*Fetch is not the same as Keep Away: From reading this you might get the idea that your dog already knows how to fetch but that’s not the case. Some dogs chase after a ball, bring it back to you, and then they try to keep it for themselves. That is not fetch. That’s keep away and most dogs can already do that. That’s not what you’re aiming for.
Unhappily, that’s a behavior that can be very frustrating. It can cut short your play sessions with your dog and lead to a lot of chewed up tennis balls. Before you do anything else you need to teach your dog to “drop it.”
*Drop It: There are a couple of options when you teach your dog to “drop it.” You can teach your dog to drop it by using a treat or a toy for a reward. You’ll need one of your dog’s favorite toys and some time to work with your dog.
To teach “drop it” you should wait for your dog to pick up his favorite toy and then ask him to drop it. Give your dog the command to drop the toy. When your dog does drop the toy, give your dog a reward. It may take some time for this to work because your dog may not make the connections between the two actions immediately.
You can also teach your dog to “drop it” by having two tennis balls and sort of tricking him into dropping one. Throw the first tennis ball and send your dog to retrieve it. Most dogs are already good at this part of the game.
If your dog won’t drop the tennis ball when he comes back to you, pull out the second tennis ball and start ignoring your dog. Play with the second tennis ball and act like you’re having a great time. It usually only takes a few seconds to get your dog’s attention. As soon as your dog is paying attention, throw the second ball and send them to fetch it.
Very quickly your dog will start to realize that when you say “drop it” you’re going to throw another tennis ball. It won’t be long before you’ll be able to use the same ball each time.
*Don’t Bore Your Dog: Some dogs love to play fetch so much that they can play for hours and never get bored. Other dogs can retrieve the ball three or four times and they’re ready to take a nap. You’ll need to try to figure out how soon your dog gets bored with playing fetch and stop playing before your dog decides he wants to stop.
If you can always manage to end the game while your dog is still interested in play, you’ll keep your dog interested in playing fetch the next time you pull out the tennis ball. That will make the game a lot more fun for both of you.
*Keeping Control: More than anything else, you need to make sure that you stay in control of the game. If your dog refuses to drop the ball, don’t spend time trying to take it away form him. Just wait until your dog drops the ball. Don’t let your dog feel like he can control the situation or decide what will happen in the game.
Fetch is a great game that is lots of fun for both you and your dog. If you take just a small amount of time to teach your dog to “drop it” and then confirm your commands each time you throw the ball, you’ll both have a lot of fun when you go outside to play.
About the Author: Wayne Booth is owner of Canine Behavior Specialists in Nashville, TN. Wayne has been teaching people how to become Professional Dog Trainers since 1990 and he is the Training Director of Canine Behavior Specialists Network, www.K9-University.com .
Until next time…..
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
The best way I’ve been able to teach my dogs to fetch is to have two balls or objects to throw. throw one then if the dog doesn’t come i call her and show her the other object. she for sure will want that one too so she automatically drops the first one and when i throw the one i have in my hand i grab the one that she dropped and do it all over again. once she started running farther i use one of those extended arm thingys that help you throw farther. its a lot of fun and even the little ones can do it with adult supervision.
Thank you.
L
My dog loved to chase things but not retrieve. One thing that helped was buying a “Chuck-it” - I think the longer run kept him more motivated to bring the ball back. We focused on making sure when he brought the ball within a few steps of us, we would ‘reward’ him by picking it up as quickly as we could and throwing it again. This helped, but he would still be uninterested some days - usually he would pick it up, run a few steps and drop it, then continue back to us as if we had a second ball.
What really helped is when we started shaping a formal retrieve for Obedience class. The first month was just getting my dog to hold an object (I used a rope bone) and take a small step (we realized at this point he had some issues with holding something in his mouth AND moving faster than a walk). From there we shaped it to the point where we could set the rope bone down and tell him to go get it and bring it over. Now he’s got an amazing formal retrieve and it’s really helped him learn how to play fetch - he just had to learn that he can hold onto something in his mouth and run at the same time
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