catching

[Dor]

Hi, I have a 7 month old American Eskimo. We have fetching down to a science but we can't seem to be able to get him to catch. We have tried starting out with a tennis ball toy that was like an octupus that had arms on it so he could catch them but he wont do it. Anyone have any suggestions?? Thanks alot!
Dor

[Halie]

Hi, Dor. What I did with my dog is first stood right over her, and basically dropped a biscut in her mouth. (It is better to use food because they try harder to got it.) When she got that nailed, i stepped further away, and kept doing that until I was about 5 feet away. Be consistant, and it will work. My dog can now catch a ball from 30 feet away!

[Dor]

I will try that but I have a feeling he will just move out of the way of it. Thanks alot and I'll let ya know how it goes. Thanks again!

[Karen]

Some dogs never do learn, unfortunately. A Great Dane mix that my family had never even learned to catch food. No matter how much she wanted it, or how close we got it to her mouth, it would bounce off her, land on the floor, and THEN she'd eat it! We finally gave up nefore someone accused of dog abuse for throwing food at our poor dog! This is not any indication of Dane intelligence - she was malnourished when we got her, and we always thought she suffered some brian damage as a result!
Better luck with your pup!