Learning to Play Fetch

**Lennie B.** · 01-30-2006, 11:01 AM

Can a dog be trained to fetch a ball? My six year old Sheltie-Poo does not seem to understand the concept- you can throw a ball right to her (or past her) and she ignores it completely. I'd love to hear from anyone who has trained a dog to play this game.

**Dixieland Dancer** · 01-30-2006, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by Lennie B.

Can a dog be trained to fetch a ball? My six year old Sheltie-Poo does not seem to understand the concept- you can throw a ball right to her (or past her) and she ignores it completely. I'd love to hear from anyone who has trained a dog to play this game.

Funny you should ask this particular question! I have a Golden Retriever that would not retrieve when he was pup. A retriever who would not retrieve!

I love a training challenge so I set off to teach Dusty from the ripe age of 8 weeks how to retrieve. We have a long hallway that leads to a bathroom and three bedrooms in our house. I would close all the doors and block his way from getting past me in the only opening left. I would toss tennis balls and any thing else I thought he would want to play with. If he showed any interest in the ball at all, I rewarded him with praise or a treat. He didn't catch on for sometime but I was persistant, especially since my husband said it couldn't be done. That made it a double necessity to get him retrieving. Everyday we would play in this hall and every day I would get frustrated. Then I got a big basketball with a rope string and incorporated tug with it. He started catching on! I took that basketball everywhere and would tug and toss (with me retrieving it most of the time). Then it happened!!!! He finally retrieved it back to me (purely accidentally) but I got so excited and jumped around like a nut that he must of wondered... hummm did she do that because I did this? Of course that was our breaking point 6 months after we started trying to get him to retrieve! Now you can't stop Dusty from retrieving for hours at a time, especially with a frisbee! At times it is a nuisance!

It can be done... you just have to have patience, patience and more patience!

**lizbud** · 01-31-2006, 04:32 PM

Some dogs just don't see the fun in retrieving anything.I always just
started by getting their attention & let them see me throw the ball & then
send them to "get the ball". Then you have them bring it back to you.
(A separate command) & sometimes takes awhile for some dogs to catch
on to this second part. If your dog likes playing with a ball himself, he'll
be more interested in playing fetch.

**Lennie B.** · 01-31-2006, 05:13 PM

Thank you for your replies. I'm going to operate on the assumption that Gemma would be interested in playing fetch with me if she understood how the game is played, which right now she doesn't. As a poodle cross, she does have some retriever in her, so maybe the situation isn't hopeless!

**lizbud** · 02-01-2006, 04:29 PM

I don't think breed has anything to do with abilityto play
fetch.I believe it's something to do with prey drive of the dog.
Good luck with your training.

**Pam** · 02-01-2006, 04:40 PM

I don't even really remember how it started but Bella has been fetching and bringing the ball back almost since I got her. I don't remember teaching her at all. I think it was just something that she found fun to do. What I did need to teach her was to drop the ball once she brought it back. Even now, as much as she thrives on playing fetch, she will drop it when she is good and ready rather than instantly.

I got Ripley as a rescue three years ago. He didn't seem to care about running after the ball, let alone bringing it back. I think just watching Bella and me sort of gave him the idea. Nowadays he will fetch and bring it back but he is not very willing to give me the ball. I usually just pull it out of his mouth.

They both enjoy fetching but I truly think Bella would fetch until she literally had no breath left in her body. When I tell her we are done, and I come inside she looks like her world has come to an end. It could break your heart.

**cloverfdx** · 02-02-2006, 05:49 AM

Goodluck with teaching your dog to fetch, just make it fun and make it seem like the ball/ toy is the best thing in the world.

I can sympathise with you at the moment, our new girl (Border Collie) has been a working dog all her life so never learnt how to fetch a ball, she is finally getting the idea from watching her ball obsessed brother play. She bought the ball nearly all the way back to me tonight at the park, but only when her brother was not watching hehe. And she would also drop the ball as soon as i gave verbal praise.

**ktreva52** · 02-09-2006, 12:02 AM

You might also consider teaching her to "take" the ball from you. This is the method we taught our girls for retrieving for 4-H:

Teach the take:

Start with an object that is comfortable for her to have in her mouth, like a nylabone. Help her to open her mouth by putting your thumb in the side of her mouth. Place the nylabone in her mouth when she opens it and say, "Take."

Remove it with the "give" command and praise her. Do this until she willingly opens to take the bone. When she's good at that, start making her reach for it. Lots of praise and treats go a long way at the beginning and the treats can be dropped later. But you want her to have a very pleasant experience from this.

Once she's good on the take and give, teach her to "hold" the item. Gently hold her mouth closed over the item for a moment, then, give the "give" command and take it back.

After she's good at these aspects, start making her reach lower for the item by lowering it toward the floor. Eventually, you'll lay it on the floor and ask her to take it.

Then, you can start moving it away from her and get her to go after it. Just a little way at a time, and further and further as she improves. Keep up the praise, as she's going to get to love doing this as long as you're enthused about her responses.

Sometimes, you might even need to add some "flavor" to the item to encourage the taking. Tuna juice, vegetable juice, hot dog juice, things like that can be rubbed on the bone to encourage her taking it into her mouth.

Once she's good at the bone retrieval, you can start again with a ball that is appropriate for her size. If a regular tennis ball is too large, get a handball or small tennis ball. Start again from the first and work it up to the tossing it out for her to get. This should take much less time, but the steps are the same.

Quick story:

Our Cattle Dog cross, Lacey, was taught to retrieve just as I've outlined, but was very inconsistent on the retrieve. She failed it at Township Fair, County Fair AND State Fair. Very frustrating for my daughter.

One day, I had some swiss cheese and tried rubbing that on her dumbbell. I threw it down the hall for Lacey and sent her after it. She would consistently retrieve it after that. Don't know why that made the difference, but it did.

Let us know how it goes. She'll get it figured out.

Chris

**tonidaly** · 03-09-2006, 01:54 PM

I have a jack russell who is obsessed with fetch. i never did any type of training--she just loves it.

I got a beagle a few months after the jack and she has no desire to fetch. to be honest, i don't mind it!

think twice before you press the fetching--my jack would fetch forever--and it can get exhausting!!

**Thandi** · 03-09-2006, 04:02 PM

2 rescue dogs: Mika, the labx, is obsessed with fetching and returning to me. Chloe, the border/shepherd cross, on the other hand, couldn't give a hoot. But ring the bell I have attached to the end of the laser pointer, and she's by my side like a possessed lunatic!

**ldyharley** · 03-12-2006, 12:20 PM

Ktreva is correct in teaching a dog to fetch. Some dogs don't have a high prey drive and they don't chase, much less retrieve. Do as Ktreva advises and pretty soon you will have your dog bringing the ball or frisbee back to you. Don't be discouraged if your dog doesn't catch on right away if ever. Dogs aren't born knowing what a ball is or what it's for and they certainly don't know why humans want them to run after it then bring it back. Some dogs will run after the ball but sit there and eat it. My German Shepherd is so obsessed with a couple of his rubber balls that he will literally sit and chew on them for hours if I let him. He will retrieve and leave it but as soon as he thinks the game is over he lays down and begins chewing it. I don't let him choose to end the game. I end it for him.
Another way to teach your dog to retrieve is to put him on a 30 ft. lead, toss a ball or a toy at him then call him to you when he picks it up. Gently 'reel' him in and give the "COME" cue. Praise him when he reaches you. You can teach him to "leave it" during the retrieval training by offering him a really good treat (small pea size liver treat or steak). When he drops the ball to take the treat say, "Leave it". Make sure your free hand is close enough for him to drop the ball into.