# Training to play fetch?



## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

Enzo will only retrieve if it's something very high value to him or if it's thrown into the water. He will retrieve ANYTHING from the water...tennis balls, frisbees, sticks, the stuff that blows off of the cottonwood trees, etc. lol If I throw a ball or frisbee for him in the yard, he'll run out to it and sniff it, then walk away. If I throw a stick for him, he'll run and get it, then lay down in the shade with it and chew it into pieces. Oh, he'll also retrieve things if they're thrown in the house. :doh: I think a lot of it is just the dog. But Jona is still very young, so I would give him time. =)


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## GoldenJona (Apr 3, 2010)

Enzos_Mom said:


> Enzo will only retrieve if it's something very high value to him or if it's thrown into the water. He will retrieve ANYTHING from the water...tennis balls, frisbees, sticks, the stuff that blows off of the cottonwood trees, etc. lol If I throw a ball or frisbee for him in the yard, he'll run out to it and sniff it, then walk away. If I throw a stick for him, he'll run and get it, then lay down in the shade with it and chew it into pieces. Oh, he'll also retrieve things if they're thrown in the house. :doh: I think a lot of it is just the dog. But Jona is still very young, so I would give him time. =)


I wish Jona would go in the water. I lost a couple tennis balls because I tried to get him to go in and he would just not go further than knee high and would jump right out


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## pix (Jun 18, 2010)

GoldenJona said:


> I wish Jona would go in the water. I lost a couple tennis balls because I tried to get him to go in and he would just not go further than knee high and would jump right out


We solved that by going in with him. He seemed to have much more fun that way. We also took his kong floater toy - he seemed more than happy to go and get it. Of course he didn't go all too deep either, a couple puppy paddles and back in he came.


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## Tracy S. (Jul 2, 2009)

Mine fetches if he's in the mood - 90 percent of the time - but rarely returns it. He runs past me with whatever I threw to him. I don't chase him and make him think it's a game though. If he doesn't bring it back to me I just walk away from him. Then sometimes he'll "get it" in that golden brain of his and actually follow me with it and try to give it to me....haha


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

OMG, my Hank is a retrievin' fool!!! He loves his tennis ball but frisbees, not so much. He really didn't get into it until he was 6 or 7 months old. I did start in the kitchen when he was really little, rolling the ball then calling him back with treats.


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## GoldenJona (Apr 3, 2010)

Willow52 said:


> OMG, my Hank is a retrievin' fool!!! He loves his tennis ball but frisbees, not so much. He really didn't get into it until he was 6 or 7 months old. I did start in the kitchen when he was really little, rolling the ball then calling him back with treats.


When we play fetch in the house he will actually go and get it and be happy about it, it's just when we try outside he doesnt seem to be interested at all. He would rather find a stick to chew on and play keep away


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## West (Jul 9, 2010)

Be patient  Cooper wasn't interested at all in retrieving outdoors (too many other exciting things to distract him). Until one day we found a very quiet spot with no people or other dogs near in a park and we tried (without much hope) and threw him a ball, and he was game! He retrieved it again and again until he got too tired.
So look for quiet places with few distractions, throw him a toy he really likes and even race him to it if he's hesitant. He'll come around to it with time, he's still a pup.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

All dogs are different. My bridge boy Phoenix was obsessed with retrieving.....anything, especially balls. He could go for hours just doing the same thing. Reno, on the other hand, retrieved only to annoy Phoenix. Lincoln LOVES to retrieve but rarely brings it back (we're working on that)...he loves when you throw anything...balls, frisbees, flying squirrels, etc. Austin will retrieve (he likes balls the most) and he brings it back 9 out of 10 times. Reno is the same with Austin and Lincoln...he just retrieves so they can't have whatever it is they're retrieving!!!

Just give Jona some time....he's pretty young yet. Lincoln really didn't start showing any interest until he was around 8 or 9 months old.


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## GoldenJona (Apr 3, 2010)

Laurie said:


> All dogs are different. My bridge boy Phoenix was obsessed with retrieving.....anything, especially balls. He could go for hours just doing the same thing. Reno, on the other hand, retrieved only to annoy Phoenix. Lincoln LOVES to retrieve but rarely brings it back (we're working on that)...he loves when you throw anything...balls, frisbees, flying squirrels, etc. Austin will retrieve (he likes balls the most) and he brings it back 9 out of 10 times. Reno is the same with Austin and Lincoln...he just retrieves so they can't have whatever it is they're retrieving!!!
> 
> Just give Jona some time....he's pretty young yet. Lincoln really didn't start showing any interest until he was around 8 or 9 months old.


Yeah I guess I'll be patient and give him some time, I just feel like an idiot at the dog park sometimes when he wont chase tennis balls and wont go in the water. Only thing we can do is play with other dogs which he does a little and walk off leash. Hopefully next summer we'll be able to enjoy the park more


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

Fetch it starts out with instinct. In most cases for retrievers the chasing and catching the prey is instinctive. Most also have been bred to want to please us.

Those 3 things need to be put together to get a dog to fetch properly.

Just like in humans if we have a talent we need to then practice it to really do it well.

The bringing it to us needs a lot of work/training for the dog to really understand what we want from them.

As you say Jona is doing it inside the house. Do more practice inside the house. Also separate the steps some. (break it down) Start with short throws. Use multiple toys changing up with each practice. Dogs don't always generalize. When taking the practice outside work just on the give- exchange. You can do this with two toys. You can do it as a trade. You can use treats and a toy. Then start throwing the toy only a small distance. Again you can use two toys. Once you throw the one and Jona gets it pull out the other toy so he can see it and call him back to you. Use only short distances at first. Play the game for only a short period of time. Then put the toy away. Don't lengthen the distance on the throws until you are getting a good return. 
In the last few months there were one or two threads on fetching that gave a lot of good information.

Remember you are building on Jona's talents. Most dogs don't truly understand the game without the training. He is still such a little guy with your training he will eventually understand what you want.


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## T Man (Mar 18, 2010)

I watched a guy on youtube train to fetch, he said to get them to drop the ball you need to have two balls (preferably the same so you can transition to one easier than using two different objects), the goal being that they will dop the first one when they see the second one. He said to toss the second ball in the air a bit to get them interested in it. I have just started this, one of our dogs will drop the ball and the other one brings it back but wants to play keep away. Gonna have to work on it. The guy also said do not go get the ball yourself at all or they will learn that if they don't bring it back you will just go get it anyway. For me I stop playing as soon as they stop bringing the ball back, usually that is only 4 or 5 throws, they seem to get bored of it quickly.


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

Take three of the same thing, and sit at the end of a hallway. Show puppy ball number one (or whatever you're using), get him interested, then toss it for him to go chase. Right away, get the second ball, as he comes back with the first one, get him interested in number two. Don't take the balls out of his mouth or show any interest in really 'stealing' the ball he has, make it more about you throwing the next one. Soon you should be able to move it to two balls with him dropping the first to go after the second, and then work towards one ball and retrieving to hand if you want them to. But this works for most dogs to get them into the game of 'throw it already' which is half the battle most of the time....

Lana


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## Darlenechilli (May 28, 2010)

We have just started to train Chilli using Michael Elis's method "Leerburg" and she is doing so well and I will start her retrieving only after she has finished teething. Have a look at the "LEERBURG" streaming it will give you lots to think about, Have fun


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## pwrstrk02 (Aug 11, 2010)

i like training in a hall way. close all the doors so there is no distractions, and no getting sidetracked and running off. its just you, the ball, and the pup. make it fun and exciting, and they will fetch.


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## katelyn29 (Jul 21, 2010)

I really thought Dakota was the only one not that interested in fetch, so I am surprised to read that many others aren't that into it either. He has his moods where sometimes he will want to play, but other times just has no interest, or looses interest after about 5 throws. 

He does love retrieving in the water though. We don't like to let him off his leash in strange places, but we took him to a very secluded part of the lake the other day and after we worked up enough courage to let him free we started playing fetch in the water. He loved it and didn't want to stop! We already knew he was for sure a water dog, but I have only let seen him really swim one other time. Can't wait to see how he will do this duck season.


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## Jpspwv1 (Aug 22, 2016)

*Retrieving*

Have a 3 year old golden that loves to fetch but never wants to bring it back, mainly her frisbees. Sadie will slobber all over the place when we get one out but wants to have someone chase her to try and get it. There is no treat more important than her frisbees, sad thing is if you leave her alone with it she will chew it to pieces. I am about to pay someone to train her because I have tried everything I know to just get her to bring it back, she loves to play but it drives me crazy to try and get it back from her. I have tried multiple frisbees , inside outside all the same . I love seeing her so happy and would play with her so much more if she would just bring it back.


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## smp (Apr 27, 2016)

Yes. You can absolutely teach your dog to fetch...anytime, anywhere, anything. But, it does take work:







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

Some dogs have more of a retriever drive than others. Piper was a crazy retriever from day one. We started by just playing in my apartment at short distances, and she caught on super quickly. I was shocked when I took her to the dog park for the first time, and she retrieve balls and sticks at the dog park with lots of distractions. She's four months old now, and today I spent a solid hour with her at the dog park throwing her frisbee and balls for her, across a whole baseball field. She's a retrieving energizer bunny. With almost no training. 

My last dog, Mae, loved to run, but retrieve...not so much. Its definitely a drive you have to build with some dogs. She'd run to a ball, but then either get distracted or just run back without. So first I taught her to touch, pick up and give, and then gradually bring me a toy. The AKC has a good article about how to do this. I taught her to retrieve in my hallway (which she mostly did anyway indoors), with two balls, and rewarded her with treats when she brought a toy back to me. We did this a TON. Just like every skill, as soon as you go outside, all bets are off. Outside is a lot more distracting, there is a lot more going on, and there's a lot more to sniff. With Mae I started small, and went to the dog park (I live in a big city and have no yard) during an off time, when no one was around. I'd let her play around and sniff on her own for a while, to get her tired and less interested in her surroundings. First I just had her practice bringing me toys outside. Then, I got a long leash, I would take her favorite toy, something she really loved, and tease her with it until she was going totally crazy to get it (this was not a time to make her sit politely), and then throw it just a few feet away. I would run backwards from her to get her interested in running back to me, and command her to bring it back. I'd always bring whatever the highest value treat I had on hand at the time. We would do it like 3-5 times and then we would do something else. She figured it out. She definitely got more interested as she grew up as well. She's wasn't the energizer bunny retriever I have now, but she got a lot better! Its definitely doable.


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## Nedzib (Sep 5, 2016)

All dogs are different !


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## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

When I got BaWaaJige I wanted a dog that I could play the hunt test games with. Well my boy had NO interest in fetching.....oh no what did I do. Well I went every day several times a day and I would toss a toy if he ran to it I threw a party for him. WOOHOO good boy!!!! Then I would run over grab the toy and toss it again. it took a couple of weeks but Jige start to go for and started picking up those toys. Then to get him to come to me I would run backwards calling him. If he came I threw another party. I would get that dog so excited he wanted to retrieve at the end of the 3rd week he was retrieving like there was no tomorrow.


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