# My dog won't fetch



## GinnyinPA (Oct 31, 2010)

We adopted a three year old who also doesn't understand fetch. Although he will occasionally chase after something when I throw it, usually he just stares at it, then looks at me like "What was that for?" When he does chase after it, like your dog, he tends to play with himself and not bring it back to us. I can sometimes get him to 'drop it' by offering a trade with a treat - but I haven't had much luck at getting him to actually bring it to me. 

I think our dogs were seriously neglected before we adopted them. They learned to entertain themselves rather than expect people to interact with them. I know Ben is learning to look to us for some things, but when it comes to play, teaching him to look to us has been a slow uneven process.


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## Chelseanr (Oct 3, 2010)

I don't know if this would work but have you tried really short fetches with high value treats? Rowan had NO interest in fetching up until about a month ago when I broke out the hotdogs. I started inside with him too, just throwing it down the hallway and calling him back once he had it, then giving him a yummy treat and lots of love for being such a good boy. 

A month later I can do super super long retrievals and he loves it! I think the main thing you want them to know is that YOU WANT THAT BALL! PLEASE GO GET IT FOR ME!!! No such thing as TOO excited or TOO happy when they do something you really really want.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Thank you for adopting a Golden in need of a loving home. Our nearly 1 year old is not a big fetch player either but I find it works best with toys that are ONLY used to play fetch. Get a specific toy that looks very different (ie. a frisbee or one of those rubber sticks), put a long leash (like a 20 foot one) on him, throw the toy and when he picks it up pull him back in and trade for a really tasty piece of hotdog or dried liver. Start short and go longer. Once he gets the point loose the long lead and just use food. Never use the same toy in playing a different game so that he learns that he is always required to bring it back. If our pup looks like he's going to run off with it I run the other direction and he will almost always follow me.


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## Dreammom (Jan 14, 2009)

I wish I could help...

You all can borrow Layla, she never stops. All I seem to do is throw the ball, my arms get tired. She is just slightly ball obsessed LOL.


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## Summer's Mom (Oct 20, 2010)

I followed a protocol to clicker train Summer to fetch, mostly for obedience purposes,but I has extended smoothly into our play too! She now brings toys to be tossed.. 

She used to only chase high velocity objects, which isn't possible all the time, so now she will retrieve indoors and out..

It is a step by step, idiot proof protocol, but does require clicker training (of course you can also get into it now!) let me know if you are interested..


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## MicheleKC87 (Feb 3, 2011)

My three year old NEVER learned to play fetch. She's a retriever...go figure. One thing I loved about my childhood Golden retriever/yellow lab mix, Jewel, was the fact that she LOVED to play fetch. My Lucy was never interested. She would run after the ball, stop half way and come back for hugs and kisses. I never gave up on trying to teach her, but it never worked. Oh well. It probably wouldn't hurt to keep trying, though. He's 5, right? Maybe his last owner never tried fetch.


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## andrewmlin (Feb 11, 2011)

Thank you everyone for the advice. I will definitely try the high value treats (like hotdogs), only using specific toys for fetch, and even possibly tying a rope to the toy. And if all this doesn't work, maybe I will even try clicker training.

Will definitely let you know what works!


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Have you taught your dog how to find objects you hide? That can be a first step to playing fetch.
My dog did not "naturally" retrieve objects, and did exactly what you describe. So I first taught him to find things, and then eventually used the same words to teach him to fetch. 
I taught him to find things by first getting him to respond to "Where's the_________? (an item he knows the name of like his bone or the name of a toy). Once he knows to bring you that thing, you start showing him that thing, then tell him to sit, wait, while you take the object a short distance away and place it in plain sight. You then ask him "Where's the ______?" and tell him to Fetch (or Find it). Gradually, you move the thing further away, and eventually he is finding something in another room.
Another way to teach fetch is to actually use his kibble at the thing that is fetched. Take him to a clean driveway (so he can see where the kibble lands, and also not be eating a bunch of leaves and dirt when he picks it up). Have him sit by you and throw the kibble a short distance away and say fetch or find it (whatever word you used previously). Then as soon as he gets and eats the kibble, call out Come as you hold out another piece of kibble. This works best if he already knows the come command, and also if the kibble you are working with is his meal (so he is hungry and is motivated to chase after the kibble piece and come to you). Once he gets the idea of running after something, picking it up, and coming back to you, you can replace the fetch or find it kibble with the ball, and still reward when you call come and he comes back to you.


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## bioteach (Nov 13, 2010)

Our Brewer was never mouthy as a puppy and we were so thrilled - only to realize later that he wouldn't fetch either. We tried every trick and training method and the results were hilarious. He would run after the ball and then stand at a point like a Pointer would do. 

Eventually we grew to realize that that particular GR trait wasn't in him. His pedigree included Buckskin's uncle who was the best "fetcher" that we ever had. 

Brewer had a completely different agenda and we loved him for who he was. Nugget fetched from day #1!


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

If you try high value treats without starting really, really small, he'll simply drop the ball faster so his mouth is ready for the treat.

Train a strong recall, and train a game where you give him the ball, he holds it for a sec, then he gives it back to your hand for praise and sporadic treats. Then you can move to a game where you drop it, he picks it up, hands it to you, and gets rewarded. Then you can start with throwing it a few feet, etc.

Some dogs don't naturally like to fetch. You may be able to reawaken his retrieving instinct (once they successfully bring it back and get a new throw as a reward, it becomes a self-reinforcing behavior), but it will probably take some very patient work. If it's a priority for you, I'd say it would be well worth the time investment. If it's not a priority, you can just give up and accept that fetch isn't his game.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Dreammom said:


> I wish I could help...
> 
> You all can borrow Layla, she never stops. All I seem to do is throw the ball, my arms get tired. She is just slightly ball obsessed LOL.


Same here, my Hank is a fetchin' fool! Try going back to square one like he was a puppy. Some dogs may fetch naturally, some may need to be taught.

I taught Hank to fetch as a young puppy in the kitchen. I rolled a ball across the floor all the while telling him in a happy voice to "get the ball!" Then I'd call him back, same happy voice, "bring the ball!" then give a small treat. As he grew we the moved to a small area of the fenced yard, now we play in the large part of our property (where we have an invisible fence).


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

Hush is an absolute natural retriever. The only thing we need to work on is finding what we're retrieving if it goes into the bushes or gets stuck in the snow. She has some trouble finding it if she doesn't see exactly where it lands, but she's still a youngen, and I'm planning on working with her more on "find-its". With Hush, from day one she was a retriever. She would fetch 9 times out of 10 when I would throw her duck or her ball, and the 10th time was usually her running to get it, and getting distracted and stopping to play with it. It makes sense, I chose the breeder I did, because I wanted a show dog, but I wanted a Golden Retriever that meets the breed standard, and is capable of doing what the breed was bred for, hunting. 

Milly on the other hand has fetched once, and only once. I always wanted a dog growing up I could play fetch with, and when I saw Milly in the shelter I took her out in the dog run and threw the ball to her. I was ecstatic when she brought it back to me, and we continued to play fetch for another 20 minutes. I did some little temperament tests with her, and eventually just sat on the ground with her. Ball in mouth, she sat facing me and leaned in towards me and placed her head gently on my shoulder. All I could do was wrap my arms around her and hug her! It was like my dream dog from childhood had found me at 22 years old. I knew right then I would adopt her, and visions of the two of us hiking and playing fetch began to run through my mind.

Well, let's just say, that was the first and only time Milly played fetch. Every now and then she'll run after the ball, she might get it, she might bring it back, but, most likely, she'll simply run towards it and get side tracked by a squirrel... or ignore it all together. I think she knew what she had to do to win me over, and on that day in the Roanoke SPCA, she did just that. I spent a few years working on her fetching, to no avail, and we're at the point where Milly can do whatever she darn well pleases. She's earned the life of luxury!


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## LilTuffGirl (Sep 22, 2009)

Hayden wouldn't fetch all that well until we got duke. She would try to keep the ball or just toss it somewhere near me (yes she made me fetch..)

Duke knew what to do RIGHT away. He even grabs a ball and puts it by my feet when he wants to play lol Now hayden will fetch and when she actually gets the ball.. She MAKES SURE it goes into my hand lol if she drops it then Duke gets it and that just can't happen!!


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

bioteach said:


> Our Brewer was never mouthy as a puppy and we were so thrilled - only to realize later that he wouldn't fetch either. We tried every trick and training method and the results were hilarious. He would run after the ball and then stand at a point like a Pointer would do.
> 
> Eventually we grew to realize that that particular GR trait wasn't in him. His pedigree included Buckskin's uncle who was the best "fetcher" that we ever had.
> 
> Brewer had a completely different agenda and we loved him for who he was. Nugget fetched from day #1!


Ticket did the border collie 'stare' at the ball a few times when he was learning as a pup. He'd run, then slow up and walk in slowly and then stop a foot away and stare at the ball for a while... then snap out of it and grab it.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

bioteach said:


> Our Brewer was never mouthy as a puppy and we were so thrilled - only to realize later that he wouldn't fetch either. We tried every trick and training method and the results were hilarious. He would run after the ball and then stand at a point like a Pointer would do.
> 
> Eventually we grew to realize that that particular GR trait wasn't in him. His pedigree included Buckskin's uncle who was the best "fetcher" that we ever had.
> 
> Brewer had a completely different agenda and we loved him for who he was. Nugget fetched from day #1!


Is mouthiness correlated with retrieving? I once read that it correlates with prey drive...it's interesting because cosmo does not retrieve really AND he was never mouthy. He'll chase after something but unless we're inside he doesn't bring it back unless food is involved.


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

GinnyinPA said:


> We adopted a three year old who also doesn't understand fetch. Although he will occasionally chase after something when I throw it, usually he just stares at it, then looks at me like "What was that for?" When he does chase after it, like your dog, he tends to play with himself and not bring it back to us. I can sometimes get him to 'drop it' by offering a trade with a treat - but I haven't had much luck at getting him to actually bring it to me.
> 
> I think our dogs were seriously neglected before we adopted them. They learned to entertain themselves rather than expect people to interact with them. I know Ben is learning to look to us for some things, but when it comes to play, teaching him to look to us has been a slow uneven process.


What you wrote is very interesting to me about a dog not "fetching" because he or she was so neglected and learned to play alone.
My 9 year old Chloe has never fetched. We "rescued" her when she was about 3 years old. She lived with a littermate and her "Mommy" was terminally ill. Thus she gave both Goldens up for adoption. If only our dogs could talk to us in English!


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

Chelseanr said:


> I don't know if this would work but have you tried really short fetches with high value treats? Rowan had NO interest in fetching up until about a month ago when I broke out the hotdogs. I started inside with him too, just throwing it down the hallway and calling him back once he had it, then giving him a yummy treat and lots of love for being such a good boy.
> 
> A month later I can do super super long retrievals and he loves it! I think the main thing you want them to know is that YOU WANT THAT BALL! PLEASE GO GET IT FOR ME!!! No such thing as TOO excited or TOO happy when they do something you really really want.


Good idea!


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

jackie_hubert said:


> Thank you for adopting a Golden in need of a loving home. Our nearly 1 year old is not a big fetch player either but I find it works best with toys that are ONLY used to play fetch. Get a specific toy that looks very different (ie. a frisbee or one of those rubber sticks), put a long leash (like a 20 foot one) on him, throw the toy and when he picks it up pull him back in and trade for a really tasty piece of hotdog or dried liver. Start short and go longer. Once he gets the point loose the long lead and just use food. Never use the same toy in playing a different game so that he learns that he is always required to bring it back. If our pup looks like he's going to run off with it I run the other direction and he will almost always follow me.


fabulous! I may try that one of these days!


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

Dreammom said:


> I wish I could help...
> 
> You all can borrow Layla, she never stops. All I seem to do is throw the ball, my arms get tired. She is just slightly ball obsessed LOL.


There is a new kind of stick so that your arms don't get tired. You put the tennis ball inside and swing. I have a new one and want to use it when the ice and snow go away.


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## Judi (Feb 26, 2007)

Very good post!


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## RachelsGoldens (Jan 23, 2011)

I call my golden/lab mix an anti-retriever. He won't fetch and he hates water. Go figure!


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## fauxreals (Oct 5, 2012)

I am trying to get my young dog to learn how to fetch. She is the exact same as yours. Perhaps I should have taught her to fetch while on a leash. I would always let her off leash and just assumed fetching would be innate since she always naturally chased and picked up thrown objects, and would come when her name was called. For some reason she just chases it, picks it up, but then drops it when called to come back. I guess it's time to buy a long retractable leash.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

My husband gives Casper a treat whenever Casper brings him something, whether the object was thrown or not. We could see a change pretty quickly with Casper bringing stuff to us. I also practice indoors where there's less chance he'll get distracted going or coming. Outside, I don't use treats much, because he won't fetch, he'll just sit there waiting for treat. Outside, the reward is that I throw the ball again. Sometimes he also gets a few seconds of tug. The tug is a reward and also gets him a little excited about the toy so that he chases it. Overall, though, he's a fetcher that likes balls. He knows where all the neighbor dogs leave their balls.

My best retriever ever was a collie. That dog loved to fetch frisbees, but wouldn't touch a tennis ball. I got him at six months and he'd had very little people interaction before I got him. You just never know.


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## RShea (Sep 17, 2012)

My girl plays fetch on her own terms... She brings me a kong when we I lay down in the mornings to sleep (I work third shift) and we play till I fall asleep at a dog park she does the fetch to my general area but not back to me... I'm not really sure how to transfer the good fetch to hand around the house to the fetch long distance. After reading this i think im going to try to transfer the fetch around the house to a tennis ball that way the dog park fetch and around the house fetch use the same type of toy.


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## sdhgolden (Aug 13, 2012)

Summer's Mom said:


> I followed a protocol to clicker train Summer to fetch, mostly for obedience purposes,but I has extended smoothly into our play too! She now brings toys to be tossed..
> 
> She used to only chase high velocity objects, which isn't possible all the time, so now she will retrieve indoors and out..
> 
> It is a step by step, idiot proof protocol, but does require clicker training (of course you can also get into it now!) let me know if you are interested..


I'm interested! Can you send me the info?


Sent from my iPhone using PG Free


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## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

I haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if someone else has already said this.

I would do two things:

1. Give him a treat and over-the-top praise every, single time he brings you something.
2. Play fetch _only_ in a confined area like a long hallway, where he has only one direction he can go when bringing the object back, and that's directly to you. And, of course, give him his treat and big-time praise.

Do those two things and he'll start to get it. When he is reliably bringing the ball back to you in the hallway, go to a slightly larger space. When he's reliably doing that, go outside into a side yard or someplace fairly confined. When he is reliably fetching there, move to the great outdoors. Don't try to play fetch outdoors until you've got him reliably doing it indoors. Dogs' learning is contextual. Trying (unsuccessfully) to do it both indoors and out at the same time could teach him that indoors he brings the ball to you, but outdoors he goes to his spot with it.


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## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

Yep, exactly what Dana said, that's how I taught Bentley and he got it right away. Ky not so much, you throw a ball and she looks at you like, "you threw it you go get it!"
But then again Akitas are known for taking down bear, not fetching 
Good luck


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

Judi said:


> What you wrote is very interesting to me about a dog not "fetching" because he or she was so neglected and learned to play alone.
> My 9 year old Chloe has never fetched. We "rescued" her when she was about 3 years old. She lived with a littermate and her "Mommy" was terminally ill. Thus she gave both Goldens up for adoption. If only our dogs could talk to us in English!


Max has never been neglected a day in his life - and he wouldn't fetch a ball to save his life. Now, a dead critter is a whole nuther story! He'll happily bring back any gross disgusting half eaten thing he finds in the field, but a ball? Nah, he seems to feel that if I'm going to continue to throw it away, it must not be worth anything.


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

Max sometimes will fetch a few times in the backyard. However if he is in or near water, he becomes a retrieving maniac. In the lake, or at the beach, he will go get the float or ball, and bring it back and drop it, as many times as I will throw it. I give up before he will.


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## Brandiann (Jul 24, 2011)

Lola doesn't play fetch either.. We have had her since she was 8 weeks and we play with her TONS so no neglect here.. She would rather try to start a game of keep away, which really just ends up with her running around by herself looking to see if I will follow (I'm not.) Or if my brothers dogs are playing fetch (they never stop!) Lola just runs around with them and never actually tries to get the ball/stick. We always joke that shes a golden, but shes definitely not a retriever.


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## shallwemichele (Apr 28, 2012)

We've found that Arthur had to grow into interest in fetching. Then, he'd chase the ball—if thrown not too close, not too far—but not if any other dog was around and looked like they might be interested. (Someone told me that these hunters may be bred to work together—one getting the bird and others watching and that's why. Not sure if it's true.) It has taken a while for Arthur to get so into it that he will chase the ball AND bring it all the way back AND drop it. But now he mainly does because he does want it thrown again. We trained dropping it by having more than one ball and throwing the second when he came back with the first, which he'd drop then. We've noticed that he likes variety in balls, so we treat balls as we do other toys, and rotate them. We've noticed too that he just doesn't like tennis balls or hard balls. Does like squeaky ones. (Persnickety!) Also, Other Dog's balls are always interesting, so we've had to work on "drop it" when he picks up someone else's ball. It seems to us that it's worth working on retrieving (and not just so you don't have to wade into the water when he doesn't bring back a ball . A few minutes of good retrieving—maybe even involving hills—is worth a LONG walk, in terms of quality exercise.


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## Tucker's mommy (Nov 9, 2011)

Sorry - I haven't read through all the posts here, but I've seen several that suggest the use of high-value treats to get him REALLY interested in bringing the toy back. That's what we do for our Tucker, and it works like a charm. On cooler days, as long as I have a tiny piece of just about anything to exchange for the ball, he'll play round after round of fetch down our long hill. So fun. But he needs the treat reward, the silly dog! He's never as interested if we don't have a little something for him when he brings the ball back! I don't mind, because I love the game, and I know he needs the exercise.


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## David M (Mar 10, 2021)

GinnyinPA said:


> We adopted a three year old who also doesn't understand fetch. Although he will occasionally chase after something when I throw it, usually he just stares at it, then looks at me like "What was that for?" When he does chase after it, like your dog, he tends to play with himself and not bring it back to us. I can sometimes get him to 'drop it' by offering a trade with a treat - but I haven't had much luck at getting him to actually bring it to me.
> 
> I think our dogs were seriously neglected before we adopted them. They learned to entertain themselves rather than expect people to interact with them. I know Ben is learning to look to us for some things, but when it comes to play, teaching him to look to us has been a slow uneven process.


We have had a golden retriever since a puppy and she prefers to play alone. Even though the Labrador returns the ball all day long. The retriever likes to just say kind of the heck with you. We had a duck who would also help out the retriever as they were friends but the Labrador and the duck didn't get along. Maybe your dog is just fine. Just a dork.


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## David M (Mar 10, 2021)

Tucker's mommy said:


> Sorry - I haven't read through all the posts here, but I've seen several that suggest the use of high-value treats to get him REALLY interested in bringing the toy back. That's what we do for our Tucker, and it works like a charm. On cooler days, as long as I have a tiny piece of just about anything to exchange for the ball, he'll play round after round of fetch down our long hill. So fun. But he needs the treat reward, the silly dog! He's never as interested if we don't have a little something for him when he brings the ball back! I don't mind, because I love the game, and I know he needs the exercise.


I play golf it's awesome.


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