# Can you teach a dog to catch things?



## ashleygrimaldi (Sep 6, 2011)

We've been trying to teach our pup to catch things in his mouth. My parents' dog (not a golden) has always done this, we never had to train her to do it. Is this something they just do or can it be taught? If it can be taught, any tips?

We're clueless so basically what we do is we toss treats or his (very soft, lightweight) toys and aim for his mouth. He sometimes tries to catch it but he always misses, and usually he doesn't really attempt, just backs away lol.


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## baumgartml16 (Jun 19, 2011)

How old is he? Koda couldn't do this as a pup, coordination isn't there yet. She is 7 months now and catches this when we throw them to her. We just kept doing it and eventually she got it!


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## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

My pit bull Vendetta is the only dog I had/have that does this. She is amazing at cathing things. She will leap in the air about 6-7ft to catch her ball. I didnt teach this to her she just started doing it when she was about 5-6 mos old. She also is the only dog have ever had that watches the sky to see where her ball is going and runs to it. She also watches birds fly over head.


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## LaylaBauer1718 (Sep 25, 2011)

We bought a soft soccer ball from Publix for Layla. One day, she just started catching it (at around 5 months). Now she will catch a tennis ball from about 15-20 feet away. Bauer (not even 4 months) just started catching the tennis ball in his mouth from about a foot or two away. So it's possible with repetition!


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## Ninde'Gold (Oct 21, 2006)

General V said:


> My pit bull Vendetta is the only dog I had/have that does this. She is amazing at cathing things. She will leap in the air about 6-7ft to catch her ball. I didnt teach this to her she just started doing it when she was about 5-6 mos old. She also is the only dog have ever had that watches the sky to see where her ball is going and runs to it. She also watches birds fly over head.



My Pit is the same way.

I tried to teach Tucker to "catch" but things just kept bouncing off his face so I stopped trying!


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Penny is so bad at catching things, she couldn't even get picked for a little league outfield.

Our first Golden Polly could catch popcorn like a pro. I swear she could catch it in the dark! Penny doesn't even open her mouth until it hits her in the face. Then she usually ducks. :doh:

She will catch a toy if she's interested, super excited and we thru it righ to her. Frisbee? Nope.


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## ashleygrimaldi (Sep 6, 2011)

Hmm ok maybe he just needs to get some more coordination first haha. He's only about 4 1/2 months old, well keep trying and hopefully hell get it. Since he opens his mouth sometimes that's a good sign hes trying, yeah?


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## Ryley's Dad (Oct 12, 2010)

Ryley can catch a ball or other similar sized object in his mouth.

We started off by tossing small treats to him while standing a couple of feet away... and from there gradually increased the distance.


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## Lil_Burke (Aug 14, 2010)

Sawyer has learned to catch things in his mouth. I wouldn't say that I've tried to teach him but when I would send him to his bed and he was too far away to give him a treat, I would always toss them to him. He was so uncoordinated at first but then he seemed to catch on to how to catch things. Now I'll toss him a ball or a toy or a stick and he can catch them. Not perfect accuracy mind you but he's definitely getting better at the mouth-eye co-ordination!


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Brooks is exceptionally bad at catching things. Someone posted a tip to help him catch things better: You hold the thing you want him to catch where he can see it and count. Each time you count you move the thing in a path similar to the one it will follow when you throw it. So, on 1, 2 he is anticipating the thing being thrown. Then on the count of 3 you actually throw it.
It has increased Brooks' ability to catch things tremendously.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

We taught Casper this just last week. The trick for us was that we had to go get the treat if he missed. Yes, you have to be really fast or have two people! Otherwise, he had no motivation to catch the treat. We had him catching within the day. Last night, he caught 4 in a row. Well, after a dozen misses. My husband says to say catch and then throw, not both at once or the puppy gets the timing wrong. It also helps if you are good at tossing it to where his mouth will end up. Toss it so that it goes up and then drops into this mouth when he tilts his mouth up and opens. Easier said than done!


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## Phillyfisher (Jan 9, 2008)

Tucker seemed to be born with the ability to catch stuff. The one thing we need to work with him on is catching a frisbee. That is more a function of our throwing. He knows what to do,if we throw it just right. 

I did want to add, for those of you who throw tennis balls for your dog to catch in the air, please don't! My BIL's niece lost her beloved golden when one lodged in his throat on a throw from her fiancé. They could not get the ball out in time to save him from suffocating. She also ended up breaking her engagement because she simply could not look at her fiancé and not think about the tragedy. Please be careful with tennis balls!


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## Yuki (Oct 5, 2011)

i m also trying to teach my Yuki (4 months old) to catch treats but he waits for the treat to fall and then eats :doh: i rather prefer soft toys of right size to play catch so it doesnt hurt Yuki in any way. 

Phillyfisher your story scared the hell outta me.


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## Ninde'Gold (Oct 21, 2006)

General V said:


> My pit bull Vendetta is the only dog I had/have that does this. She is amazing at cathing things. She will leap in the air about 6-7ft to catch her ball. I didnt teach this to her she just started doing it when she was about 5-6 mos old. She also is the only dog have ever had that watches the sky to see where her ball is going and runs to it. She also watches birds fly over head.


My Pitbull is the same way. She's AMAZING at catching... she can also climb trees... She's a rescue so she already did this when we got her. 

I've tried to teach Tucker to catch but everything just bounces off his face and then I feel bad for trying and give up.


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## hollyk (Feb 21, 2009)

Try Popcorn.


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## Kendall's Mommy (Aug 9, 2010)

My boy Kendall thinks he's part Austrailian Shepard when it comes to catching frisbees..... He'll race to keep up with the path of frisbee then jump up off the ground (got to watch his hips though and keep the flight path low enough so he'll only "rear up") to catch it. 

The picture is from the Dog Park at Blydenburg Park in Smithtown LI NY. We don't see many 75-80 lb. Goldens catching frisbees, seems to impress some of the other owners.

His favorite color seems to be red . He'll usually bring back the frisbee color that I ask him to, red,blue, or orange.


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## Bentley's Mom (May 19, 2011)

hollyk said:


> Try Popcorn.


That's how we taught Bentley. Now he'll catch food but not toys and he tried to eat the frisbee so we don't play catch much anymore :doh:


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## Yuki (Oct 5, 2011)

Yuki has learned to catch the treats.  but the problem is i am aiming badly lol. one of the treats landed on his muzzle and he just sat there with the treat on his muzzle for about 20 sec. it was soo cute. i didnt have the cam or i would have taken a pic.


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## Deb_Bayne (Mar 18, 2011)

Bayne just started catching within the last 2 months (10 months of age), he has a small orange football since day one but never showed an interest in it, suddenly it's his new favorite toy and he won't go anywhere without it. It's been a blessing since now we can get him to do almost anything because of that ball. He takes it outside with him and then will run to grab it before he comes in, we play hide and seek with it, throw it to catch and he catches it, he actually runs back and catches from a down position, play 'show me' and he's great.


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## Zoya (Jan 24, 2012)

ZOYA is good at ground feliding but when it comes to catching she is not that good. I will be trying out the popcorn idea now.


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## Wyatt's mommy (Feb 25, 2011)

It's all about coordination. Both my boys caught. Did I teach them? If taking a treat and saying ready catch and throwing it is teaching than yes. Wyatt is our athelete. He catches soccer and tennis balls in mid air.


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## Cathy's Gunner (Dec 4, 2008)

My boy Gunner, not so good at catching. He does fairly well with popcorn.


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## FeatherRiverSam (Aug 7, 2009)

My bridge girl Sammie was a natural when it came to catching things, particularly tennis balls. She was so good we'd let her play outfield when I had the neighborhood kids over to play ball.

Now Woody on the other hand just can't quite get it down...most of the time the ball or treat bounces off his nose or head  but he keeps trying.

Pete


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## Muddypaws (Apr 20, 2009)

Get some pop corn and just drop it straight down and say "catch", if they miss pick it up before they can get and try again, soon they will catch the dropped pop corn. Then toss it to them at a very close distance, again say catch and get if they miss. It won't take long before you can move further back and switch to cheese or a treat. 

Take it slow and have patience. Some dogs catch better then others, Darby is great and Kirby... not so much. They are better when they have a good "tosser" too.


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## Dexter12 (Feb 10, 2012)

I've been teaching Dex how to catch one of his favorite morning snacks, bananna and treats in his mouth, he's getting fairly good at it.


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## Aislinn (Nov 13, 2010)

I don't know if there is any correlation, but my dogs who like to carry things around in their mouths are my best catchers? The ones who don't like to carry things around are just as happy to pick treats, etc. up off the floor as opposed to catching them.


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## MuddyMedows InfiniteLimit (Feb 16, 2012)

My pup is 6 months this week. She has just now started catching things!! It's a very exciting moment let me tell you! I think its a balance/eye coordination thing that develops over time. Don't quote me because I am not a specialist nor have I ever done any research on the situation, but from experience with other dogs I know this has always been the case. I also have a Siberian Husky that I raise from a puppy. She couldn't catch worth a hoot! Then around 8-9 months she started catching treats and other little things. Today she does NOT miss a thing. Just be patient and hang in there! Lots of praise for you pup trying to catch it even if he/she misses. They will get it, trust me!!!!


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## MuddyMedows InfiniteLimit (Feb 16, 2012)

Interestingly, I also used popcorn with my Husky! (I don't feed her people food) But the popcorn is light weight and has, what I think, a floating fall. Plus she was ecstatic when she saw that I was sharing my food with her. haha! But this is the point where she started catching and I think she was about 9 months old.


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## chuckd123 (Apr 5, 2011)

I taught Alice how to catch things pretty early and she caught on well. Ivan is struggling a little but it's the coordination. He's seven months younger but is getting it. He's caught a few. It makes a fun game with them!


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## JeffP (Jun 30, 2011)

We tought Kirby to catch things pretty easy once he had the coordination. We started with kibble then worked our way to tennis balls and even his stuffed toys. He'll snatch anything out of the air now at 7 months. I actually used a tennis ball to teach him "stay"...he finally figured out that if he broke stay, he didn't get the ball  We'll start him on frisbee once his joints mature...he's too young to be jumping quite yet imo.


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