Does anyone have suggestions on how I an get my GSD to get the dumb bell? He loves fething balls, kongs, stuffed animals but refuses to take the dumb bell. My trainer suggested taking all his toys away but the dumb bell. After 3 days of him going nuts I gave him his toys. I've tried throwing his balls first then his dumb bell but as soon as he gets near it he turns around and looks at me totally disgusted. I wouldn't mind if he didn't take it, but want to do more with training and shows and we need him to do this. I've even put peanut butter on it to make him like it more, and as soon as the PB was off he didn't like it. I wish they made kong dumbells :( then maybe he'd like them.

Perhaps you could try wrapping the bar of the dumbell with strips of soft leather. Cut several strips and make the wrapping quite thick. If he takes it you can then, over a period of time, reduce the thickness until you are down to the original wood or plastic. Would that fool a smart GSD?

Hi there, I wrap the bar of the dumb bell with vet wrap. It makes it softer to hold and comes in lovely colours ! You can also take it off and replace as it becomes dirty.
Christine.

Hi

Try teaching from the end of the exercise and get him to hold the dumbell (I initially put some sheepskin around the bar as Ihad a little bit, and I have often seen them wrapped in string.)

Once he holds the dumbell then hold it out a little bit in front of him and get him to take and hold it (not forgetting lots of praise) extend this to placing it on the floor, then (with him on lead) go as far as the lead allows placing the dumbell between you getting him to pick it up, come in and present

Christine

i had the same problem with my aussie and my setter and they both how do lovely retrives!:D

ok know i bet your dieing to know how to do it. here goes.

sit on a chair and put your dog sitting inbetween your legsfaceing away from you. Hold the head up and gently open the mouth, put in the dumbell, take out and give the dog a treat. (i had the treats on a table next to the chair, this is why the dog sits facing away from you). all the time give the dog the comman to hold a dumbell. kep doing it with the same routine and every 4-5 holds throw out a ball for your dog to go and chse so its made fun.

inventuly leave the dumbell in his mouth for a yonger time but you may need to just tickle him under the chin or hold his head up so he doesn't drop it.
once he has learnt to hold the dumbell get him to take it from you and then put it infount of him on the floor and let him pick it up, then you can throw it a distance to ge him to go and get it.

All of this is going to take time but it should come, it has wrked on to of my dogs and my brother done it with his dog.

also the dumbell you have is it plastic or wood? mine wont tounch a plastic one except my aussie who has been taught to retraive anything!

also rub the bar of the dumbell in liver or cheese so it smells and tasts nice.

He is able to take the dumb bell and walk with it, but won't retrieve it. It's a bit of an attitude problem I think. When he is playing with him kongs it's for fun, but when I take the dumb bell out it's like he thinks it's work. I've tried the peanut butter trik and he liked the PB, but then walked away from it when it was gone. I tried throwing it and he ran to it like it was his long lost friend then saw what it was and walked away. What I don't understand is why he loves balls and kongs to reitrieve and not the dumb bell.

Just a thought - is the dumbell the correct size for your dog?

I don't know how old he is but the solid plastic ones can be heavy for a young dog. Similarly, if he is an adult, a dumbell that is too small can be uncomfortable for the dog to pick up correctly.

He probably finds the dumbell rather disappointing after his other toys so try making it great fun. Use your voice, laugh and smile, treat him when he even sniffs at it. Sounds silly but it works ;) Also make it very important to you - carry the dumbell around, put it next to you when you sit on the sofa, and so on. My dog was rather disappointed in the dumbell too and i just tried to make it all terribly exciting.

What you can also do, is to reward him with his fav. toy if he shows interest in the dumbell. If he sniffs it, say "Good!" and offer him his toy. Gradually up the criteria so he has to puthis mouth round it before he gets his toy and so on. If he gets sillyor demanding, say "too bad" and walk away, try again a few minutes later.

Hopefully this will work - eventually the idea is to get him to do a full retrieve with his toy as a reward, then when he is good at that, vary rewards to differetn toys or maybe a food treat instead so he never knows what's coming ;) Then start asking for 2 short retrieves before he gets his toy, and so on.

It's best to teach the Hold first if possible, but if necessary to just get the fun into it, chuck it about a bit to get the interest. I know this isnt the classical way but it doesn't get them mouthing unless you overdo it. Getting the interest is the thing just now.

Lindsay

It all depends how much you want him to retrieve his dumbell, if it is for competition then he will have to do it and the "start at the back" method is probably the best. Maverick would just about do a play retrieve but when I started the formal method we lost it completly for about 4 weeks, I was making her hold something and she did not want to but she will now (mostly) retrieve happily and my problem is getting her to come back in a straight line rather than curve out to take a look at the judge on the way.

Christine

It's quite common to 'pad' the middle bar of the dum-bel, but I always used to do it with string. HOWEVER, if a dog was still disinterested in the bel, I would wrap a chew (hide) unerneath the string, so they could smell it but not get at it. Funny how their interest suddenly developed, but of course I would always do this with the dog on a lead so it couldn't just sit down and try to demolish the bel/chew. If a dog will pick up but not retrieve, of course retrieves should always be done on a long lead until the dog gets the idea.

It is also very important to praise the dog WHILE THE BEL IS IN ITS MOUTH, not after you have taken it off him.

Note: There is a special method/knack to 'stringing' a dum-bel very tightly and with no loose ends, but it provides an acceptable holding surface for the dog, non-slip, but doesn't encourage mouthing, which may be a problem with a softer padding.

Hi guys-
The way I teach the dumbbell seems to work with most dogs and puppies so here goes-get an old sock, not washed, and put the dumbbell in it, twist and turn the sock back on itself and secure the end. Throw it as if you are throwing a toy, after a while, you can cut the end of the sock off, so only the middle bar is covered. I have found that this works for most dogs and pups- my pup, Kester was doing a full retrieve at 7 1/2 weeks . Good luck-let us know how you get on.

Ali :)
For a picture of Kester doing the dumbbell, go to Barking Mad DTS.co.uk, he's on the front page.

There is always more than one way to skin a cat! Years ago I had a GSD in my class who showed no interest in the dumbbell at all. Chatting to the owner, it appeared that the dog loved carrying sticks, the bigger the better, when in the wood and would try to carry them home. I told her to let the dog carry a suitable one home. When she got it home her husband sawed it off to a manageable length, about 12 to 14 inches long and the dog learned it was fun to bring it back for it to be thrown again. Over a period of time her husband sawed a little off the ends until it was a "Dumbbell" length and finally adding the side plates to it.

That dog did some lovely retrieves!!

Best wishes, John

I have tried the "make it fun" route but maybe I haven't done it enough.  He's not very treat motivated either, so it's hard to motivate him with treats.  The biggest reason I want him to do it is I've started showing him and I really like it and we won't get very far if he won't take the dumb bell.  I think it's just he's giving me attitude and I have to find a way of getting rid of his attitude.  He's also very timid about new things -  we are in agility and he's starting to get over his fears.
His dumb bell fits him fine - my instrutor gave it to us.  He is able to take it, so I know it's not that it's too hard for him. And, he will feth his balls with great enthusiasm for 45 minutes straight if I let him, so I know he knows how to bring things bak to me....
Thanks so muh for your suggestions.  If anyone else has more I'd love to hear!

Making it fun does usually work but it's one of those things that is hard to actually describe :) Sadly dogs weren't born knowing what we want them to do. I rather like  John's idea ( i'll file that away for future reference) :D

If you have a clicker it is relatively easy to train the dumbbell retrieve, if your dog is clicker wise. Those that are used to different methods are what we call "crossover" dogs and find it harder to offer behaviour to "shape", because they are used to being shown by the owner :)

What happens when he takes the dumbbell? What do you do and what does he do? and how have you taught him to take it?

Lindsay

<<His dumb bell fits him fine - my instructor gave it to us.>>

Whilst not doubting this, dumbbell design is a subject in its self!! Are you sure the side plates are ok? They should be large enough to allow his lower jaw to go under it without hitting the ground (Particularly with a fast dog worked outside) but not so big that the corners come too near the eyes. I always cut the corners off of mine to keep them well away from the eyes. The handle should be wide enough so that the side plated do not touch the side of his face but not so wide that he can pick it up off centre.

If he will retrieve balls but not the dumbbell then I'm inclined to think that it is something you have done. (And I don't mean that in a nasty way) My suggestion, without seeing you and the dog, would be to lighten up when retrieving. It really sounds like some apprehension creeping in. Possibly the "Regimented" obedience formal retrieve has made it something completely different to the "Lighter" play fetch.

Best wishes, John

Edited!!!

<<His dumb bell fits him fine - my instructor gave it to us.>>

Whilst not doubting this, dumbbell design is a subject in its self!! Are you sure the side plates are ok? They should be large enough to allow his lower jaw to go under it without hitting the ground (Particularly with a fast dog worked outside) but not so big that the corners come too near the eyes. I always cut the corners off of mine to keep them well away from the eyes. The handle should be wide enough so that the side plated do not touch the side of his face but not so wide that he can pick it up off centre.

There are answers for just about every retrieve problem carried in the design of the dumbbell except one. and that one is bad judging! My old Mandy occasionally lost marks for mouthing. Trouble was, she never mouthed a dumbbell in her life! She used to hang it behind her canine teeth and hold it so loose that it would roll in her mouth. So every time I was told how many marks she had lost for mouthing I would look to the sky and bite my tongue!!

Hi Bombergirl,

I am no expert in obedience, Jake my GSD is the first dog I have trained seriously, and he had the same problem as your dog.. the trainer at our club, told me, as others have said, to make a game of it, but by holding the dumbell out to him, and get him to chase round me for it, and then putting it quickly inside my coat and showing him it had gone, then repeating this two or three times each day for a couple of days, and then when he was chasing it still in my hand offer it to him with loads of praise and fuss if he took hold ask him to hold, just for a second, then ask for give, after a couple more days, just drop it after the chase around and tell him fetch and this did work for me , sorry if it sounds like  I'm rambling :D but it is very much harder to try to describe than to show, if this is not clear I will try harder :D :D

hope this might be of help,

Chris

Thank you all for your suggestions!!  I did try the "formal" training of his dumb bell and he hated it.  So I took a break from it (we finished the formal training in Mar.)  and I thought that he would "forget" how muh he didn't like it.  I've just lately started to do it with him for fun but I guess his memory is very good!  I haven't even attempted doing a formal retrieve with him.  I've tried to do a formal retrieve with his balls he likes and he doesn't understand what I'm asking him to do.  So, for now, all I want is for him to look at the dumb bell as another fun toy.  He did retrieve it one time this summer when he thought my brother's dog was going to get it.  I thought we had a break through but the net time I threw it he sniffed it and left it alone :(.   I"m really interested in trying the sok idea, though.  He loves rope toys, so maybe.....  My thoughts are if I get him to retrieve the dumb bell and like it, then try getting him to do a formal retrieve later. 

Long while since I have done this sort of training but in my day we used to wrap one to the owner used socks around the bar till after the dog was steady and reliable on work with the dumbell. It was then replaced with cord, well handled before it was used with the dog.

You will get there in the end ;)

Some dogs don't enjoy the formal  training and start to dislike the dumbbell and as you suggest this is probably what has happened with yours. If you keep on having fun with it, you will surely get some results.

Another suggestion would be to put away his toys, but play lots with the dumbbell and after he touches it or shows any interest, bring out his toy and have a short game.

Anyway, do let us know how you get on :)

Lindsay