i've been teaching lily fetch ever since we got her (way way back in september as a little baby) and she's still not quite got the concept.

she's got the chasing bit, and even the almost quite coming back to me, but then she goes a little off track...  she thinks it's a super game to not give me the ball back

i've tried loads of things: I used to try and exchange the ball with a treat - she decided she preferred her ball

I've tried walking in the opposite direction so that she follows me - but the second i stop moving she starts dancing with the ball again

I've tried refusing to do anything and completely ignoring her but she just patiently waits (with ball in mouth) until I try and remove the ball off her so that she can prance around again

what can I do ?
help help

sarah
x

I have had the same problem with my dog since she was a puppy!  I think the thing is she just enjoys a game of chase (or tug) to constantly running after a ball. I have tried exchanging the ball for another ball, a treat and so on but even though she loves the treats, she eventually gets fed up and keeps the ball again.  She has been known to try and hold two balls rather than let one go!

I have decided that just as we all differ in the things we like to do, so do our dogs. I think Saffy thinks its a waste of time to bring something to someone who just throws it away again!

Fiona and Saffy

I'd got right back to the basics - teach her to give the ball first, before you start putting any distance between the pair of you.

There are a few things you can try to stop this. The first is to always make sure that the end result is what you want to achieve. So to start with and to stop her dancing around you only play retrieve games in a place where she can only come back to you. I use the hallway in my house. the ball is rolled up the hallway and the puppy (or older dog) has no choice but to return it to me, you might have to be patient... one of my crafty hounds sat at the top of the hallway for half an hour! Once you have the retrieve coming in to you directly you can moveon and this time use a lane or alleyway. Next you might try standing sideways onto a hedgeline ( the hedgeline to your left at first, then change to the right), and throwing the ball along the hedgeline this should guide the puppy back to you. Then move on to standing with your back to the hedgeline and throwing out away from you the dog cannot go around you unless it can get through the hedgeline. Another thing to try is hiding the ball under a cushion so the retrieve is less exciting and there is no direct chase involved. Each time do not move on to the next step before you know you have the stage you are at under control.
Hope this might help.
regards
Polly

like digger said, teach her to 'leave it!' and give you the ball first. i had the same experience with you i.e. that pup preferred all sorts of things to treats - until i started varying her treats. i know dogs aren't supposed to crave variety but our pup DEFINITELY responds to regular changing of her treats. You have to find something that she finds more rewarding than her ball!

ours loves bits of strong cheese, baked liver, Burn's 'Ocean Bites' [dried whiting that i have to cut up MUCH smaller for my weeny pup, stinks to high heaven but boy will RUby be obedient if she catches even a sniff of it....!], small bits of our leftover cooked meat [but not too fatty - ie bacon & sausage - as it gives her tum upsets], certain dog biscuits that she likes.

If she's not that motivated by food, could you try rewarding her for giving you the ball with a short game of tugger, played with a different toy? We also keep a couple of 'special' toys for game rewards - they're jst two v simple tuggers, but she's NEVER allowed to have them, she knows that they're MY special toys and so they are highly exciting for her. [Now I can ask her reliably to Leave It i do let her win tugger with these sometimes but she never gets them for very long, i always get them back and end the game while she's still interested in the toys.]

Also how about somehow teaching her that playtime ends if she won't give you the ball back? i guess this would mean walking off and leaving her with the ball and ignoring her for a while - never done anything like this but sure someone else will come along with some more ideas before long.......

Have fun! :)

Teaching fetch takes a while but it will happen - if a PointerX Greyhound can retrieve, a Lab certainly will! :) Start inside where you have most control. Sit in armchair with tin of treats and something easy to pick up - I used a little teddy. Nudgin teddy gives a treat. Then drop teddy and ignore dog till she picks it up and treat. Then toss teddy further and treat when it comes back, if dog canters around room with teddy, use a house line to guide her back. Our last stage was to reward only for a retrieve presented to my hand. Once the dog has achieved a stage, dont reward for anything less eg if your past nudging, dont reward for less than picked up. Keep the fetch toy seperate. Once outside use a line to prevent cantering off into the distance and repeat. Teasing the dog with the fetch thing works up enthusiasm and you have to be very excited yourself. I used to throw the king about outside and run after it myself squealing excitedly and determined to get it before he did to work up enthusiasm for the game. If your dog chases after it, your further along than we were. :)

I found a ball was not easy for him to pick up, so we used plastic bottles of varied sizes, no cap and no ring, with a squash int he middle. It makes a good noise when they pick it up too. Keep at it and you will get there with fun on both sides. :D

play the two toy game.....have two toys of equal status to your dog, when she fetches the first toy, tempt her with the second, and exchange the toys. I very easily taught my afghan puppy this way.

One of the things that has worked for me with a dog that is unwilling to give up the ball or who is saying "come on then, try and get it!!" is to make out that I don't want the ball but to really praise and fuss the dog whilst they are holding it.  Eventually they will come close enough for fuss if I crouch down and make no attempt to get the ball.  When (if) the dog drops the ball I tell them to pick it up again as I walk away a short distance and repeat as neccesary.  Some won't drop it at all for a long time, others will lose interest in holding the ball as soon as they realise I don't want it.  So depending on the dog, I can get the ball at some point to throw again and then do the whole process again. With every dog I have tried this with they have eventually ended up willingly giving me the ball back.
Sally

The best way to train a retrieve is to back chain; start at the end.  Most people start with throwing the article/ball/toy and it is very confusing for a dog.  If you start training with the "end" you will have a dog that understands immediately what it must do for its reward.  I always start sitting down in a chair with the dog in between my legs in the "present" position; using the clicker method I shape their behaviour so that starting from looking at the article held in my hands held together, then nudging it, licking it grabbing it, it gets clicked and treated; then I can move the article from hands to left and right, on the floor and then progress to throwing it.  This way the dog is always moving back to the "known" and you remove all the myriad of extraneous commands most people give like "sit", "wait", hold it, come, sit etc etc (I think the record is held by someone I saw at class last year giving 14 commands!).  Just say hold and the dog knows what it has to do and where it has to end up!

The beauty of this system is that you can start puppies off at 7 weeks.!

How long does it take to back chain, tohme?

Not long; my pup was doing 20 yard fast outrun and return dumbell retrieve with a clean pick up and a present (with me sitting in chair) at 11 weeks; I got her at 10! (And no she is not a BC/WSD!) :D

Impressed ! Visions of you hiking into a field with a folding chair, flask, dumbell and treats in a backpack. :D I tell myself you can train any breed of dog to do anything if your clear about what you want and can communicate this to the dog.