Fetch

[Dame Aussie]

It was suggested that I post in here as well as General so here goes....

My girl is a fetchaholic...Started picking things up and bringing them to us when she was about 3 months old....I just want to know what exactly drives this behaviour?

All my other dogs, Anatolian, 2 Chi's and a Boxer, couldn't give a bugger but Lili is mad for it so I was just wondering......

Is it related to their prey drive? Herding instinct? (She's an Aussie) Personality? Sheer amount of energy??

What makes a dog a "Fetch" dog???

[Staranais]

Depends, I think.

Chasing things that you throw & bringing them back to you is usually prey drive - the dog is bringing the "prey" back to you so you can make it run away again.

But just randomly picking things up and bringing them to you could just be soliciting attention. My girl does this all the time when she's bored & wants me to interact with her, & she's not in prey drive when she does it.

[OSoSwift]

Both my Whippets fetch.

Lewis will bring you stuff to get you to throw it all the time. Rommi will to a point but tends to wait until you initiate the game. Lewis would fetch until he dropped from exhaustion, Rommi would go off and lie down once fairly puffed. Lewis always delivers to the hand, Rommi sometimes.

I was told that Whippets are not retrievers, but both mine really enjoy it. Lewis is definately in a very high prey drive. Rommi is in prey drive but not quite so full on.

I am not sure what makes a fetch dog, but I would say more your retrievers and working dogs, and some sighthounds - although they quite often don't do the bring back part.

[corvus]

Steven Lindsay mentioned natural retrieving as a very valuable thing for a dog to have. I think it is more than just prey drive, because why bring it back to a person? Even if the answer is to make the thing move again, that's suggesting that the dog sees you as an integral component of this game. I have a dog that started out as a natural retriever and it seemed to me that he brought the toy back because he was playing a game with me rather than with the toy. These days he doesn't retrieve much anymore as I never made much effort to develop it and his chase instinct is pretty unpredictable. I like tug and wrestles much better, anyway. My other dog I'm sure would be a retriever if he didn't get mugged by my first dog every time he chases a ball or toy. Now that I find really interesting. A dog running after something is such a strong pull, even for a dog that has little interest in chasing whatever the first dog is chasing.

ETA I know someone with Salukis that bring her hares and rabbits whenever they catch one. They do this like good hunting dogs, but flatly refuse to chase objects.

Edited March 28, 2010 by corvus

[huski]

All the dogs I know who are properly trained in prey drive bring the tug back to the handler to play with them because the handler is an integral part of the game. It's lovely to see!

[Aidan]

Regardless of how many degrees of separation from natural evolutionary prey behaviours or what environmental factors contribute to fetching, it can't be ignored that for many breeds (or their ancestors) it has been heavily selected for by man.