Basics Of Fetching

[paddles]

I have been trying for several weeks now to teach my English springer bitch to play fetch, my male dog does well, but she will not even mouth the object.. (various doggy toys) she will chase the ball/whatever, but not pick it up. I have tried various methods to get her to even mouth the object, but she will just shove the object away with a closed mouth to try to get the treat.

So, can people please talk me through the basics again?

thank you!

[bedazzledx2]

Why do you want to teach fetch? Is it just for play or do you need a formal retrieve for obedience competition? This method is great for teaching a formal retrieve and you could then adapt it for play without the formal present and finish. http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/retrieve.html

I have been trying for several weeks now to teach my English springer bitch to play fetch, my male dog does well, but she will not even mouth the object.. (various doggy toys) she will chase the ball/whatever, but not pick it up. I have tried various methods to get her to even mouth the object, but she will just shove the object away with a closed mouth to try to get the treat.

So, can people please talk me through the basics again?

thank you!

[RubyStar]

paddles, I had a dog who would do the same thing. I'd throw something, she'd pounce after it, then walk away from it without touching it. I was at the thought of having to teach the dog to pick things up as this came very naturally for my first dog. Using the basic principle of shaping the dumbell retrieve in the link bedazzled posted, I slowly built her up into picking it up (off the floor and out of my hand) and now we have a formal dumbell retrieve Trust me, it can be done with a dog like that with some time, patience and persistance!!

Edited May 26, 2010 by RubyStar

[Tassie]

What bedazzled and RS said - love the Shirley Chong method - worked for my previous BC .

[Nekhbet]

sounds gross but I had a dog that was bullied away from toys by other dogs and refused to touch anything.

pulled out a fresh, furry dead rabbit and withint half an hour we had mouthing :D like I said, gross but it worked a treat, after a week he was well into a flirt pole

[bedazzledx2]

Eeeeewwww!!!!!!! :D The clostest I'll come to that would be a chicken wing in a sock to encourage tugging! Definately not touching dead bunnies! :D

sounds gross but I had a dog that was bullied away from toys by other dogs and refused to touch anything.

pulled out a fresh, furry dead rabbit and withint half an hour we had mouthing like I said, gross but it worked a treat, after a week he was well into a flirt pole

[Nekhbet]

well try some chicken wings in a furry sock - sort of combines food and toy so the dog finds it a novelty. I just happened to have a few bunnies in the car as we went straight from ferreting. Worked well in food/item refusal too :D

[paddles]

what do you think of maybe rubbing something yummy on the object? like fish paste? she'll bump and paw with the best of them, but she just won't open her mouth. I think it might have something to do with her training as a pup against biteing. I got her as an 8 mth old. I've seen her in the yard carrying things in her mouth. I'm sure if I can teach her that it's ok, to grab the object (in this case a rope thingy) that she'll figure things out really quickly.

[luvsablue]

You said you'd seen her carrying things sometimes.

If it was me I'd first condition her to clicker, (if she isn't already), then when and every time I saw her carrying something in her mouth I'd c/t.

Then I'd take it from there. Maybe leave something around, or offer something, even if she only looks at it c/t.

Good luck and let us know how you go.

luvsablue