Teaching A Dog To Play?

[alexandrite]

How do I teach my dog to play?

My Cocker Spaniel, Charlie, was adopted about 6 months ago. I think I already asked this before, and have tried to teach him to fetch, but he has to be in really the right mood for it! Otherwise he just completely ignores the ball. And when he does fetch it, he takes it with him and very rarely brings it back, lol. When I exchange the ball for a treat, he then just focuses on the treat and ignores the ball after this!

I take him for a half-hour to an hour walk every morning, some days around the neighbourhood, some days with a good free run at the dog park. No dogs are there in the mornings, but lots of smells, and he galloped around a fair bit. I'd like to tire him out somehow so that he'd sleep most of the day, until we come home from work and he gets another walk in the evening.

Lately he's been getting into mischief such as moving pillows from the outside chairs into the garden, moving towels hanging around, moving his own bedding from his crate into the garden... He doesn't chew them, just moves them and lies on them, lol. He hasn't moved any clothes drying yet, but I'm afraid that may be his next step! He only does this when we are not outside with him, like when we go indoors and come out 10 minutes later - something's been relocated.

He's currently an outside dog (this is changing this week as we just got a new place to rent that approved us and Charlie - and yes he will be able to come indoors and spend more time with us) and I figure this may be contributing to his boredom. But still, he'd have to be outside during the day while we're at work.

I'd love to be able to throw a ball around for him to fetch, or do something fun with him in the mornings that would tire him out. He doesn't seem to want to learn to play, though! What the heck do I do?

[wuffles]

He sounds like our 7 month old girl. She's hard to tire out of a morning and gets into mischief during the day while we're out. I don't have any suggestions for you on the ball/play front, but does he have heaps of things to keep him occupied during the day? Ours get Kongs, Tug-a-Jug or other treat ball type toy, and rotated chew toys. Ours still destroy the yard, but it's worth a try

[alexandrite]

He sounds like our 7 month old girl. She's hard to tire out of a morning and gets into mischief during the day while we're out. I don't have any suggestions for you on the ball/play front, but does he have heaps of things to keep him occupied during the day? Ours get Kongs, Tug-a-Jug or other treat ball type toy, and rotated chew toys. Ours still destroy the yard, but it's worth a try

He works through a Kong stuffed with peanut butter and treats within half an hour maximum, and once he's done he ignores it completely. Other than that he doesn't have much, he seems to be food-motivated not toy-motivated or doesn't associate toys = fun. If we leave his Kong or balls out, they'll be in the same place when we come back. We've tried squeaky-balls, he's actually afraid of them! It's probably why he's taking things off the chairs etc - he's making toys out of these other things, but he won't pay attention to actual dog toys. I'd love to be able to play with him, he just doesn't know how.

Because he's adopted, we're not sure about his past, and he came to us only knowing "sit" and nothing else. We've been training him and he knows some more commands now, but still a lot to learn. It really seems like the person who had him before us, didn't pay much attention to him at all. He's about 3 years old, has boundless energy, such a sweet boy, just needs a constructive outlet for it I think!

[GoldenGirl85]

Have you tried using a ball attached to a rope to teach him fetch? try getting one of those totem tennis balls and put a longer rope on the string, that way when he picks it up you can 'reel' him in, might give him the idea to bring it back

[perfect partners]

He sounds like our 7 month old girl. She's hard to tire out of a morning and gets into mischief during the day while we're out. I don't have any suggestions for you on the ball/play front, but does he have heaps of things to keep him occupied during the day? Ours get Kongs, Tug-a-Jug or other treat ball type toy, and rotated chew toys. Ours still destroy the yard, but it's worth a try

He works through a Kong stuffed with peanut butter and treats within half an hour maximum, and once he's done he ignores it completely. Other than that he doesn't have much, he seems to be food-motivated not toy-motivated or doesn't associate toys = fun. If we leave his Kong or balls out, they'll be in the same place when we come back. We've tried squeaky-balls, he's actually afraid of them! It's probably why he's taking things off the chairs etc - he's making toys out of these other things, but he won't pay attention to actual dog toys. I'd love to be able to play with him, he just doesn't know how.

Because he's adopted, we're not sure about his past, and he came to us only knowing "sit" and nothing else. We've been training him and he knows some more commands now, but still a lot to learn. It really seems like the person who had him before us, didn't pay much attention to him at all. He's about 3 years old, has boundless energy, such a sweet boy, just needs a constructive outlet for it I think!

If he's food motivated you could teach him some tricks. That would give him some mental exercise. I find that can help to tire some dogs out as well as physical exercise. Physical exercise is a bit of a 'catch 22' because the more exercise you give them, the fitter they get, and then they need more exercise to tire them and so on.

[wuffles]

Do you use clicker training? You could probably build up his interest in balls this way, I'm sure there are Youtube videos about clicker training your dog to retrieve which would be useful. Click and treat at first just for any interest shown in a ball, even just looking at it. Once he is doing this consistently, up the criteria - sniffing, then touching, then picking up, then holding, etc. Make the ball seem like the best thing ever

We freeze tinned dog food in our Kongs and they last a little longer. We also scatter the puppy's kibble alllll over the yard, so she spends a fair time hoovering that up

[huski]

Why do you want him to learn to play with the ball specifically?

My beagle is way more food driven than toy driven (and she quite likes to tug and play with toys). Her prey drive is something I could develop if I wanted to dedicate loads of time to it, but I don't see the point when she has so much food drive I can use instead!

He is telling you he thinks food is way better than toys, so why not use that to your advantage and play some training games and do some training sessions to tire him out mentally. There are loads of ways we can play with our dogs that involve food and doesn't need to involve toys. In fact I rarely use toys in my training sessions with Daisy.

ETA: I shaped the formal retrieve for obedience and Daisy loves doing it, although I still use food as a reward at the end of the exercise

Edited July 1, 2010 by huski

[W Sibs]

My Charlie doesn't really like playing fetched either. He does sometimes, but most of the time, I throw the ball and he looks at me as though saying 'you gotta be kidding, right?' then turns away and walk off to another toy to chew on.

He likes sniffing stuff and so my games are with him are smelling and searching based games. Hide his treats around the yard or house, and make him search for it. It makes him use his brains too.

Emmy likes playing fetch (not with a ball.. but with a stuff toy).. but she loves chasing games!! I get her some cat toys.. the one with a stick and there is a toy hanging off a string. She sees that, and she goes mental.. I hold the stick and tease her with it... she will stalk it, launch at it and we spend literally hours playing that toy. We even bought a toy mouse that runs around the house... both my dogs are in love with that toy. They catch it and give it back to me, so I can wind it up again and let it go so they can chase it again. It's the cutest thing.

So, it's just finding what your dog likes doing and make a game out of it.

Or did you want to teach your Charlie how to fetch?

[alexandrite]

Why do you want him to learn to play with the ball specifically?

He is telling you he thinks food is way better than toys, so why not use that to your advantage and play some training games and do some training sessions to tire him out mentally. There are loads of ways we can play with our dogs that involve food and doesn't need to involve toys. In fact I rarely use toys in my training sessions with Daisy.

I would like him to learn how to play to tire him out, of course, and give him some fun.

What are some of the ways you play with your dog, involving food?

We hand-feed him so we turn each meal into a training session where he earns every bit of food by doing something for it. (Sit, stay, stop, drop, up, etc etc. We're working on "roll over" now.) I think we could try teaching him some new commands though...

(I've got to go to work now, thank you all for your responses so far! I will try to answer more when I get home)

Edited July 1, 2010 by alexandrite

[Kavik]

It can take some time to get them used to the idea of fetch. I wouldn't rule it out just yet

Try to make the ball exciting when you play with it, you can bounce it and move like you are pretending to play basketball with it. To get her to bring it back, you can attach a lead to her and encourage her in and reward with a treat like when teaching a recall.

[Agility Dogs]

Do you use clicker training? You could probably build up his interest in balls this way, I'm sure there are Youtube videos about clicker training your dog to retrieve which would be useful. Click and treat at first just for any interest shown in a ball, even just looking at it. Once he is doing this consistently, up the criteria - sniffing, then touching, then picking up, then holding, etc. Make the ball seem like the best thing ever

We freeze tinned dog food in our Kongs and they last a little longer. We also scatter the puppy's kibble alllll over the yard, so she spends a fair time hoovering that up

I was going to say this too - shaping is a great way to build retrieval skills. Only problem is it can also end up with constant offering of the behaviour and you end up having to put all the toys away or they get dropped in your lap every 2 minutes.

As someone else said though - be patient. Sometimes it can take a little while for you to work out how to play with them. My girl is a MAD retriever, but it took quite a few months for us to get it together.

[alexandrite]

Do you use clicker training? You could probably build up his interest in balls this way, I'm sure there are Youtube videos about clicker training your dog to retrieve which would be useful. Click and treat at first just for any interest shown in a ball, even just looking at it. Once he is doing this consistently, up the criteria - sniffing, then touching, then picking up, then holding, etc. Make the ball seem like the best thing ever

We freeze tinned dog food in our Kongs and they last a little longer. We also scatter the puppy's kibble alllll over the yard, so she spends a fair time hoovering that up :D

I was going to say this too - shaping is a great way to build retrieval skills. Only problem is it can also end up with constant offering of the behaviour and you end up having to put all the toys away or they get dropped in your lap every 2 minutes.

As someone else said though - be patient. Sometimes it can take a little while for you to work out how to play with them. My girl is a MAD retriever, but it took quite a few months for us to get it together.

I'm sorry, but what does shaping mean in this case? I'm sorry if that's a stupid question.

I'm relieved to hear that someone's dog also took a while learning to retrieve/fetch things. Charlie had no initial interest in the ball whatsoever, so even progressing to him catching it some of the time is progress for us

I am not limiting him to just fetching games, heck I'd love to play any game with him. It's just figuring out what it is he might like...

There are also some opinions online that tug-of-war games and chasing games are not good for the status/authority of the human in the dog's eyes if the human becomes something to chase? What are the thoughts on this?

It's funny, at the dog park, some owners come to the park to throw a ball around for their dogs to fetch. Their fetch-trained dogs think the ball is fantastic, and run after it - Charlie runs after the dogs because he wants to play with THEM, and barks when the other dog is not at all interested in anything other than the ball! We were hoping that he'd get the idea from watching them, but, nope :D

[corvus]

My boys aren't wild about fetch, either. Erik likes to invite himself to other dogs' games of fetch and chase the doggies. They will both play tug, though, and I like that one way better. It's really fun. Playing tug and chase games are good for the dog-owner bond if you believe the likes of Pat Miller and Patricia McConnell, and I reckon they know what they're on about. Any kind of play is fun, active, and social. Great bonding for owners and dogs. I would certainly happily dedicate heaps of time to coaxing it out of a dog. I've spent 6 months on it already with Kivi, and he works beautifully for food and only tugs when he feels in the mood. After 6 months he's starting to be in the mood more often. I definitely think it's worth spending loads of time on.

[huski]

I would like him to learn how to play to tire him out, of course, and give him some fun.

What are some of the ways you play with your dog, involving food?

We hand-feed him so we turn each meal into a training session where he earns every bit of food by doing something for it. (Sit, stay, stop, drop, up, etc etc. We're working on "roll over" now.) I think we could try teaching him some new commands though...

(I've got to go to work now, thank you all for your responses so far! I will try to answer more when I get home)

There are loads of things!

I do obedience, so my training sessions have an obedience focus. We'll play games to find heel position, practice straight fronts, heel work, stays, recalls, drop on recall, stays; we'll play games to get her sitting/standing/downing as quickly as possible etc.

I trained Daisy to pick up a wooden dumbell and bring it to me using this method;

http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/retrieve.html

I'll also train things like scent discrimination;

http://dogscouts.org/Dog_Activ-_Scent_Disc...#Scent_Articles

[Agility Dogs]

Do you use clicker training? You could probably build up his interest in balls this way, I'm sure there are Youtube videos about clicker training your dog to retrieve which would be useful. Click and treat at first just for any interest shown in a ball, even just looking at it. Once he is doing this consistently, up the criteria - sniffing, then touching, then picking up, then holding, etc. Make the ball seem like the best thing ever

We freeze tinned dog food in our Kongs and they last a little longer. We also scatter the puppy's kibble alllll over the yard, so she spends a fair time hoovering that up

I was going to say this too - shaping is a great way to build retrieval skills. Only problem is it can also end up with constant offering of the behaviour and you end up having to put all the toys away or they get dropped in your lap every 2 minutes.

As someone else said though - be patient. Sometimes it can take a little while for you to work out how to play with them. My girl is a MAD retriever, but it took quite a few months for us to get it together.

I'm sorry, but what does shaping mean in this case? I'm sorry if that's a stupid question.

I'm relieved to hear that someone's dog also took a while learning to retrieve/fetch things. Charlie had no initial interest in the ball whatsoever, so even progressing to him catching it some of the time is progress for us

I am not limiting him to just fetching games, heck I'd love to play any game with him. It's just figuring out what it is he might like...

There are also some opinions online that tug-of-war games and chasing games are not good for the status/authority of the human in the dog's eyes if the human becomes something to chase? What are the thoughts on this?

It's funny, at the dog park, some owners come to the park to throw a ball around for their dogs to fetch. Their fetch-trained dogs think the ball is fantastic, and run after it - Charlie runs after the dogs because he wants to play with THEM, and barks when the other dog is not at all interested in anything other than the ball! We were hoping that he'd get the idea from watching them, but, nope

Start in a small area with a ball or anything else you want to use (a sock is easy to pick up). The second they show any interest in the item reward (click and treat if you want to use a clicker). Repeat this a few times and they'll soon get the idea that item + attention =reward.

Next, rather than paying for attention to the item pay for touching it - in any way at all. Pay this a few times, then wait it out for the dog to pick it up for you - same process.

It takes a while, but it builds real value on the game and helps your relationship no end. Once you have the pick it up it becomes pick it up and give it to me, then go get it, pick it up and give it to me, then go a bit further etc etc.

Hope that helps.

[dandybrush]

Do you use clicker training? You could probably build up his interest in balls this way, I'm sure there are Youtube videos about clicker training your dog to retrieve which would be useful. Click and treat at first just for any interest shown in a ball, even just looking at it. Once he is doing this consistently, up the criteria - sniffing, then touching, then picking up, then holding, etc. Make the ball seem like the best thing ever

We freeze tinned dog food in our Kongs and they last a little longer. We also scatter the puppy's kibble alllll over the yard, so she spends a fair time hoovering that up

thats an awesome idea poor raz i've been a bit slack ill try to make him up some things for him next week

Edited July 1, 2010 by dandybrush

[Agility Dogs]

Do you use clicker training? You could probably build up his interest in balls this way, I'm sure there are Youtube videos about clicker training your dog to retrieve which would be useful. Click and treat at first just for any interest shown in a ball, even just looking at it. Once he is doing this consistently, up the criteria - sniffing, then touching, then picking up, then holding, etc. Make the ball seem like the best thing ever

We freeze tinned dog food in our Kongs and they last a little longer. We also scatter the puppy's kibble alllll over the yard, so she spends a fair time hoovering that up

thats an awesome idea poor raz i've been a bit slack ill try to make him up some things for him next week

Having met the gorgeous Raz the other night I don't think he does too badly for himself.

[corvus]

Meant to say I think shaping is also a whole lot of awesome fun. My dogs seem to think so as well.

[beagie]

Why do you want him to learn to play with the ball specifically?

He is telling you he thinks food is way better than toys, so why not use that to your advantage and play some training games and do some training sessions to tire him out mentally. There are loads of ways we can play with our dogs that involve food and doesn't need to involve toys. In fact I rarely use toys in my training sessions with Daisy.

I would like him to learn how to play to tire him out, of course, and give him some fun.

What are some of the ways you play with your dog, involving food?

We hand-feed him so we turn each meal into a training session where he earns every bit of food by doing something for it. (Sit, stay, stop, drop, up, etc etc. We're working on "roll over" now.) I think we could try teaching him some new commands though...

(I've got to go to work now, thank you all for your responses so far! I will try to answer more when I get home)

my GSP had a habit of re arranging the house when he was younger on the odd ocasion he will still do it, it is a gun dog thing and you have a gun dog

throwing a ball does not tire them out it only hypes them up all the more. I did Agility with my GSP it is pretty easy to put up a couple of jumps

in the back yard and do some figure eights, teach the dog to weave this will work his brain a lot better than throwing a ball if the brain is worked

then the dog will tire a lot faster Beagie

[wuffles]

thats an awesome idea poor raz i've been a bit slack ill try to make him up some things for him next week

Yep, "find the kibble" is Ava's favourite game! She doesn't even touch her Kong until every last bit of kibble has been devoured. Sometimes she gets kibble thrown on her when she gets in the way, then she goes crazy trying to get it out of her fur :laugh: You just have to be careful the ants don't find it, it also attracts birds, but Ava is so obsessive about getting it all that we don't have a problem.