whatevah Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 Teach Your Dog to Catch Uses - Fun to show friends Two Methods Equipment - Toys/ or Food Treats Prequisites - Dogs need to know sit and possibly wait. Toy Method - This is the method I have used on three dogs that I have trained. Including puppies. Put the dog into a sit, kneel in front of the dog or you can stand. Dog is off lead. Get a soft stuffed toy, you are about 1/2 a foot to a foot away from the dog, throw toy towards dogs mouth. Underarm throw and very softly. As you throw toy dog say catch. Dog will probably miss first few goes which is okay. Keep perservering. If the dog misses the toy, be sure to get to it, before the dog does. He only gets the toy when he catches it himself. Big reward when he catches the toy, such as fetch, or praise, whatever the dog likes. Once the dog gets the hand of it tell him to wait, before throwing the toy. Then start moving further away and try different articles. Don't use a kong or tennis ball to start with as they are too hard for a dog just beginning. This trick may take a few sessions so be patient and keep it fun. If the dog misses the article, don;t tell him off, just keep trying, some dogs take a while to get coordinated. You can even try balancing a tennis ball on your dogs nose and tell him to catch. My dog does this very well. Food Method - Same as above, but use food instead. Good food to use, popcorn, rice crackers, pieces of bread. Food that to easy to see and soft and sort of floats. Rice crackers are good because they float. If at anytime the dog does not catch the food treat, do not let the dog have the treat. Don't tell him off. Just don't let him have the treat, he will try harder for it next time. You could also try this trick before meal time. When you throw the food to the dog, you are trying to actually throw it into his mouth, make it easy for him, until he gets the hang of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bow Wow Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 Bindi has cracked me up with this one. . We tried with a small fluffy toy. She onlly goes to open her mouth when the toy hits her head. . We practiced for about 7 minutes and not once did she catch it , not even close. Will try again later. Gave me a good laugh though. She cant help it if she is slow. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevah Posted February 22, 2004 Author Share Posted February 22, 2004 (edited) The main thing is that she is trying. It will take several sessions, but once she has she will love this game. Once she catches it, lots of rewards. Keep going with it. Once she has it, you tell her to wait, and you will start to see her get very excited about it. Try and throw it close to her mouth. Edited February 22, 2004 by bigbum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha_numeric Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 I did this with the dogs and popcorn recently, Daniel caught each piece straight away, maybe he's played before (we've only had him 2 months) Brandy watched each piece fall to the floor then ate it. I did get quite good at hitting her nose. I'll try some more sessions with her and only let her eat any pieces she may catch. Will report back later in the week. I think the trick of the week idea is a great one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevah Posted February 23, 2004 Author Share Posted February 23, 2004 (edited) It is most important that you don't let her eat the ones that fall to the ground!!! Why should she try to catch them, if she can eat them when they fall on the ground anyway. I tend to get on my knees to do this trick so I can quickly grab the food/toys that goes to the ground before the dog gets it. This is the most important part of teaching the trick. The dog will try much harder to catch when it doesn't get the reward. It has to earn it. Congrats on getting it to work with the first dog though, you can start telling him to sit and wait before you throw it, and make it harder for him, or try using toys, but only for the 1st dog though. Edited February 23, 2004 by bigbum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bow Wow Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 YEEHAA, Bindi did it. We were practicing with carrot pieces and after soooo long she caught one. I made a big fuss and gave her big kisses and cuddles. She also got to keep the carrot piece that mummy kept taking from her. So far she has caught 5 pieces. She loves it. Thanks BB This is a good Idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevah Posted February 23, 2004 Author Share Posted February 23, 2004 Congrats to Bindi, she will get better and better. Once she has worked out that she gets the treat, she will try harder. I find that rice crackers are big and easy for them to catch. May take a few more sessions, but you have progress. Way to go!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha_numeric Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 We did it!!!!!!!! I finally worked out that if I sit crosslegged on the floor with Brandy in a sit in front of me I can get the dropped treats before she does. We are eye to eye in this position and I hold the treat at arms length above her nose while she looks up, she caught it three times, a great start :D Thought that description might help someone else. As an added bonus Brandy was quite happily looking up in the kitchen, which sounds odd as a thing to be happy about but she has heaps of fears about overhead (ok ok not just overhead things) scary things particularly the kitchen ceiling it's good to see her looking up but not doing the constant worried looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevah Posted February 24, 2004 Author Share Posted February 24, 2004 Congrats to Bindi, so far 100% success rate for all those who have tried. Anybody else tried it? Now you can start making it a little bit harder for her. She is learning that the kitchen is a fun place to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJ Posted February 26, 2004 Share Posted February 26, 2004 Success here :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lubmylab Posted February 26, 2004 Share Posted February 26, 2004 I love those pics KJ, the last one reminds me of Snoopy's face when he does his happy dance. :D Kira can already catch butI'm going to try it with rice crackers to see if I can get her a bit more reliable at it. We haven't done much catching on purpose really because I didn't want her jumping around on her little puppy joints when my throw is a bit off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bow Wow Posted February 26, 2004 Share Posted February 26, 2004 KJ how did you do that? Take the photo at each stage I mean. :D Gorgeous how cute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevah Posted February 26, 2004 Author Share Posted February 26, 2004 KJ that is soooooooooooooooo cute!! If anyone is worried about little puppy's do small tiny catches. They won't hurt. The dog does not need to be leaping right up into the air at this stage. Great to hear about the successes. I am doing simple tricks at the moment, but they will get harder, love hearing about people's successes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula- Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Hmmmm.... Angus can "make sure the piece of food/toy etc hits him between the eyes" trick, time after time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevah Posted March 13, 2004 Author Share Posted March 13, 2004 Try sitting down in front of him and throw the food towards his mouth, if he does not catch it, he does not get to it. You could try getting him excited before throwing the food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carebear Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 both my dogs know how to catch food so i guess i'll start by throwing the command in now then progress lucy onto catching toys once she understand the command... it took lucy a couple of weeks to get the idea of catchin the food hwen it was thrown at her tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bow Wow Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 BB, Bindi is catching a tennis ball now. But guess what , she is using her front paws to try and catch as well. This is so funny will have to get a photo of her, she cracks me up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevah Posted March 15, 2004 Author Share Posted March 15, 2004 (edited) My Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever also does this. When I taught him as a young puppy he would always try and use his paws as well to catch. He does not do this as much now. When you think about it, it is quite smart. The dog wants to catch so much that he is using his paws as well. Would like to see your photo. Here is Moses in preparation for the catch, see his interested face. It is like a border collie stare. Edited May 10, 2004 by bigbum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevah Posted May 10, 2004 Author Share Posted May 10, 2004 He puts a lot of effort into what he does. This was only a very small throw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevah Posted June 4, 2004 Author Share Posted June 4, 2004 Here is Josh getting ready to play catch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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