The goal is to break down the retrieve into very small behaviors so your dog can be successful instead of starting with the toy next to you and immediately moving it across your yard (which will be too much for a dog just learning the skill.) Start to very slowly increase the difficulty/distance away from you the toy starts just a few inches at a time.When your dog has been consistently successful picking up and holding the toy, start moving the toy slightly further away from you.At this point, you can start to introduce your new verbal cue like “get it” or “fetch.” This is where having gone slowly with building understanding with your “hold” cue will really pay off with your dog being able to generalize the skill to a new location. Ask your dog to “hold” the toy and when she picks it up immediately praise/click. When your dog is successfully taking the toy from your outstretched hand place the toy on the floor in front of her.If she doesn’t take the toy that’s ok, just practice the above “hold” skills a little more. Hold the toy out to your dog in your outstretched palm and ask her to “hold.” if your dog takes the toy click/praise and treats.
Once your dog has mastered “hold” it’s time to start teaching fetch! Teaching Fetch It’s much better to do many repetitions of short holds then asking for one very long hold. Keep your dog successful by working at her pace building the length of time she’s asked to hold very slowly.Praise, take the object, and give her a treat. You can also begin moving your hands off of the toy, then quickly put your hand back on the toy before your dog drops it. Again, go very slowly building with fractions of a second of time you are asking your dog to hold. Once your dog is keeping their mouth on the toy until you click/praise and treat you can start adding in more time.
When your dog is constantly keeping her mouth on the toy for a couple of seconds before you click/praise and treat you can begin introducing a verbal cue like “hold.” Build up very slowly, adding just a half-second and then a second before you praise/click and treat.
When your dog is regularly putting her mouth on the toy, start building duration into the trick by not immediately clicking/praising the instant she puts her mouth on the toy and wait a moment, and while her mouth is still on the toy click/praise and treat. Next wait to praise/click/treat until she puts her mouth on the toy. Wait until your dog sniffs the toy click/praise and treat. At this stage, you want to reward any interest in the toy. When your dog goes to investigate the toy praise/click and treat. Sit on the floor with your dog facing you, while holding a toy show it to your dog. The first step to teaching your dog to fetch is to teach hold: Teaching Hold Clicker training can be especially useful to help you communicate with your dog in the early stages of teaching the trick. Treats – For teaching your dog to fetch you want to have a lot of small pieces of high-value treats.Ĭlicker – if you use a clicker to train your dog, have it ready. I’ve even used fun fur pencil pouches filled with smelly treats for teaching fetch to dogs who are especially reluctant to put something in his mouth. If your dog is really not toy motivated especially if he is a rescue dog who didn’t have a lot of exposure to toys as a puppy it can help to find toys that have a velcro compartment to put food in can be very helpful. Some dogs are ball lovers while others prefer plush toys. This will let you get a feel for what kind of toys your dog is going to like. Toys – When teaching a dog to fetch, I like to have an array of toys available. Although fetch doesn’t come naturally to every dog, it is a skill that can be taught! Supplies Needed to Teach Fetch: Fetch is a game that most people want to play with their dog and it can be frustrating if you throw a toy and your dog just sits watching you or goes and gets the toy but doesn’t bring it back. Similarly, some rescue dogs may not have had experience playing with toys as puppies and just don’t know what to do with a toy. Some dogs don’t have much interest in toys or aren’t naturally inclined to bring toys back after being thrown. While some dogs love to play fetch, and for dogs like retrievers the game comes very naturally, other dogs may find the idea of fetch foreign.
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