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Dogomania

fetch????


ttouslee

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I am curious about my golden retriever playing fetch. (Gracie is my first golden, and honestly other than researching for months on the breed, I have never been around them before.) She plays with our rottie all the time, and of course he has nothing to do with fetch. Gracie is starting to show an interest in fetch, although not like I had expected. she is now 5 months old, she will fetch the fresbie or ball (if she wants to) and brings it back somewhat close to me. She does not give back freely. I praise her like crazy when I convince her to drop it. I had tried treats when she dropped but then she quit playing and only wanted the treats. if she won't drop I normally quit the game.
Is this typical of the age? I had one other older pup (a mutt) a long time ago, and she just natrually dropped when told. Is there specific training I can do for Gracie? and also is her lack of interest to do with the older rottie?

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believe it or not when you want to train a reliable retrieve you start with mouth. the running to the object and back is cake. there are a few steps so be patient it's not gonna happen overnight.

so for now get a fetch toy (tennis ball), 2 pockets full of pea sized very yummy treats (cheese, chicken), and gracie. practice having her sit politely and take the ball on a cue like 'take it' (if you need more detail on this lemme know) then trade the ball for chicken -- put the chicken right on her nose so that there is no question. she should either drop the ball or give to your hand. you may have to work up to putting the ball in your hand. when she outs let her have the chicken. play inside and outside 3-5 minutes a few times a day. try for a week and come back and tell me how she is doing. then we can move on.

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I know it's only been a day, but I am soooo impressed with the results from using this technique! As soon as she figured out she got a yummy after giving me the ball, it was a blast working her. I can't wait to do it again and again, then be able to move on to the next step. anyhow, thanks for the advice, and we will continue working till next week.

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weeks up and puppy drops the ball at my command, in my hand! I am so thrilled. she even had picked up a toy outdoors she wasnt' to have, I put my hand out and told her to drop. she did. about floored me, and of course I didn't have a treat but sure praised her! What do you suggest as the next step for us to take now rotten_two

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good job! so now i want you to play a little game with her using the take it cue. until now you have handed her a toy and asked her to drop. now change up when, how, where she "takes it." for instance put the toy in your other hand, put it behind your back, hi & lo, under the leg, etc. also change places -- inside, outside, different distractions. keep asking her to drop it and giving her treats when she does. do this for a few days until she gets the hang of it -- this truly tests her understanding of the words 'take' then you can start placing it on the ground and asking her to 'take it' then toss it about a foot away. see where this is going? lemme know how you do
:D

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  • 1 month later...

I'm actually just started teaching Sydney to retrieve. She is NOT a retrieving dog at all! :lol: But we're taking small baby steps with clicker training, and she's showing progress!! I want her to retrieve dumbells for obedience, but I couldn't find any wooden ones in any stores, only online, so I bought a squeaky tennis-ball dumbell toy that was at my work to start with anyways.

I used the advice in this article: [url]http://www.geocities.com/jetflair/retrievearticle.html[/url]

She learned very quickly that as soon as she touched her nose to the dumbell, click & treat. We repeated this A LOT. Then when she put her nose on it, I DIDN'T click & treat, then she got frustrated a little, and would mouth a little at it, then I click & treat. Then, I put some peanut butter on the dumbell to get her to lick and mouth at it a little more, then click & treat. With each reward, she would open her mouth a little more, then I would move the dumbell in her mouth a little, click & treat. With each reward, she accepts the dumbell in her mouth more and more. That's where we left off today, and for a dog that would NEVER just take a dumbell from my hand, I am majorly impressed with how well this method has worked for her so far! :D

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