[4NGI3]

Here's how far we've gotten with Nelson with fetching, the poor little guy just doesn't get the point of the game :roll:

Click here to watch nelfetch

He's REALLY bad at it, no matter how much we play it with him, he just doesn't get it.

if anyone can give us some tips i'd love it. sometimes he fetches it and comes running back in our direction but then bolts off to the left or right jsut as he gets about a meter away from us. so we have to chase him to get the toy off him to throw again.

 

[Bruiser1523]

Use a lot of treats, and a lot of posivite reinforcement.

 

[cannon]

I can't see the video. Not to make light of your question, but I have to say though it sounds hilarious! The puppy speak is great, then I can picture him running to you and turning at the last second. You can just hear it in your voice. Maybe I just identify with it cause that is the same thing Mo did for the first month or so. If he didn't bring it back, we stopped playing fetch. Ended up working in the long run.

 

[debs]

Moose does the same thing. He is all excited to get the toy then he gets it runs back to us then bolts. You have to tell him to sit and then IF he sits you can get it. Drives me nuts. By the way Nelson has grown into a good looking dog.

 

[Josie's Proud Mom]

LOL, can't help but laugh Josie does the same thing. I personnal think they know what they're doing. Outside he won't play with anything but his log. Give it a toss he'll go get it, bring it right up to ya, then dart off at the last minute and run around the house for about 5 minutes, then flop over on the ground. Such a knuckle head! They know very well what they're doing, everytime he does it I can't help but lauch so hard I almost pee myself. ( god knows I love this big idiot! He's such a clown!)

 

[Lisa]

The video would not work for me either. I could hear your voice but could only see a bunch of flashing bright colours on the screen and no video.

The reason why it isn't going well is because your dog doesn't understand what you want it to do. "Fetch" or retrieving is just like any other obedience exercise and it has to be broken down into steps. Getting a dog to retrieve reliabily is one of the most difficult obedience exercises I have ever taught my dog. There is MUCH more to "fetch" than just throwing a ball and expecting your dog to bring it back to you. Besides, you are giving your dog way too many commands! "Bring your ball". "Bring it back" "get your ball", "here", etc. Your dog is confused and doesn't know what the heck is going on or what you want it to do.

I could explain how to teach a dog to retrieve reliabily but it would be too hard to explain on the internet.

The bottom line is a dog only understands what its taught by its owner. Fetching is no different from any other command like sit, down, heel, etc. Dogs don't come out of the womb understanding these things they need to be taught first and you have skipped WAY too many steps. A naturally retrieving breed like a Lab or Golden may play fetch with no training BUT with a breed like an AB you need to show them what you want first and for most novice owners teaching a retrieve is a very difficult thing to do! Especially a REALIABLE one.

 

[RED]

This is what you do, get two tennis balls. Throw the first one and give your command. After he gets the ball and is running back towards you, take the other tennis ball and start bouncing it. This grabs the dogs attention for another ball, which means the game continues. The key is to start bouncing it when your dog gets close. Usally when they see the second ball they will spit out the one in there mouth. Throw the other ball and do the process all over.

 

[Josie's Proud Mom]

Thanks Red I'll have to try the two balls, as you suggest. That is if they last long enough, he usually pops them as soon as he get them in his mouth. I'm not a good trainer when it come to play training because the ding bat makes me laugh tooooo much! Thanks again!

 

[RED]

Thanks Red I'll have to try the two balls, as you suggest. That is if they last long enough, he usually pops them as soon as he get them in his mouth. I'm not a good trainer when it come to play training because the ding bat makes me laugh tooooo much! Thanks again!

I hope it works, Chassis loves to chase stuff but when she gets it she brings it back and keeps on going past you. Of course she is trying to get you to chase her. We started this method and it worked for the most part. Some times she will keep the ball in her mouth and go and try and pick up the other one. Now days she is really good on her outs though.

 

[Tanner]

This is what you do, get two tennis balls. Throw the first one and give your command. After he gets the ball and is running back towards you, take the other tennis ball and start bouncing it. This grabs the dogs attention for another ball, which means the game continues. The key is to start bouncing it when your dog gets close. Usally when they see the second ball they will spit out the one in there mouth. Throw the other ball and do the process all over.

Very funny because this is how we got Faith to start playing fetch! Husband just did this on his own. She is so interested in the "new" ball daddy has that she comes to him and drops the other one waiting for him to throw it. I WOULD try this because it worked for us.

By the way he is such a good looking doggie!

 

[4NGI3]

THanks guys yea hes a sexy beast! :lol:

Red, thanks for that that was pretty easy to explain and understand. I've actually heard that before and will definately give it a go. i've tried the whole "treat/reward" thing, but once he has the ball in his mouth and i wave a treat in his face, he doesn't give a crap about the treat. and once i took him to the park and thought i was going so well because when i'd get the ball out of his mouth and swap it with a treat, he'd spit the treat out and get excited about me throwing the ball again.

so he fetches "sometimes" but all the time would be great. i just sent my bf a txt to buy two tennis balls so we can start work on nelly's fetch skills after work today. thanks for the tip!

 

[RED]

THanks guys yea hes a sexy beast! :lol:

Red, thanks for that that was pretty easy to explain and understand. I've actually heard that before and will definately give it a go. i've tried the whole "treat/reward" thing, but once he has the ball in his mouth and i wave a treat in his face, he doesn't give a crap about the treat. and once i took him to the park and thought i was going so well because when i'd get the ball out of his mouth and swap it with a treat, he'd spit the treat out and get excited about me throwing the ball again.

so he fetches "sometimes" but all the time would be great. i just sent my bf a txt to buy two tennis balls so we can start work on nelly's fetch skills after work today. thanks for the tip!

Yeah see he likes the hunt and kill of the ball but gets disintrested because the ball is now dead he needs you to bring it back to life. The second ball really helps keeping the game going and the hunt on!