Dog that won't fetch

[MishaDOG]

My dog is 10 months. She has never wanted to play fetch. We thought we could chase her and let her get some exercise but we now know this is not good because she will not bring us anything. How do we play with a dog like this. Put her on a long line to teach her to play fetch is more taxing than fun for us and her.

[Fundog]

What kind of dog is she? While just about any dog can be "taught" to fetch (in some circles it is called "force fetch"), there are some breeds that really find no purpose in fetching. Some breeds are more "natural retrievers" than others.

Meanwhile, you can start by clicker training-- there is a sticky thread at the top of the methods page that describes how to.

Then, start with "targeting." Get a favorite toy, hold it, and have the dog touch it with her nose. Then click and treat. The next step would be to put it on the floor and have her nose it. Then get her to mouth it. Then pick it up. Then throw it a short distance and if she touches it, click and treat. Then mouth it. Then pick it up. Then the big one, when she picks it up, call her back to you, with it still in her mouth. Take it in very, very small increments, being sure to click and treat every time she does the part you are on correctly. It may take several days to work up to retrieving items reliably.

Anyway, that is only one way of doing it. There are several ways of teaching a dog to fetch, and so I will let someone else offer a different technique. You choose the one that you think will work best for you and your dog. You can even improvise, and adapt certain aspects of more than one technique to invent your own method.

[Nettle]

As Fundog says, many dogs aren't interested in 'fetch'.

What kind of dog do you have? We may be able to give you pointers (lol) on what she would like to do instead.

[Fundog]

"Pointers"

Heh, heh. Good one, Nettle.

[Marley]

I taught my dog to fetch using a clicker. It took a long time and it is still not her favorite game. It has become our in the house rainy day activity.

1. I replaced her ball with a rope toy (we had so many issues with the ball I wanted to start fresh).
2. I set the rope in front of my feet and I would ask "where is the rope" if her nose touched it I would click and treat.
3. I started to move the rope further away and click and treat when she touched it.
4. I started to wait a bit longer to treat and she started picking up the rope for her treat.
5. I started to toss it about 1 foot away from me and she got a treat when she brought it back.
6. I reintroduced the ball.

I still need to transition the activity to a different location. Currently she'll bring the ball back about 3 times at the park before she gets bored. At home I'll ask for the rope and she'll go into her toybox and bring me the rope if I notice she is starting to get distracted, I'll ask for the ball and she'll go into her toybox and bring me a ball.

Good luck

[dontpugme]

Here is a clip from IMOD where Stains learns how to fetch:

http://animal.discovery.com/videos/its- ... trick.html

good luck

[spydre]

With Dodger it depends on the mood he's in, or his energy level in that particular play session. He may start out fine fetching, and running gung ho, but after a few minutes, he may run to the toy/rope/ball, etc, and not bring it back. That's our sign usually that he wants to switch to tug, either with his toy or one of his ropes (and ropes don't last long here, he kills them too quickly). Loth, or old dog, never EVER wanted to fetch. She might every once in a while walk after a ball,and maybe sniff it, but she would much rather run around with us, chasing us, than chasing a ball or rope. So we learned by her cues basically, she wasn't going to do it.

[monib1969]

WE call it marker training, but same principal in theory as clicker training.

You can target this works. With our dogs we do not play fetch games until they have fully learned to interact with us first. Via tug games etc... And the tug is a reward for good behavior just like the treat is. If he plays tug this may help as a precursor to the force retrieve. But you need to play tug properly so your dog wants to continue to play tug with you.

Once the tug is in your dogs mouth you must pull the tug with dog, from side to side. Do not push the tug back into his mouth, this will make him lose grip and release it, and if you do it too often he wil lose interest in the tug game. In the beginning you tug and treat until you eventually replace the tug as the reward for an action such as down when being told to and the play time with you is the reward. You want to get to the point that the tug game is sooooo much fun that your dog is 100% engaged with you and the play, then when you have him "out" the tug and you throw it, he immediately goes to get it to restart the tug game. Our dogs come back with such force to play, that if you are not ready for it you will be knocked off your feet, literally.

The tug game actually helps build the drive in your dog. But it will also depend somewhat on what type of breed your dog is. For example a large Mastiff, will most likely never want much to do with fetch. They are prey driven to a point, but they are not chasers, like Dobie, Mal's, sheps and terriers etc... A Mastiff or even Saint will look at you as if to say 'ok you threw you go get it, I'm staying here.' These types take alot of work to get engaged and interested in a game of fetch.

[MaiasMom]

Right, some dogs just don't do fetch regardless if the breed is known to be a retriever. Maia won't fetch, she will take the ball from Kai just so he will chase her. Kai will play fetch until he drops, Tre could care less about a ball or anything else you might throw. They are all the same breed. Kai likes his tether ball, Maia will play a little with it, Tre' no way. Find something your dog does like to do, fetch just might not be his/her thing.