my banjo was the same, she go fetch the ball then run back and when you went to take it she`d run off again always checking back to see if i was chasing her :lol:

 

Zipper loves fetch (shihtzu cross) but Lilly (maltese cross) has no idea, she won't even chase a toy.

To get Zipper to drop his ball I started by tossing the ball a couple of feet in doors and when he picked it up offering him a treat in exchange.

 

Haha i have this problem with Kai,he knows when i say go fetch or even find the ball.Getting it off of him is another matter.But Mia on the other hand is fine at playing fetch.I have to admit hubby and i laugh at Kai because we know he knows what we want.

 

At first when teaching this whatever they have fetched needs to be exchanged for a higher value item.

 

Dan my lab Just won't do the fetch thing either. ( Hard to believe for a lab I know ) He is the first dog of mine not to fetch. If I throw the ball he will go after it but he doesn't want to give it back he much sooner you chase him for it.
Some times we throw the ball he looks at you as if to say " here we go again" he will saunter over to the ball, stand over it just looking at it then all of a sudden he pounces on it and then runs around the garden with it. :lol: it is such a sight to see makes us laugh every time he does it.

The other labs we have had have loved doing the fetch thing to the point of throwing the ball at you just so you would throw it for them.

 

Yes even with competition dogs this can be the hardest exercise.

Try two balls ie throw the first and when the dog has picked it up, make a big thing about the second one. Either bounce it, toss it in the air and catch it yourself, saying something like "I've got this one" in an excited voice. Generally they will drop the first one because they want the one you've got and when they do either click it (or use a clicker word like "yes" or "good") and throw the second one. Once they understand the rules, you can then shape the behaviour ie they have to bring the first ball and drop it at your feet before you throw the second one and then up the anti again until they actually give the first one to you.

I had terrible trouble with one of mine on retrieve so I used a 'chuckit' and did what is described above. I would load a squeaky tennis ball and throw it, as she picked it up I would load the second tennis ball, bang the loaded chuckit on the floor excitedly which would bring her more or less back to me, praise and then throw the second one. Once this was established, I would then (about every third or fourth go) put the dumbbell onto the chuckit and throw that, admittedly it wouldn't go very far and was a bit of a balancing act!! The only difference was she had to present the dumbbell (sit in front of me with it). The minute she did, I would take it and begin chucking the tennis balls for her again. She ended up being a very good and reliable retrieve dog, because in the higher classes they have to retrieve the judges articles which can be anything.

 

My flat coated 'retriever' has never retrieved anything in his life...he will take balls, toys, whatever to the other side of the river/pond/field, drop them and wait for you to throw something else...

 

Maya will not fetch, if i'm lucky and she's in an odd mood she MAY bring a ball back to me though this is so rare, most times she'll look at me as if i'm crazy.

Rusty fetches often it's getting him to stop :lol:

 

It has taken me a year to teach bobby to play fetch while i had everyone round me saying he wasn't the type of dog to play fetch I persevered and now he will bring any toy to me to play fetch.

 

I think some dogs or breeds just know how to my springers especially molly the younger one is ball and bottle obsessed and she has alway done this from a pup the first time we threw a ball which we was doing with the older one ahe caught it and just brought it back put it at our feet stood back waiting, she just knew how to do it. Whtever we or any one else on a walk picks up she stands in front of them paw up waiting for it to be thrown.

 

Nope, Murphy chases the ball but leaves it there or takes it to somewhere and eats it.

 

No, not at all. Although we did manage to get a 12 week old DDB to retrieve a cooked sasauge at a Christmas Party last year

 

Fizz kind of plys it....she knows 'Go get your ball' and she gets excited and goes off to get it,then drops it at my feet, when i throw it she chases it gets it in her mouth and when i shout bring it back she brings it back and drops it at my feet, then barks for me to trow it again, this is all done in slo motion because she's not too fast any more but she still does it
Penny...she just chases it and stands barking at fizz to come and pick it up lol...well...she's still a baby:lol:

 

Max doesn't get it either... He'd watch the ball and sit there with a 'fetch it yourself' look. He loves playing witn a ball, won't fetch it. He's a teaser though, he'll come to you with his ball, just place it in your hand, if you try and grab it he runs off, and comes back lol. Used to freak people out when they came round and Max would start nudging their hand with his ball in his mouth lol, especially when I said "he wants you to grab it!" haha!

 

Yes even with competition dogs this can be the hardest exercise.

Try two balls ie throw the first and when the dog has picked it up, make a big thing about the second one. Either bounce it, toss it in the air and catch it yourself, saying something like "I've got this one" in an excited voice. Generally they will drop the first one because they want the one you've got and when they do either click it (or use a clicker word like "yes" or "good") and throw the second one. Once they understand the rules, you can then shape the behaviour ie they have to bring the first ball and drop it at your feet before you throw the second one and then up the anti again until they actually give the first one to you.

I had terrible trouble with one of mine on retrieve so I used a 'chuckit' and did what is described above. I would load a squeaky tennis ball and throw it, as she picked it up I would load the second tennis ball, bang the loaded chuckit on the floor excitedly which would bring her more or less back to me, praise and then throw the second one. Once this was established, I would then (about every third or fourth go) put the dumbbell onto the chuckit and throw that, admittedly it wouldn't go very far and was a bit of a balancing act!! The only difference was she had to present the dumbbell (sit in front of me with it). The minute she did, I would take it and begin chucking the tennis balls for her again. She ended up being a very good and reliable retrieve dog, because in the higher classes they have to retrieve the judges articles which can be anything.

i have to do that- swap one item for another- she is still not quite familiar with the whole drop so i can chuck it again :lol:

 

Lol, your posts all made me chuckle :lol:

Cookie (Lhasa Apso) will only run after the toy you've thrown if she wants to, then when she reaches it she'll either leave it, start chewing it or run away with it in the opposite direction :lol:

Alfie (Sprollie), on the other hand, will bring anything you throw back to you, however he won't really let it go and if you do manage to pry it off him, the next time you throw it, he simply won't bring it back :lol: He's still young though so I have faith that he'll learn the concept one day

 

It took me a year to teach Dave to fetch!
Despite me asking advice on it before he was even old enough.

Fetch just did not make sense to him, he wanted to grab the ball and run off, make sure Dixie or his brother couldn't have it!

Dixie taught herself fetch when she was 10 weeks old. I never tried to teach it to her (but had planned to later on) but being the smart girl she is, quickly learned that if I had the ball, she could chase it!


I tried everything with Dave. Having him on a longline did not help as soon as I tried to get him closer to me he dropped the ball!

He kind of got it, inside the house, but soon decided it was more fun to run off and chew the ball!


When we moved here, he got hold of Dixies ball so I ran away from him and he chased after me! Finally I found a way to get him to come back and now he loves to fetch :thumbup:

 

Awww :lol:

Decks LOVES fetch. Although, he does like to make a bit of a game out of it. He'll bring it back, drop it and then as you go to pick it up he'll steal it and run off! Lol. Generally he'll let you have it though, although sometimes you have to grab his collar so he can't run off :lol: All in the name of fun though!

I don't know if I taught him fetch, I think he kinda taught himself to be honest! He's VERY persistant, and if he wants to play fetch he will bring you his ball and tap you, jump on you, whine at you and generally be a pest until you throw it.

Perhaps have some real yummy food to bribe lady to give the ball back? Or does she perhaps havea different type of toy she likes? Decks favourite toy is a nice tennis ball, folllowed by a plastic bottle. He is not a fan of fetching sticks or any sort of rope toy (although he will happily play tug of war or general play with a rope toy). Perhaps lady just doesn't like balls? (hahaha :lol

 

Alfie retrieves to hand, even manky bits of dead rabbit
We can't play fetch any more though because of his bad leg

 

Alfie retrieves to hand, even manky bits of dead rabbit
We can't play fetch any more though because of his bad leg

I know exactly what you mean....

One of my first collies was a little black bitch called Meg. She was a devil for catching mice and voles, etc. out on a walk which she would then present to me, wagging her tail and really pleased with herself. Sometimes they weren't even dead. The times I said "lovely Meg, you have it"............. Bless.

 

Bella my RC was 5+ when she finally learnt to fetch! up until then she wouldn't even pick up a ball. It was only when we got one of those small soft squeaky ones that she got it. I don't think she liked the feel of balls in her mouth before that. Now there's no stopping her.

Tinks one of our 15 week old kittens can play fetch as well

 

Every mally ive had has done the same, they love to say "neh neh mine now" while prancing around with their tail held high

I end up chasing Shorty as its still exercise for the 2 of us, i end up knackered, mallies can turn quick when they want to! :lol:

My cat plays fetch tho, she chases a bobble and drops it in your lap to throw again or ages. Youd think watching the cat Shorty would pick it up wouldnt you??

 

Alfie retrieves to hand, even manky bits of dead rabbit
We can't play fetch any more though because of his bad leg

My vet wasnt pleased when i told him we played fetch when harvey did his cruciate, he didnt do it that way but the vet said dogs shouldnt do it because its the running then stopping quick with the turn, he said if owners realise the strains it puts on the legs they would never do it. OOPS!

 

I had some success using a tennis ball with a small slit cut into it. Then I could put a treat inside that my dog couldn't get out by himself. So he learnt to bring it back to me for me to take the treat out and give it to him.

Now of course he only wants to play for treats but the principle was quite successful!

 

:lol: your dog is very smart half the fun is the chase! If you want to teach a retrieve to hand then the best thing is not to chase her as that is a reward but to do the opposite ignor her, we try all sorts from hiding behind a tree to swapping with a treat, I had one dog where as a puppy the only way he would come in close enough to return the item was to turn my back slightly and finger around in the mud as if it was the MOST interesting thing ever, dogs are so curious they can't help themselves.

I have seen someone use two pipes throw one to either side as the dog returns with the first thrown chuck the other so that the fun is in collecting the pipe not in you chasing.