Re: OT - my dog won't fetch!

JJ wrote:

But, OK...finally getting to the point...he doesn't play with any toys. None. At all. He does *luv* his rawhide chewies...He'll chew on those and one bone will last anywhere from a day to several days. He'll carry it around and "play" with it as well as chew on it. But he will not play or put his mouth on anything else!


I have raised and trained dogs for a lot of years. I never did the competitive Obedience training .... but mine were trained for it. I found that, no matter what you might do, puppies either come with the "play with toys" gene or don't. And it doesn't seem to be link necessarily to any doggy intelligence.

I had one who was the definite alpha male, very intelligent, learned new things quickly and couldn't be bothered with anything as plebian as a toy. His attitude about fetching? "You threw the thing away. If you want it, go get it yourself." Both of my dogs now play with toys and will bring a toy back .... but mainly to get me to play with them (and keepaway is a whole lot more fun).

If your dog isn't a toy player, "fetch" will be harder to teach because there is no reason for him to go for the item. Retrieving items (by scent) is a more advanced obedience item. You might try starting by getting him to take an item, using praise (and food ... sparingly) when he'll take and hold the item (DROP IT is an excellent command to learn at the same time). Then try to work him with some distance.

If you aren't actively obedience training him, start. He needs to learn the concept of "learning" before you try complex moves.


LisaW
--
“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”
------------- Marcus Tullius Cicero
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Of happy healthy kitties
    ... play some in that amount of time. ... though she's a rescue like all my other cats). ... think it's the logistics of her getting to the correct toe). ... When he chases his special toy all the other cats quickly clear the ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Re: OT - my dog wont fetch!
    ... pick up the toy and bring it back. ... But he does like to play, just doesn't seem to know this ... Different breeds of dogs have been developed as much for behaviors as they have ... He immediately ran after the ball, picked it up, brought it to ...
    (rec.equestrian)
  • Re: T.v for babies.
    ... play, but all parents should be aware that the excessive ... their balance when they?re concentrating on a toy. ... a child is planted in place or ... but does not permit trunk rotation and lateral weight ...
    (misc.kids)
  • Re: help with 5 month old golden retriever puppy
    ... stay on his bed when put there unitl we give him the "okay," and he ... Whenever Rudy was trying to bite, I took a toy, placed it by his face, while ... The most fristrating thing, as mentioned above, it the play biting, ... and bites harder. ...
    (rec.pets.dogs.behavior)
  • Re: Book 7 traitor theory
    ... will have his life debt to Harry called into play in the last book). ... Harry would be grateful to have Pettigrew owe a life debt to him. ... the traitor storyline will play out again. ...
    (alt.fan.harry-potter)
Loading