How To Train Your Dog To Fetch

Sure, most dogs like to fetch! But on occasion, you will get a dog that looks doesn't have any idea what his part of the deal is.

Sure, most dogs like to fetch! But on occasion, you will get a dog that looks doesn't have any idea what his part of the deal is.

You'll grab a tennis ball, go outside, throw the ball, and the dog will stare at you, as if to say "are you expecting me to do something?"

 If this is your dog, don't worry, there are some things that you can do. You can begin with doing the  old bait and switch . Grab two identical things that the dog likes to play with. For this example, lets say two tennis balls.

Take the dog and put him on a leash, and walk with him outside. Make sure the dog is looking at you and show him the two tennis balls. Hide one of the tennis balls and then throw the other one.

Take the leash off and firmly say "FETCH". The dog should go after the tennis ball that you threw. When the dog comes back, pull out the hidden tennis ball.

The dog will most likely drop the one he's holding and come running back for the one in your hand. After he comes to you, put him on the leash again.

This time throw the second ball in the opposite direction. After you throw the ball, take off the leash and again say "FETCH". This time while the dog is chasing the second ball, you go and get the first ball, and show it to him as he is coming back to give you the ball.

After a few times doing this, the dog will start to get the hang of this. Another way of doing this, although not as much fun, is the forced retrieve.

This is basically when you have the dog on the leash, you throw the ball and you walk with the dog on the leash to retrieve the ball.

With this method, you usually have to spice up their motivation, and give him a little treat after the ball retrieved. Either of these two method should work well.

Teaching a dog to fetch really is one of those things, that once the dog "gets it", he gets it for good.