So What Can I Do With a Natural "Retrieve" Instinct?

[micro202]

Of all games and play, fetch is by far Delia's favorite and it's the one thing I can count on that she is always in the mood for. The only time she tires of it is when she wears herself out.

I would think this may present itself as a good general training opportunity.

I figure the situation might lend it self to working on "drop it" pretty easily as she doesn't give up the stick right away unless I have another stick ready to throw.

I also thought it may be a way to strengthen some of the other basic commands using it as a reward.

I don't currently have a "come". What about working on a recall this way? If I throw the stick, literally 99% of the time she brings it right back to me.

Any other ideas you guys have of how I can use this to our advantage? Thanks.

 

[MomOf7]

This is a good opportunity to work on sit/stay and come or here.
For my dogs sit means sit and stay untill you are released by a command or I say thier name.
Just hold her collar when she is in the sit position. If she stands make her sit again until she is steady...Just a few seconds at first will do. Count to 5 and then release her on the throw.
So you have her sit, throw the stick or whatever you are using, count to 5 then release with a command. Once she has the stick tell her come or here. Not both just one or the other Here or Come.. I use the word here instead of come. Do this in short sessions 5-10 minutes and end on a good note.
You can also integrade that with heel. What I do is I will walk my dogs on leash keeping the leash very short so that the dog has to stay close to me. When the dog starts going away pop the leash and at the same time say heel. I will walk in a square with 15 paces untill I turn. What this teaches is that no matter what direction you are going she needs to pay attention and follow. When turning that corner its a sharp one, Pop pop pop of the leash with the command heel. Once you have her doing heeling pretty well add a sit in there. When you say sit make sure she sits every time. End on a good note. So if she started struggling towards the end make the commands easier.
Make these sessions short..10 min or so then end the session with some fun retrieves. No commands just throw the stick and make it really fun and get really excited.
Once you have her sitting on command during a walk, try to continue walking to the end of the leash then ask her to heel. If she doesnt just re- sit her and try it again. I usually say No when they start walking after the command sit and then say sit again and try walking again. This concept is a little harder to grasp. Eventually she will put it together. At the first session if she does it just once..Praise the heck out of her and then throw some fun retrieves. I do this in stages. One day retrieve work, next day obediance work with fun retrieves.

Note. I wouldnt do the fun retrieves on the same day your working on her sit/stay while retrieving. Dont want to get her confused.
Have fun and good luck!
Kris

 

[whatszmatter]

you can teach your drop it pretty easily with two toys. Throw one and she brings it back, you said your dog doesn't like to drop it, so say drop it and immediatly show the other toy, she'll drop the one she has, and you throw the other one at the precise time your dog drops it.

This will teach her that drop it, doesn't mean the game is over, it just means a new one will begin.

the sit exercise described by mom is good too.

for recalls I usually use a very high motivating toy to start, have someone else hold my dog, tease and run away swinging the toy the whole way. as soon as I turn around I give the here command and have the other person drops the leash. I don't worry about finishes or anything in fact I usually hold the ball out to the side or throw it further in a straight line behind me to increase speed on recalls.

Later I work on finishes and things. Also later after you have solid sit stays you can put your dog in a down or sit, run away turn around and pull out the toy, then call to you, but they have to have a solid sit or down or they will just run after you.

 

[micro202]

This is a good opportunity to work on sit/stay and come or here.
For my dogs sit means sit and stay untill you are released by a command or I say thier name.
Just hold her collar when she is in the sit position. If she stands make her sit again until she is steady...Just a few seconds at first will do. Count to 5 and then release her on the throw.
So you have her sit, throw the stick or whatever you are using, count to 5 then release with a command. Once she has the stick tell her come or here. Not both just one or the other Here or Come.. I use the word here instead of come. Do this in short sessions 5-10 minutes and end on a good note.
You can also integrade that with heel. What I do is I will walk my dogs on leash keeping the leash very short so that the dog has to stay close to me. When the dog starts going away pop the leash and at the same time say heel. I will walk in a square with 15 paces untill I turn. What this teaches is that no matter what direction you are going she needs to pay attention and follow. When turning that corner its a sharp one, Pop pop pop of the leash with the command heel. Once you have her doing heeling pretty well add a sit in there. When you say sit make sure she sits every time. End on a good note. So if she started struggling towards the end make the commands easier.
Make these sessions short..10 min or so then end the session with some fun retrieves. No commands just throw the stick and make it really fun and get really excited.
Once you have her sitting on command during a walk, try to continue walking to the end of the leash then ask her to heel. If she doesnt just re- sit her and try it again. I usually say No when they start walking after the command sit and then say sit again and try walking again. This concept is a little harder to grasp. Eventually she will put it together. At the first session if she does it just once..Praise the heck out of her and then throw some fun retrieves. I do this in stages. One day retrieve work, next day obediance work with fun retrieves.

Note. I wouldnt do the fun retrieves on the same day your working on her sit/stay while retrieving. Dont want to get her confused.
Have fun and good luck!
Kris

Thanks a lot, Kris.

You actually touched on a couple things I was wondering about and "sit stay" was one of them. I tought a sit with no stay before we started taking classes and now it's been a little harder to add the stay since we were doing just sit for a month straight. I think this will be a good way to help overcome that.

 

[micro202]

you can teach your drop it pretty easily with two toys. Throw one and she brings it back, you said your dog doesn't like to drop it, so say drop it and immediatly show the other toy, she'll drop the one she has, and you throw the other one at the precise time your dog drops it.

This will teach her that drop it, doesn't mean the game is over, it just means a new one will begin.

the sit exercise described by mom is good too.

for recalls I usually use a very high motivating toy to start, have someone else hold my dog, tease and run away swinging the toy the whole way. as soon as I turn around I give the here command and have the other person drops the leash. I don't worry about finishes or anything in fact I usually hold the ball out to the side or throw it further in a straight line behind me to increase speed on recalls.

Later I work on finishes and things. Also later after you have solid sit stays you can put your dog in a down or sit, run away turn around and pull out the toy, then call to you, but they have to have a solid sit or down or they will just run after you.

Yeah, that's why I originally thought it might be good for drop it as she is getting back something of equal value to what she gave.

As far as recall, I think your advice will work pretty well with the way she likes to play. I already know that she is going to be coming to me nearly everytime. Do you have any tips as to adding distractions to strenghten the recall?

Thanks again.