Training a Non Fetcher to Fetch
- Thread starter sillysally
- Start date
http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/retrieve.html
Back chaining! I swear by it. Teach the return to hand first, and you can extrapolate it into fetching all sorts of fun things.
Back chaining! I swear by it. Teach the return to hand first, and you can extrapolate it into fetching all sorts of fun things.
I've thought about shaping a retrieve, just haven't put the time into it yet! I was planning on doing something like the following;
Looks at the toy, C&T.
Moves toward the toy, C&T.
Sniffs the toy, C&T.
Nudges the toy, C&T.
Mouths or nips the you, C&T.
Picks the toy up, C&T.
Picks up and holds the toy, C&T. I might consider putting a word cue to it at this point if she's doing it consistently.
Once she gets that picking the toy up gets the click and treat, you can start upping the ante by tossing the toy a foot away and having her pick it up. The main training will be in getting her interested and associating a reward with the toy. She may not need all the little steps, either.
Someone else may have a better idea than I do, too! I'm at work, but I'm going to read through that back chaining article, not something I've used before!
Looks at the toy, C&T.
Moves toward the toy, C&T.
Sniffs the toy, C&T.
Nudges the toy, C&T.
Mouths or nips the you, C&T.
Picks the toy up, C&T.
Picks up and holds the toy, C&T. I might consider putting a word cue to it at this point if she's doing it consistently.
Once she gets that picking the toy up gets the click and treat, you can start upping the ante by tossing the toy a foot away and having her pick it up. The main training will be in getting her interested and associating a reward with the toy. She may not need all the little steps, either.
Someone else may have a better idea than I do, too! I'm at work, but I'm going to read through that back chaining article, not something I've used before!
I think sighthounds are about as far from a retriever as you can get. Summit has a very solid retrieve. Kili I haven't really sat down and worked with to be reliable.
When I first got Summit, he wouldn't even LOOK at a toy... let alone pick one up. So I clicker trained this right from the start. I blogged about it as well. I'll link the appropriate blog posts.
Part 1
Part 2
He Retrieves!
When I first got Summit, he wouldn't even LOOK at a toy... let alone pick one up. So I clicker trained this right from the start. I blogged about it as well. I'll link the appropriate blog posts.
Part 1
Part 2
He Retrieves!
I didn't want to use a clicker while teaching him to fetch, because I didn't really want it to feel like a 'training session' per day. He knows when that clicker comes out, it's 'business' time and I really wanted to teach him to have FUN with it. Not be... focused necessarily.
He used to fetch a ball maybe once, and then bring it halfway back (if that) and be interested in something else. He was definitely not a big fan of fetch. He would play inside sometimes down the hallway, but hardly at all outside, especially not in strange / new places.
Now, HE LOVES it, and gets super excited when the Chuck-It comes out. He will sprint up hill at full speed to fetch the ball or frisbee and bring it back all the way, and bark at me begging for more! I take him up to a local football field and he plays there now too.
I used treats in the beginning (and actually still do every now and then, just not after EVERY throw, but just to reinforce) and put him on a long line he can drag. Then I'd get REALLY excited! Like, I'd really act like an idiot. I'd throw the ball/toy/etc and run for it and show him how to do it and act all excited. He started going to get it himself and if he didn't bring it back all the way, I'd give a slight tug on the leash as a reminder. If he did not grab the toy on the way back, I'd kind of 'make' him. Like I didn't keep going to pick it up from wherever he dropped it, I just kept reminding him to bring it all the way. I kept encouraging him to go get the toy, and it took a couple of times for him to leave me (since I had the food) but then he figured out what I wanted. I started with short distances.
Since I didn't really want it to be a 'trick' or a 'command' but more of a game, I started using playing as the reinforcer occasionally too. So, one time he'd return and get a treat, the next time, I'd let him tug on the frisbee or chew on it for a few seconds, etc.
I also tried many different types of toys. He really likes the rubber ChuckIt mini balls as well as the Kong Squeakers. It's been a great added form of exercise when I'm too lazy to leave my yard and to to the park
He used to fetch a ball maybe once, and then bring it halfway back (if that) and be interested in something else. He was definitely not a big fan of fetch. He would play inside sometimes down the hallway, but hardly at all outside, especially not in strange / new places.
Now, HE LOVES it, and gets super excited when the Chuck-It comes out. He will sprint up hill at full speed to fetch the ball or frisbee and bring it back all the way, and bark at me begging for more! I take him up to a local football field and he plays there now too.
I used treats in the beginning (and actually still do every now and then, just not after EVERY throw, but just to reinforce) and put him on a long line he can drag. Then I'd get REALLY excited! Like, I'd really act like an idiot. I'd throw the ball/toy/etc and run for it and show him how to do it and act all excited. He started going to get it himself and if he didn't bring it back all the way, I'd give a slight tug on the leash as a reminder. If he did not grab the toy on the way back, I'd kind of 'make' him. Like I didn't keep going to pick it up from wherever he dropped it, I just kept reminding him to bring it all the way. I kept encouraging him to go get the toy, and it took a couple of times for him to leave me (since I had the food) but then he figured out what I wanted. I started with short distances.
Since I didn't really want it to be a 'trick' or a 'command' but more of a game, I started using playing as the reinforcer occasionally too. So, one time he'd return and get a treat, the next time, I'd let him tug on the frisbee or chew on it for a few seconds, etc.
I also tried many different types of toys. He really likes the rubber ChuckIt mini balls as well as the Kong Squeakers. It's been a great added form of exercise when I'm too lazy to leave my yard and to to the park
Beagle fetching
Hi, i got my Beagle to fetch in week with cool training methods by Dove Cresswell. Altough it was not an easy task to do cause Beagles tend to follow the smells that get to their nose and forget about the fetching
______________
http://smartdogtrainingsystem.info/
Hi, i got my Beagle to fetch in week with cool training methods by Dove Cresswell. Altough it was not an easy task to do cause Beagles tend to follow the smells that get to their nose and forget about the fetching
______________
http://smartdogtrainingsystem.info/