fetch!
Everyone knows how to play fetch with a dog, right? And every dog loves to do it….right? Well, not necessarily. Fetch can be a terrific way to burn off the sillies in a young dog, and it is a terrific way to reward a dog for a job well done. Like any other activity, there needs to be come consideration for what fetch is, how we teach it, and then how we play it.
Many - but not all - dogs will naturally pick things up in their mouths. A few dogs will resource guard those things, and almost all dogs will pick things up, and will happily run around with those things in their mouths. Before we start talking about how to teach a dog to fetch, it is worth remembering that many veterinarians are now cautioning that repetitive fetching can cause a number of health issues. This is because during the takeoff, the dog must engage his back end explosively, and then when he gets to the point of picking up the item, he must suddenly brake. These sudden - and usually very fast - actions can be very hard on a dog’s skeleton, ligaments and muscles. i Additionally, problems such as heat exhaustion can creep up on a dog very quickly when the dog is exceptionally active in warmer weather. Behaviorally, endless repetitive fetching can a compulsive behavior, resulting in with a dog who is difficult to live with.
In spite of the issues that may be associated with playing fetch, it can and is a wonderful game to play with dogs, with tons of benefits, when you play it thoughtfully and with care. Let’s consider the benefits. To begin with, fetch can provide a lot of exercise for the dog, with not much effort on the part of the handler. Most of us can hurl an item away, and if the dog is willing to bring it back, the dog gets an aerobic workout, while we conserve our own energy. It can be an incredible tool for creating a relationship with a dog quickly and easily. Dogs who are willing to fetch provide us with the perfect tool for training, because the game enhances cooperation and increases our value in their eyes. As with most activities in dog training, it is important to be clear about your rules and boundaries before you start, in order to make sure that it is an effective tool and not a vacant activity that doesn’t include us working as a team.
To teach a naïve dog to fetch, you are going to need a space big enough to throw the ball, where the dog has enough space to run and chase, but where the dog cannot leave. Don’t worry about keep away because the dog is going to get a good work out, as long as you do not chase. You will also need a bucket to hold 5 to ten identical “fetch” items. These can be balls, sticks, stuffies, or other toys. Avoid using sticks, as these can injure or even kill a dog who is running at top speed. Whatever item you choose, make sure that the item is neither too large for the dog to pick up, nor so small that it might be a choking hazard. For the purpose of this article, we will refer to all fetch items as “balls”, but they can be anything. A six to ten foot long leash is helpful to control the dog’s movements while he is learning the rules.
Rules of Fetch
So, what are the rules for fetch? To begin with, fetch is a game. Like any other game, we need to take turns, understand our roles, and have rules, boundaries, and outcomes. When playing fetch with a dog, we will consider it to be your turn if you have the ball. When the dog has the ball, it is his turn.
Pre-training
When it is your turn, the dog must not touch the ball. If the dog touches the ball when it is not his turn, then the game should end for a few minutes. It is really important that dogs learn that when it is not their turn, they must not touch the ball, otherwise he may learn to jump up and grab at hands.
To teach this, have the dog on leash, and hold the ball out of reach. Don’t verbally prompt him to leave it, don’t touch, or off. The dog’s job is to not touch the ball until you tell him to “get it” or “fetch”. Once the dog is clearly not touching the ball, then the dog can have a turn; toss, roll, bounce or engage the dog with ball while saying “get it” or “Fetch”. Once the dog has the ball, then it is his turn for a little while. If the dog is not very engaged in the ball, don’t hesitate to kick the ball, chase it, and then kick it again, and chase it with the dog’s help. After a few minutes, pick up the ball again, grab hold of the leash, and hold the leash so that the dog cannot get the ball. Repeat the whole process. If the dog IS really engaged with the ball, then you can go to the next step.
Beginning Fetch
For the first stage, you should have a number of balls available. The dog needs to learn that in between turns, we have other activities to do. Don’t worry yet about getting the dog to do the whole chase, grab, carry, and give to hand. It is more important to get the dog to understand that between the turns where he has the ball, you will ask him to do something that he knows how to do. Initially, that might only be “don’t touching the ball” but with highly driven dogs who live to fetch, you can teach them to do a whole obedience routine, including sit, stay, down, come when called and heel off leash in the face of high distraction, all for the opportunity to fetch.
Adding obedience
When you are starting though, just decide on a single criterion, and use that between turns. Each turn should use different criteria, so we don’t end up teaching the dog to do only one thing between turns. Dogs who get asked to do one behavior, and only that one, between turns lose the opportunity to learn a wide variety of behaviors for this powerful reward. If the dog drops the ball, that is terrific, but if he won’t, don’t worry. To teach this, catch his leash, and take another ball out of the bucket, and hold it at arm’s length. Ask for a behavior, and then when he does the behavior, throw the ball, drop the leash and say “get it”. It is helpful to throw or roll the ball where the dog can see it easily, to encourage him not to grab the one he just dropped. He might not see a ball lobbed high over his head. Repeat this until the dog can do a variety of behaviors between throws. I personally like to teach fetch in this order, so that self-control is learned as early as possible.
Returning the ball
The next step is to get the dog off leash and returning the ball to us. To do this, I continue to play with multiple balls, but now, I picture myself as the center of a bullseye. I have all the balls in my container, and I let the dog off leash. While I have all the balls, I ask for a simple behavior that I am truly confident about the dog performing successfully. I don’t care where the dog is relative to me when I ask for the behavior; many dogs will scoot backwards before sitting or lying down, or they may do a hand touch or give a paw and then dart away. Don’t worry about this at all; this simply means that the dog is excited about the game.
As soon as the dog takes his turn at doing a cued behavior, throw the first ball. When the dog has committed to the game by having the ball in his mouth, call him back, and when he crosses the farthest ring of your imaginary bulls eye, call out “get it” and then throw a second ball. Keep playing until the dog is racing back across the imaginary line to make you throw the ball. Proximity becomes a new criterion instead of asking for another behavior. When the dog is coming past the first imaginary line of your bullseye, then make the game a little tiny bit harder by imagining the second line of the bullseye and making that the new criteria. As you play, keep increasing your criteria so that the dog has to get closer and closer to you to make you throw the ball. Each time the dog crosses the imaginary line, say “get it” and throw the ball again.
At some point, you will run out of balls, but if the dog is willing to continue to play, you can start moving around and picking up the balls that the dog is not holding in his mouth. In this way, you are not challenging him about possession of the ball he has. This is important because it means that coming close while holding the ball is never a risky endeavor for the dog. Building confidence about approaching you means that the dog will not need to play keepaway in order to participate in the game, and keepaway is a game that many dogs have been inadvertently taught.
When the dog is confidently returning to you, begin asking the dog for one of the behaviors he is already really good at. Once again, don’t worry whether the dog drops the ball. Many, many, many dogs do, however, a few dogs don’t. It’s no big deal if the dog does not drop the ball, even at this point. Just keep in mind that this is a game - keep playing and have fun with your dog. When you just continue to play, you build up the trust bank account, and he will not worry about you trying to steal his prize.
Eventually, most people DO want their dogs to drop the ball as part of the game. There are a number of different tactics that can work to achieve this. The first thing to try is to put a treat on the dog’s nose. The smell of the treat will often cause the dog to drop the ball, and you’ll then be able to toss another ball to make sure that the dog realizes giving up the ball is worthwhile. That does not always work though; especially when a dog has a long history of people trying to trick the dog into giving up a toy, instead of reinforcing giving up the ball by giving them the opportunity to play again. A simple tactic that can work miraculously well is to put a short leash or tab on the dog’s collar, restrain the dog against your leg. Then simply wait till the dog lets the ball go, so you can immediately throw it to reastart the game. Generally, though, playing the multiple ball game for long enough will allow the dog to learn to trust you, and engaged full-heartedly in the game.
