Retriever Wont Retrieve

Yourmove · 10-20-2004, 05:49 PM

Ok i have a excally one year old Yellow Lab. He know sit stay come and heel pretty well. I am working him to be a waterfowl/ dove dog. The problem is that most of the time i will throw a dummy out he will run to it and keep running past it and do what ever he wants to do. Just blowing retrieving off. Then sometimes he will go and get it and bring it all the way back. He is a very hyper dog. But smart. I was wondering what i should do. I have been following 10-minute Retriever/Water Dog. I also have a friend that has trained plenty of labs and he is in the process of helping me. I have not been following the book excally but try to..
Thanks

BuddysMom · 10-20-2004, 06:02 PM

I feel for you. Having a dog that wont retrieve is frustrating. How long have you been working him? Just since he turned a year old, or since he was a puppy? The first step in training a dog is building the dog's desire to retrieve. Use a tennis ball, use Hot dogs, use anything that gets him to want to find whatever you throw. I had a friend who threw hot dogs, then threw tennis balls with hot dog juice on them, and gave the dog a hot dog upon his return with the tennis ball. Just find something that your dog likes to play with, even if it is your shoe. Build the desire to retrieve, then work on it with dummies and bumpers.... I do encourage the use of treats for a job-well-done. They tend to remember those things well. Also, the more excited you get, the more your dog will... just remember that. Good Luck.

Jill

Yourmove · 10-20-2004, 07:45 PM

I have workd with him since 8 weeks. Mostly obiedience. I Need help

uplandchessies · 10-20-2004, 07:53 PM

Keep it fun and use several short workouts compared to one or two long ones. Repitition is the key, but long workouts cause a pup/dog to become bored which can -- and usually does -- lead to problems. Try working the dog indoors in a hallway -- so you have total control over him -- for about fifteen minutes, using one to two hour intervals. I've never had to use force-fetch, but many post that will follow will probably suggest just that.

Doc E · 10-20-2004, 11:22 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Yourmove

I have workd with him since 8 weeks. Mostly obiedience. I Need help

What training program (book/tape) are you following as your training guide?

Yourmove · 10-21-2004, 05:33 AM

Water Dog and 10 minute retriever

Doc E · 10-21-2004, 10:26 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Yourmove

Water Dog and 10 minute retriever

So, have you gone through FF (Force Fetch) training as is outlined in "10 Minute"?

Roost em 1st · 10-22-2004, 08:38 AM

Buddysmom uses the same techniques I've been successful using. I haven't worked with labs. I have trained several chessies and also work with GSP. The tennis ball and a hallway work well. If your dog is hyper I think this would work. I've never used the force-fetch but have seen dogs that went throught the program and they seem fine. I use desire. The tennis ball technique should help. Start with short throws, even bounces. If he likes to get the ball he will learn that the faster you get it back the quicker he gets to fetch it. Limit your sessions to 10-15 minutes and end with a good 10 minutes of free time when he can play but not with the object you use to train. One dog didn't show intrest until I used the frisbee as a training tool. Get the soft frisbee model to discourage any hard mouthing if you try this and avoid throws that make him leave the ground. The landing impact is not good for large dogs. make it fun and you should be able to build desire. Once you build desire everything you ever try to show him will be an extension of his wanting to please you. Dove can be foul tasting to some dogs so be careful not to try them until he is willing to please you all the time. A crippled duck can also be quite a shock to a young dog if the duck is fighting him so try to shoot em dead. If your duck is crippled you may want to fetch it yourself the first few times. 10-15 minutes twice a day every day and you should be on the way.Let us know how you solve the problem. i also never look my dogs in the eyes until they are back in front of me with the bumper, ball, or game. Not sure why but it seems to work for me.

Yourmove · 10-23-2004, 02:35 PM

I havnt done FF. I really am just working on Sit Stay Come and Heel. He is pretty good at all of those. But he doesnt always retrieve. Sometimes he will retreieve the dummy once or twice but that it but mabye the next day he wont at all he will run after it and keep running past not even paying attention. This might sound dumb but the dog stays in side pretty much all the time. I was wondering if his drive to please would be more if i keeped him in a cage 10'by 10 by 6.while i am at school and at night for a while... untill he hasnt been around people that will praise him for nothing for a while mabye he will be more likely to try to please me... we have another black lab and she wasnt triained but will retrieve all day (when she was younger) but i the cage would work. I dont know man but he depresses me

Doc E · 10-23-2004, 05:21 PM

It's time for Force Fetch (actually, you should have done it 5 or 6 months ago -- but it's not too late to do it NOW).

No matter what training program you are on, you need to follow it page by page -- chapter by chapter from page 1 to the end. . . .. . . . Why did you leave out FF?