[GoldenJoy]

Sometimes she feels like a retrieving nut, sometimes she don't.......

We played fetch for an hour last week, and this week, I can barely get her to bring the ball back. Sometimes balls, sometimes sticks...

I followed Jean Donaldson's (The Culture Clash author) plan for "teaching" retrieving, but she still doesn't seem to consistently want to do it.

This is just for our own fun, not competition or anything.

For now I'll keep rewarding the best responses and ignoring the others. Any other suggestions???????

 

[sammydog]

almond joys have nuts, mounds don't...

If you want to encourage retrieving don't bore her with it! If you play the game for a short period and then leave her wanting more, she will be more likely to want to play next time. For young dogs 3-4 retrieves is a good number.

Have fun!

 

[mdoats]

Rookie isn't much of a retriever. He'll fetch his flying squirrel for quite a while before getting bored, but he'll only chase a ball 3 or 4 times before he loses interest. I'm sure I could train him to retrieve reliably, but I don't really care if he retrieves, so I don't bother.

 

[Daisybones]

Hudson doesn't retrieve a whole lot either. When he does he will run past me and then drop the ball if he drops it at all. He seems to like keep away way more than retrieve

 

[GoldenJoy]

Sammydog - what great advice! I feel like this - :doh:

I think that I may have an unrealistically high expectation of her retrieve drive at this age!

Thanks

 

[sammydog]

Hope that it helps! I still have that jingle stuck in my head! Eeek!