This evening, Muttley got interested in a stick that I was going to use as
kindling for the woodstove. He started chewing on it, and I thought I'd use
it as a training opportunity to teach him to fetch. He never seemed to get
the concept before.

So I tossed the stick, and told him to get it, and he just looked at me.
But I put the stick in his mouth, and then gave him a treat when he dropped
it. Now he seemed more motivated, but did not connect the stick to the
treat. After a few tries, I was able to get him to fetch the stick when I
threw it further away each time, and he would bring it back, although
sometimes he just dropped it on his dog bed and came to me for the treat.
Eventually, he seemed to get the idea a little better, and I would put the
stick back in his mouth, and give him a treat as soon as I took it from
him.

He has never really been very playful or interested in retrieving anything
or chasing a ball or whatever, so I think this was a significant step for
him. He does seem to be motivated by dog biscuits.

Well, he's barking to be let back in. It's ~~cold~~ outside!

Paul and Muttley

"Paul E. Schoen" spoke these words of wisdom in
:

This evening, Muttley got interested in a stick that I was going to use
as kindling for the woodstove. He started chewing on it, and I thought
I'd use it as a training opportunity to teach him to fetch. He never
seemed to get the concept before.

So I tossed the stick, and told him to get it, and he just looked at me.
But I put the stick in his mouth, and then gave him a treat when he
dropped it. Now he seemed more motivated, but did not connect the stick
to the treat. After a few tries, I was able to get him to fetch the
stick when I threw it further away each time, and he would bring it
back, although sometimes he just dropped it on his dog bed and came to
me for the treat. Eventually, he seemed to get the idea a little better,
and I would put the stick back in his mouth, and give him a treat as
soon as I took it from him.

He has never really been very playful or interested in retrieving
anything or chasing a ball or whatever, so I think this was a
significant step for him. He does seem to be motivated by dog biscuits.

Well, he's barking to be let back in. It's ~~cold~~ outside!

Paul and Muttley




Paul. GOOD FOR YOU!

"Paul E. Schoen" wrote in message
...
This evening, Muttley got interested in a stick that I was going to use as
kindling for the woodstove. He started chewing on it, and I thought I'd
use it as a training opportunity to teach him to fetch. He never seemed to
get the concept before.

So I tossed the stick, and told him to get it, and he just looked at me.
But I put the stick in his mouth, and then gave him a treat when he
dropped it. Now he seemed more motivated, but did not connect the stick to
the treat. After a few tries, I was able to get him to fetch the stick
when I threw it further away each time, and he would bring it back,
although sometimes he just dropped it on his dog bed and came to me for
the treat. Eventually, he seemed to get the idea a little better, and I
would put the stick back in his mouth, and give him a treat as soon as I
took it from him.

He has never really been very playful or interested in retrieving anything
or chasing a ball or whatever, so I think this was a significant step for
him. He does seem to be motivated by dog biscuits.

Well, he's barking to be let back in. It's ~~cold~~ outside!

Paul and Muttley

Good boy, Muttley!

When I was teaching Kiba the finer points of fetch, I set up rules. If the
ball doesn't go in my hand, no treat. I am more than happy to pick up a
dropped ball and throw it, but only if I can reach it. If the ball is not
dropped in my open hand, or you miss my hand, you don't get a treat. If I
drop the ball because of a bad drop, no treat, unless you pick it back up
and put it safely in my hand. This was very motivating to a great game of
fetch.

I further refined the game as time went on: if you don't RUN after the ball,
no treat. That was easy, because he wanted to RUN after the ball. OK, so
if you don't RUN back, no treat. This didn't last long. Although Kiba
learned it easily, his luxating patella doesn't allow that much stop and
start running any more. So I've phased out the RUN BACK portion. Now,
trotting either way is allowed. Until we decide on what to do about his
knees, we'll take whatever exercise he can get.
--
Phyrie
Kiba the Cav's Pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phyrie/...758930/detail/

It took a while for Gabby to get the idea of it. She still won't play fetch
outside but she's decided it's kind of fun to play it inside.

Celeste


--
Save 25% or more on your eBay® auctions
Snipe eBay Auctions with Bidnip
http://www.bidnip.com/a.php?id=39019

"Paul E. Schoen" wrote in message
...
This evening, Muttley got interested in a stick that I was going to use as
kindling for the woodstove. He started chewing on it, and I thought I'd
use it as a training opportunity to teach him to fetch. He never seemed to
get the concept before.

So I tossed the stick, and told him to get it, and he just looked at me.
But I put the stick in his mouth, and then gave him a treat when he
dropped it. Now he seemed more motivated, but did not connect the stick to
the treat. After a few tries, I was able to get him to fetch the stick
when I threw it further away each time, and he would bring it back,
although sometimes he just dropped it on his dog bed and came to me for
the treat. Eventually, he seemed to get the idea a little better, and I
would put the stick back in his mouth, and give him a treat as soon as I
took it from him.

He has never really been very playful or interested in retrieving anything
or chasing a ball or whatever, so I think this was a significant step for
him. He does seem to be motivated by dog biscuits.

Well, he's barking to be let back in. It's ~~cold~~ outside!

Paul and Muttley

diddy wrote:

"Paul E. Schoen" spoke these words of wisdom in
:

This evening, Muttley got interested in a stick that I was going to use
as kindling for the woodstove. He started chewing on it, and I thought
I'd use it as a training opportunity to teach him to fetch. He never
seemed to get the concept before.

So I tossed the stick, and told him to get it, and he just looked at me.
But I put the stick in his mouth, and then gave him a treat when he
dropped it. Now he seemed more motivated, but did not connect the stick
to the treat. After a few tries, I was able to get him to fetch the
stick when I threw it further away each time, and he would bring it
back, although sometimes he just dropped it on his dog bed and came to
me for the treat. Eventually, he seemed to get the idea a little better,
and I would put the stick back in his mouth, and give him a treat as
soon as I took it from him.

He has never really been very playful or interested in retrieving
anything or chasing a ball or whatever, so I think this was a
significant step for him. He does seem to be motivated by dog biscuits.

Well, he's barking to be let back in. It's ~~cold~~ outside!

Paul and Muttley




Paul. GOOD FOR YOU!


I agree.

Nick

"Phyrie" wrote in message
...

"Paul E. Schoen" wrote in message
...
This evening, Muttley got interested in a stick that I was going to use
as kindling for the woodstove. He started chewing on it, and I thought
I'd use it as a training opportunity to teach him to fetch. He never
seemed to get the concept before.

So I tossed the stick, and told him to get it, and he just looked at me.
But I put the stick in his mouth, and then gave him a treat when he
dropped it. Now he seemed more motivated, but did not connect the stick
to the treat. After a few tries, I was able to get him to fetch the
stick when I threw it further away each time, and he would bring it
back, although sometimes he just dropped it on his dog bed and came to
me for the treat. Eventually, he seemed to get the idea a little better,
and I would put the stick back in his mouth, and give him a treat as
soon as I took it from him.

He has never really been very playful or interested in retrieving
anything or chasing a ball or whatever, so I think this was a
significant step for him. He does seem to be motivated by dog biscuits.

Well, he's barking to be let back in. It's ~~cold~~ outside!

Paul and Muttley

Good boy, Muttley!

When I was teaching Kiba the finer points of fetch, I set up rules. If
the ball doesn't go in my hand, no treat. I am more than happy to pick
up a dropped ball and throw it, but only if I can reach it. If the ball
is not dropped in my open hand, or you miss my hand, you don't get a
treat. If I drop the ball because of a bad drop, no treat, unless you
pick it back up and put it safely in my hand. This was very motivating
to a great game of fetch.

I further refined the game as time went on: if you don't RUN after the
ball, no treat. That was easy, because he wanted to RUN after the ball.
OK, so if you don't RUN back, no treat. This didn't last long. Although
Kiba learned it easily, his luxating patella doesn't allow that much stop
and start running any more. So I've phased out the RUN BACK portion.
Now, trotting either way is allowed. Until we decide on what to do about
his knees, we'll take whatever exercise he can get.

I will have to work on it some more. It seems to take a lot of repetitions
for him to go after the stick reliably, and I have not been able to get him
to put it in my hand, or pick it up from the floor. That would be a really
good job for him, if he could pick up sticks for kindling as we go on our
walks. With my bad back, it's hard to bend over, so maybe he can be a
service dog after all!

Paul and Muttley

On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:46:52 GMT, "Spot" wrote:

It took a while for Gabby to get the idea of it. She still won't play fetch
outside but she's decided it's kind of fun to play it inside.

Celeste


Hannah will only play fetch in the water...
Nessa
--
trying to be the best human she can,