Fetch?

[Phoebe's Mom]

I have failed Phoebe. My doodle is fetch-impaired. I naively thought that my doodle would be innately able to fetch. I soon Iearned the error of my thinking and started about to teach my Phoebe to fetch with yummy treats as the reward. Did anyone ever mention how smart our doodles are (ha!). Phoebe learned from the get-go that I had those treats and it would be really silly of her to pursue that ball/Frisbee/other airborne object when I had the treats in my pocket. I mean, seriously, what if I dropped one and she missed it while she was 'fetching?' Adding insult to injury, not only to we live in a fishbowl with our backyards abutting each other but our neighbor has an uber-trained lab (hunting fanatic). The dog is trained on voice command, whistle and SIGN commands. I mean, really now, it is disgusting (I am so envious!!!). His owner cracks up when he watches Phoebe and I play 'dog fetches, lays down, owner cajoles, dog ignores, owner gets exasperated, goes to dog and dog runs away." You should all try that game, burns tons of calories.

I know I failed her. I need to bite the bullet and come up with another strategy. Any ideas? On the upside, Phoebe is having a blast and getting lots of good running time in but I want a pup who can fetch. I need a trainer...for me...I promise I will work on this because we all don't want that lab (I think I heard him chuckling, too) to be the only doggie on the block who can retrieve!

[Melanie Fincher]

Are you sure you aren't talking about my Harley?! Harley is a "whenever" fetcher. He "might" go after the ball or he "might not". Like someone else posted, most of the time even if he does fetch, his ADD kicks in before he ever gets it back to me and I am left to call my Irish Jack to go "fetch" Harley's leftover balls after she has already gotten hers. Not only does Serenbe fetch Harley's balls for him, she is the exact opposite of Harley. If you don't intend on spending a half hour throwing, then don't even bring the balls out! My arm would get so tired that I bought a Chucker. Only problem with that is that she is more obsessed with the Chucker than the balls I am trying to throw. I think the Chucker last 1 week before it was eaten away : ( We love our Harley, but we sometimes call him our "special child". LOL

[Fred, Sheila and Baxter]

Baxter is a fetchaholic too. He would fetch 24 hrs a day. He is the Energizer bunny when it comes to playing ball. I made the mistake of getting him some with squeakers and he never quits squeaking it. Maybe it will wear out soon.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Harlow as a puppy was a lovely fetcher but now she refuses to bring the completely back. She drops it about 2 feet from me and waits for me to throw another ball.

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

As the old saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it!" Sedona is a fetch-aholic!!! She'd play catch/fetch with her yellow squeaky ball 24 hours a day if she could find someone to throw it that long! Before we found the sturdier yellow ball, we used a multi-colored ball. It lost its "squeak" very easily, so we had to keep replacing it. Unfortunately, the local store stopped selling it; we were in a panic. We found the supplier on-line and ordered an entire case, thinking that would get us by for a couple of months. Instead of the multi-colored "squeak-impaired" version we thought we were getting, the company sent their new, improved yellow version. We're still on ball #1, with the rest of the case stored away - just in case!!!!

[Camilla and Darwin]

LOL, I just posted a video showing Darwin's lack of fetching skills. If I have treats, he refuses to go after the ball, and sticks like glue to my side. If I don't have treats, he will run after it but when he's about half way back, he will randomly get the zoomies and never bring it back to me. Oh well... ;-)

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Roo came out the womb fetching I am sure. Tigger had to be inveigeled into fetching. It took quite awhile. Tigger is totally food motivated. So what worked best for me was a whole lot of used tennis balls. Cut a small slit in about ten or so balls, just big enough to securely hold a tiny dog bone. Let Phoebe see and smell the treat. Throw the ball a short ways -2 or 3 feet - saying "get ball" she will almost certainly go after it and extract the treat. Then she will probably return to you for another, and another and so on. Do 5-10 throws a couple of times a day. Stop each time on the best "get ball", leaving her wanting more. Gradually increase the distance. Carry a ball or two in your pocket and throw it at odd times with the same command.

Now comes the hard part - slit the ball about 1/4 of the way around so you can put the treat inside and just barely reach in with your hand and remove it. Now use high value really smelly treats. Throw ball a short ways and say "get ball". Let Phoebe get a littel frustrated trying to remove treat and then say "bring ball". You will likely have to go get her and bring her with the ball in her mouth back to where you were standing. At this point you can either teach drop ball or teach her to let you take it from her. I do that because I don't like bending over every time. With a little patience she will begin to understand that to get the treat she has to return the ball to you. When you have success at a short distance, gradually increase the distance.

The whole thing will go easier if Phoebe watches your neighbors dog retreive with you throwing if that is possible. Dogs learn very quickly by watching other dogs. Or you could just swallow your pride and ask your neighbor to help you teach her. Good luck.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Poor Luca's balls have to sleep outside : (

[Joe R.]

My Lilly must be Phoebe's complete opposite. Not that I trained her, but she is the agressive type of fetcher. She will actually throw the ball at your feet if you try to stop.

[F, Calla & Luca]

After Luca drove me crazy with just the behavior you describe, I decided it was my house and my rules and I would no longer spend my time digging balls out from under things. Also, some thing were damaged by Luca's efforts to retrieve his ball. So all tennis ball sized balls are banished from the house.

[Kyoko]

Charlie is a fetch-nut!! Same as Spud....I sigh often when we have to do this fetching thing in the evening in the house.... Because often balls of any kinds get stuck under the couch or computer desk, and she goes nuts because she can't get it...Then I have to interupt whatever I was doing and retrieve( !!! ) the ball from under the couch!! I guess she taught me how to fetch!!