# Fetch. Will this work for me?



## Rascal (Jan 23, 2012)

Hi everyone, my boy is six months now, i've been trying to get him to fetch in a thousand different ways and finally found one that works (kinda at least)

I hold a tug and a tennisball, throw the tennisball and my dog goes after it, once he gets a hold of the ball i lure (dont know if i spelled that right) him back with the tug. He'll let the ball go to play ToW with me.

Here's my question. There is NO way he lets go of the tug, i have to let him win, pick up the tennisball, toss it up and down till he drops the tug then i throw the tennisball and pick up the tug to start over. 

I heard you're not supposed to let your dog win the ToW game every time so i'm worried i might teach him something that's wrong?

Thx in advance!


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

You have the right idea, but you can try trading the tug for a treat he loves. Hold the treat close enough so that as soon as he drops the tug you can put the treat right in his mouth. Only use that fabulous treat for when you're playing fetch and eventually you can give the drop it command. Once he learns that you can use the command when you're playing tug- I say 'that's enough', cross my arms and look away and Stosh knows the game is over


----------



## Rascal (Jan 23, 2012)

Thx for the reply!

I tried with the treat like you say, he just won't let the tug go..
any toy he will let go for the treat isn't goed enough to bring the ball back :crazy:
I'll go scouting for even better treats and see if that works.

You mean i have to trade the treat for the tug without giving a command?


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I got some help this weekend on some release drills by having two tugs. Stop play. hold up 2nd tug. Say out when first tug drops. Repeat repeat repeat. then say out and give tug when he drops it.

Also you can play two ball and that helps. Just google it - the game has been out there for a long time.

My own dog won't take a treat when we are playing fetch or tug though he will at other times. 

Also got some advice on not being mauled by the dog trying to grab the tug......and only having him take it when a say he can. I have a new phrase "my ball" (We play with a ball on a string a lot) which means "back off and let me get it"


----------



## Rascal (Jan 23, 2012)

By end play, do you mean let the tug go (= letting him win)? Because he drops the tug as soon as i let go of it and start tossing the ball up and down..

I read about the 2 Ball method and tried it but i just couldn't get him to come back to me..

Thx for the reply(s) !


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Let the tug go. Show him 2nd tug. That way you can do it rapid fire with the outing without having a fetch in between to just train the out. The tug seems higher value for him.

I have never had two ball fail me. But then I always started in an inside hallway with a younger puppy.


----------



## Rascal (Jan 23, 2012)

If i let the tug go then he will drop it when i show the ball and the other way around too. It's just when i hold the other end he won't, the tugging is way more fun for him so i'm not quite sure how to transfer the drop to let go while i'm holding it


----------



## Rascal (Jan 23, 2012)

LOL @ "rapid fire" btw


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Rascal said:


> If i let the tug go then he will drop it when i show the ball and the other way around too. It's just when i hold the other end he won't, the tugging is way more fun for him so i'm not quite sure how to transfer the drop to let go while i'm holding it


It gets easier if you do it with a lot of repetitions pairing the command with him dropping it. If you are tugging on it he won't out. Have you tried holding him by the collar, releasing the tension, than asking for out? (First does he know what the word actually means?)


----------



## Rascal (Jan 23, 2012)

He definitly does NOT know what "drop it" means, i just went outside and tried some "rapid fire" . He drops it every time and i say drop it while he does so i'll keep it at that for a few days and try to build the command. I used to yell drop it when i wanted him to let someting go while tugging  untill someone made it all clear to me, this is what he said: "The dog doesnt know what drop it means so actually you are learning him tot hold tight when you say drop it".. a light went on and it all started making sense to me since then


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Well I was told not to expect any out if I am putting tension on the tug. I can be holding it but not tugging it.


----------



## Rascal (Jan 23, 2012)

I tried drop it without tension but no, i'll try a few days with letting the tug go and build up to that, i'll come back here to keep u guys up to date!!

Thx for the help!


----------



## kiya (May 3, 2010)

With Apache I had to do the 2 ball trick. Throw ball 1 for him then toss ball 2 up in the air for myself, of course he wanted the ball I had so he came back. You could also keep him on a long line. 
With Lakota I taught her "out" when she used to like to bite the leash on our walks. When she bit the leash I would stop walking, told her "out" I think because I was not walking forward she would drop the leash "GOOD GIRL" and begin walking.


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Rascal said:


> I used to yell drop it when i wanted him to let someting go while tugging  untill someone made it all clear to me, this is what he said: "The dog doesnt know what drop it means so actually you are learning him tot hold tight when you say drop it".. a light went on and it all started making sense to me since then


This is why people often recommend to not add a cue until your dog is already doing the behavior correctly. If you give a command that he doesn't understand he's not making an association between the word and the behavior. Wait until he'll drop the toy for another toy and then name it.


----------



## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Oh, while we are at it ditch the tennis ball NOW.
I have had too many dogs with BADLY worn down teeth at a young age and all we ever did with the tennis balls was play fetch.

Now I use this ball:
Amazon.com: Planet Dog Orbee-Tuff Diamond Plate Orbee Ball, Orange: Pet Supplies

It is great becuase I can put it on a piece of climbing rope, if I treat it as a ball the large chuck it works, and it floats. It is soft for that younger puppy mouth and easy to hold onto and tug. It also does not "hold" dirt and slobber like a tennis ball. The other thing I like is it is a bit larger and less likely to choke a big dog. Grim can carry three tennis balls but for some reason he cannot even carry TWO of these. Less risk of choking.

Yes what Debbie said which is what I meant to say about show the second toy and say "out" when he drops it, but sometimes things get lost in translation) like someone said in another thread through don't do it one day and expect perfection the next! First he will drop it upon showling the other tug. Then you will work towards him dropping it on command then immediately getting the other tug. You are aways off from removing it from his mouth and I gather, maybe never, when it is under tension. [though I was also taught a gentle way to extricate a tug from the mouth of even the most intent dog by pushing your thumbs in his mouth a certain way]


----------



## Rascal (Jan 23, 2012)

Hi everyone, i've been working on the "out" and he is starting to get it now. i started out with two tugs and kept trading them (rapid fire ).

Now i'm using one tug and trading it for a treat, he'll let go once in a while without a treat in front of his nose but i'm going to keep training like this for a while and slowly build it up?


----------

