# How to develop play drive/teach fetch?



## sargsd (Jan 6, 2011)

Okay, so I have 3 dogs and none of them will play fetch (well, my Lab does but he plays keep away instead of relinquishing the ball). I had a WGSD a long time ago who LIVED for her tennis ball. I don't know at what point she developed the love for the ball, but it stayed with her her whole life. I have a 3.5 month old male WGSD who chases the ball once or twice and that's it. He does love tug with a rope, but I really want to try to get him to take to the ball. There's just nothing cooler (to me) than a dog who fetches endlessly or will even catch a frisbee. I saw on the Leerburg site that you can tie a nylon rope around a ball and tease your dog with it to get him interested and develop the play drive, but that seems complicated and I haven't been able to make that work.

Tips, advice, any special toys I could get that would encourage fetching (besides a ball, of course)? When did your dog begin to get obsessed with fetching? Thanks!


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## PupperLove (Apr 10, 2010)

No advice really as far as improving his desire to fetch. But I do have to say that my GSD really had no interest at that age either. He didn't even have much of a personality to be honest. He was pretty boring and it was hard to even get a tail wag out of him.

Then 6 months hit, and someone turned on a power switch and I can't turn it off, haha! He LOVES to fetch and will fetch until he's dead. He also has this amazing ability to catch things, my retriever can't even stand up to him.

I have heard others talking on here too, about their puppies hitting a power stage and kicking into high gear. Around 6 months I believe, give or take a little. Don't get too concerned, I bet once your puppy hits that phase he will LOVE to fetch. Work on the "come" command, and the "drop it" command. Because you can teach them to fetch if you throw the ball, tell them to come, drop it, and repeat. That's how I taught my pups and it seemed to work! They will get it after a while.


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

Recent threads on teaching fetch: 

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/general-information/149796-fetch.html

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/how-do-i-teach-my-dog/136440-wont-fetch.html

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/training-our-puppy-basic/126978-how-teach-fetch.html


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## mroutdoorsman (Oct 4, 2010)

Ze'eva is not a big fan of fetching but her game she likes to play the most is keep away and tug of war. It was a bit of a task to figure this out for her as it was a requirement for her SAR training. Obviously the reason being you give your dog the biggest party ever she gets a successful find in their training or on an actually mission.


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## DarkStar (Jul 8, 2013)

I got Alli at the GSD Rescue. She was crated for a few years and while she is very submissive, plays well with other dogs and will chase and run with others while they are chasing a ball. She has no interest in a ball or frizbee, and also she has little interest in treat rewards. Any ideas on how I can work with her to increase her interest? I had it the opposite way with my last GSD and she was obsessive with the ball and frisbee. Id just like to be able to take her out to the park solo and ensure that i can get her some extra work without relying on another party to have a dog that chases something.


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## amburger16 (May 22, 2015)

Bear wouldn't even look at a ball, but he was obsessed with this squeaky duck thing and that is how I got him into fetch. He will play for a bit with a ball now, but hes more interested in chewing everything. I think a friends older dog had alot to do with it as well. Bear would chase Gizmo, but couldn't keep up.. and he slowly realized what was going on (I thought he was half blind for awhile there, he didn't see things directly in front of him). Hes still a baby, give him a couple months.


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