We learned a few techniques in trick class, if anyone is interested in teaching this. First always start with food. They even sell a popcorn-like food that sort of floats that can be used for this, but cheerios work pretty good. They are going to make lots of mistakes, but finally they will get the hang of it. Associate the word, "catch" with throwing a treat, and when they are fairly good at catching treats, or at least not dodging it, you can try a toy. I always make Joey "sit" before we play the catch game, and it's useful if they understand the word "back up" as well. I found a cloth Frisbee that was perfect for training this trick. If it hit him in the nose, it doesn't scare him; you don't want to use anything that is made of plastic. After he got pretty good with that, I used other toy, and once I tried a small ball, and he did catch it, but he almost choked on it, so you need to be careful with that. Occasionally, he will make a wild leap for the toy I throw, but nothing like a golden retriever catching a Frisbee, at least not yet. |