I had to 'teach' Jackson. He would always play for a few minutes in our house, down the long hallway, but he would be done fairly quickly and lose interest.
I've always wanted a dog who would fetch, so I just really worked on it. I got very excited, and would get him excited. He is more food motivated so I started using treats.
I have a long 50 foot line that I put him on and I started throwing it short distances, and if he brought it back, he would get a treat. If he didn't, I would guide him back over to the ball, and he wouldn't get a treat until he picked it up and brought it back.
It took about a year for him to fetch long distances and now he is obsessed. I bought a Chuck-it and throw the ball up a 3 acre hill and he LOOOVESS chasing it. He barks at me to throw it, and get so excited. He's also now catching frisbees.
Now he considers the toy itself rewarding but I do still carry treats and give one every now and then so he never knows. But he thoroughly enjoys the game and is not doing it for the food anymore.
It's a great thing to teach because it's great exercise when I feel like being lazy! lOL
Check out Zak George on youtube (zakgeorge21), he has some great vids on fetching. |