Can your Yorkie catch food or toys out of the air?

[chattiesmom]

Chizzie can catch her ball and occasionally a treat - like when she's in the mood.

[moosie's mom]

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie

That does it. I think Moose should move to Alaska and tutor my boys in swimming and catching. I'll return him in the spring!

What???? Alaska in the winter? There would be no swimming then...your boys would be teaching Moose how to run the iditarod!!

[moosie's mom]

I just thought of something. If Jack and Eddie were the lead dogs and Moose was behind them, they could get used to having a "Moose" chase them!!

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by moosie's mom

I just thought of something. If Jack and Eddie were the lead dogs and Moose was behind them, they could get used to having a "Moose" chase them!!

That is scary. But once they got used to it, it would certainly make for a fast team

[wemple2]

Winston loves his frisbee and ball...and yes he will jump to catch them. This is a soft cloth like frisbee, not a hard plastic one. It has seen its better days...it's nearly worn out...but Winston thinks it's just broke in.
As we were playing catch with the frisbee the other day...I even mentioned to my hubby that I think that he thinks he's a Border Collie, and I wondered if any one else's Yorkie did this. He will play non-stop for ever...he catches it, brings it back to me then I have to tell him to "leave it" so that I can pick it up...he "sits" and "waits" until I throw it again...repeat, over and over and over again. Then I have to put it away, so he will stop and rest awhile. I know, it's crazy...but he does the exact same thing with a yellow squeaky ball(affectionately called his "new ball"...because he wore out his old ball) with my hubby. Mommy-Frisbee...Daddy-New Ball. Always.

[alaskayorkie]

That's awesome. I had to teach Eddie to fetch, and he does pretty well. But he gets tired of fetching after a while and will just sit off in the distance and roll on his ball. However, if I chase him, then he'll go forever. He loves being chased, but our rule is he has to drop it when I say so.

I would love to see video of a frisbee catching Yorkie! There's a cool one on youtube that inspired this thread. Here it is:

YouTube - Super Yorkie

[moosie's mom]

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie

That's awesome. I had to teach Eddie to fetch, and he does pretty well. But he gets tired of fetching after a while and will just sit off in the distance and roll on his ball. However, if I chase him, then he'll go forever. He loves being chased, but our rule is he has to drop it when I say so.

I would love to see video of a frisbee catching Yorkie! There's a cool one on youtube that inspired this thread. Here it is:

YouTube - Super Yorkie

Wow....that is a super yorkie!!!

[sryope68]

Originally Posted by alaskayorkie

That's awesome. I had to teach Eddie to fetch, and he does pretty well. But he gets tired of fetching after a while and will just sit off in the distance and roll on his ball. However, if I chase him, then he'll go forever. He loves being chased, but our rule is he has to drop it when I say so.

I would love to see video of a frisbee catching Yorkie! There's a cool one on youtube that inspired this thread. Here it is:

YouTube - Super Yorkie

Wow! I would love to teach Xena how to do that, once she figured it out I'm sure she would just love it. Both of mine will catch toys when I throw them, they aren't very consistant though. I wasn't even training them on how to catch, they just did it. I think they were just trying to get the toy before the other one did.

[Erin]

Loki can catch anything. He can do targeting with his nose or paw equally well too. Sammy can't catch if I drop the treat from an inch above her nose. The funny thing is that Sam is the one who loves to fetch and she can even catch flies. She follows them around the house and pounces on them and kills them. But she can't catch stuff in her mouth... We are working on it!

[CarlyBaby]

Beatrice isn't the most agile yorkie that I've known.If I were to throw something for her to catch, it would probably just land on her head

However my late yorkie, Tina could catch quite well, she'd even jump into the air to catch something that I would toss.

I guess they are all different,oh well I love her just the same

[Ponyup]

Logan loves to play catch. How we taught him was we have a window that looks out of our kitchen into our living room. We would through things through the window. He was probably 8 months before he learned to track it & probably a year before he learned to catch it, but it was fun anyway because he would chase it & bring it back. But once he learned it he is the ultimate frisbee dog. My mom is jealous because she has a border collie that won't catch a frisbee. He also loves balls that bounce & squeak he loves catching them on the bounce. I think it might be a difference in personality though, he's always been about trying to catch things, it just took him a while to get the hang of it.

[diggy4]

Bella catches ANYTHING and rarely misses....Diggy catches things 80% of the time id guess. Toys 100% never misses treats he catches if he is on his hind legs only. If you toss it while he is sitting he lets it hit him in the head and then he eats it.

[delisa2850]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

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.

Thanks for sharing! I will be on my way to buy Cheerios this morning! Roxy loves to fetch and then plays tug, but I can't get her interested in catching anything. I didn't even think of trying to teach her by letting her "play with her food." I have alot to learn in this trick training department!

Great post Mike! About 24 years ago I got a sheltie and did alot of obedience work with him, but didn't make it a game for either of us. It was serious business. MacGruder was a great dog, and he had a cushy life with TONS of love, but he deserved to have alot more fun than what I let him have. With Roxy, I want her to come quickly and immediately from anywhere, and drop on the spot no matter what is going on. Other than those 2 lifesaving basics, the rest of her training will be far less structured and geared for our enjoyment of each other and not for obedience titles! Being able to walk by my side and sitting when we stop is plenty good enough. She doesn't have to plop her bum in a specific spot, perfectly forward everytime we stop. I do ask the basic concepts of her, but not perfection. MacGruder has been gone for alot of years now. The obedience titles couldn't possibly matter less. But the knowledge that I could have made his loyal little life more "fun" will stay with me forever. I mean, seriously, I have gotten each of my dogs to be my pets and not for a job that requires them to be perfect - so as long as I have them for enjoyment only, I will be working harder on providing enjoyment for them.

Now Eddie - he looks like he is having a blast with everything he does. Your three babies are lucky pups! Give your babies an Idaho hello from Roxy - and a special hello from her to Rusty - she really likes the big dogs!

[Sherry Lynn]

Hey Mike... didn't you teach Eddie to catch treats off of his nose?? I seem to recall a video from back in the day. Or am I just making that up?

Dublin is an ace catcher. Widget is another one that can't figure out why in the world anyone would want to throw things at her.

[kdlmon]

Nope. But my JRT can catch things like a CHAMP. He can also bounce a tennis ball off of his nose like a circus seal. It is very impressive!