How To Train Your Dog To Play Fetch
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Most dog owners love their dogs very much. If you’re like any other dog owner, you will likely want to have as good a relationship with your dog as possible. Something that really strengthens the bond between you and your doggy, is playing fetch.
In order to play fetch with your dog, your dog needs to understand how the game is played. Not all dogs instinctively know how to play fetch. In this case, you’ll need to train him to play fetch. Below, I explain in three easy steps how to do this.
1. To start with, your dog needs to learn to pay attention to the ball. If it isn’t even paying attention to it, you can forget about the rest of the fetch play. You need to hold the ball in front of your dog’s eyes and nose. Whenever he pays any attention to the ball, by sniffing it for example, you need to praise him. Keep this up long enough, and your dog will start paying more attention to the ball and follow it around.
2. Once your dog has learned to pay attention to the ball, he must learn to pick it up in his mouth. It’s possible that he will do this all by himself. In this case, you simple need to praise him and feed him a dog treat. If he doesn’t pick up the ball on his own initiative, you can make the ball more enticing by smearing some peanut butter on it. Keep this up long enough and your dog will eventually learn to pick up the ball.
3. After your dog knows how to follow a ball and pick it up, it’s time that he learns he needs to take it back to you and drop it. You can do this by throwing the ball ten feet away until your dog follows it and then picks it up. Now you call him and show him a dog treat in your hand. This will make him run back to you with the ball still in his mouth. He will probably drop the ball in order to make place for the dog treat.
Once you have gone through this simple process a few times, you can do some tests to see if your doggy has gotten it. Toss the ball a short distance away and order your dog to fetch it. Keep increasing the distance with every time you toss the ball away. Once he gets it right, praise him and give him a dog treat.
If you repeat this whole process often enough, your dog will learn to play fetch for sure. It’s usually a matter of a few weeks. After a few weeks, your dog will have comprehended the whole game of playing fetch. From hereon, playing fetch becomes its own reward. You can still tell him is a good boy, but you won’t have to stock up on dog treats anymore. You can save those to teach him another game in the future.
Dog owners all over the world know how fantastic it is to have a dog around the house. Dogs are very loyal creatures that are good company. If you love your dog, chances are you are always looking for ways to get closer to him. A good way of doing this is to play fetch with him. So follow these guidelines and teach your dog how to play with you!
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