One of the joys of owning a dog is taking him or her to the park or the backyard and playing a good old fashioned game of fetch. When attempting to play fetch with a dog, people often make the same mistakes going outside and throwing the ball as far as they can and expecting their dog to get the ball and bring it back. The problem is, all dogs don’t naturally retrieve or know the rules of the game that you are attempting to play with them. We get asked a lot if we can teach someones dog to fetch; the simple answer is Yes. However, teaching your dog to fetch can sometimes be a process in itself. This article does not cover forced retrieves, blind or multiple retrieves, but simply shares information on how to start a young pup or even an older dog on bringing toys back to you.
The first step to teaching a dog to fetch is finding a toy that interests them. Pay attention to what your dog likes to pick up or carry around naturally. It may be a stuffed toy, a ball, a rope toy, a toy with a squeaker, or even a random item from around the house, such as a sock. Whatever the case may be, build some excitement with the toy and raise the dog’s interest level.
Start by placing your dog in a environment that is lacking distractions so he can be successful. We usually like to start fetch in a hallway with all of the doors closed so the dog has no other distractions; you and the toy are now the most exciting things. Start peeking his interest in the toy by teasing him and making it look like fun. Keep him leashed so that once he has the object you can guide him back to you and the game does not end up with you chasing the dog for the toy. Refrain from praise until he comes back; this is key as many people praise the dog when he is chasing and/or mouthing the ball and the game ends there. Make a big deal that he did a great job by coming back to you with the toy. It may be helpful to hav an identical tennis ball or sock and throwing the second object as soon as the dog releases the first. Remember, we are playing fetch, not tug-of-war.
If you get 2 great successes stop there and you may want to save the object that most interests him for your next play session. By stopping the game before your dog loses interest, it will leave him wanting more. As he starts to catch on what the game is and really doing well, you will no longer need the leash to guide him back to you. Change locations to a room with less boundaries, and then graduate to outside in the yard. You may need to take a step back and reattach the leash to guide him back to you, and remember to keep the distance of your throws short. Once he does well, start increasing your distance.
If you have been reading our blog for some time now, you already know that Unleashed Unlimited is all about having fun with your dogs. As fun as training dogs is, sometimes we just want to get out to a field or park and play with them. Fetch is our #1 game of choice.
I am sure that you all have either seen the commercials or heard from someone else that the Greatest American Dog premieres on July 10th. The Greatest American Dog is a new reality show on CBS; it is one of the first prime time television shows that is based on owning and training dogs. We are looking forward to watching the show and observing the different training approaches used by the contestants.
The 12 teams, made up of professional and amateur with their dogs, will live together and compete in a series of challenges to prove their training abilities. Each week a team will be eliminated by the judges (Wendy Diamond, Allan Reznik and Victoria Stilwell), and the winning team will receive $250,000 and the title of Greatest American Dog.
I am looking forward to seeing some of the challenges that the contestants are faced with. My hope is that they are not common everyday tasks, you know the on-leash, shoving treats at the dogs stuff that we see all the time. I am looking for a very high level of training out of this show, but I guess it all depends on what the producers’ definition of dog training. I guess we will have to tune in to see if this show is any good or not.
I have been thinking of our clients and students and how far they have come from our initial meeting. To see any type progress is always rewarding; today’s training class was a prime example.
Dog training has as much to do with the dogs as it does the dog owners and families that live with them. One of our students, a 2 year old yellow Labrador Retriever named “Sam”, and her handler Amy come to mind. I remember when we first met Sam, she was a wild child. Extreme hyperactivity, little social skills with other dogs, and not a clue as to what was expected of her. Sam was challenging and got off to a rough start, but I could see this dog had great potential and so did Amy.
I could see from our first meeting that Amy was committed, she was willing to do what it takes. I know many people that would have given up and she may have been close. But after several home lessons, and some set backs along the way, it was coming along; Amy was starting to see some real progress.
Today was Amy and Sam’s first lesson in a group setting. I remember running a training exercise with 5 other dogs and looking up and seeing Sam, calm and relaxed walking with Amy (whom by the way had a great big smile on her face) towards our class area, and she had every right!! There was a complete turn around in Sam’s behavior and it was due to Amy’s dedication to her dog and her commitment to follow through and to put the work in and not to give up.
Unleashed Unlimited teaches people how to interact with their dogs; we can instruct them as to what to do and why but cannot make them do it. Dog training is about building a relationship through communication with your dog, committment, patience and follow through and all of these things lie with the owners. It is easy to quit but more rewarding to see the progress; Rome was not built in a day.
It is no secret that Unleashed Unlimitedloves Dublin Dog Collars, we first told you about them a few months ago in another blog entry. But, while logging on the the Dublin Dog website earlier this week, we noticed that they had updated their homepage.
The site’s homepage now has a picture of Paul’s dog, Boomer, swimming underwater while wearing his Dublin Dog Collar!
We were very excited to see Boomer on their site, and wanted to pass this on to everyone. We are going to try to get Boomer and some of our other dogs onto their site again sometime in the future, however we need your help with some ideas. If you can think of a great trick, situation, or other idea that will make for a great photo, please leave your suggestions below in the form of a comment.
When I first met Joker, a 1 year old Doberman Pinscher, I thought to myself, “This is going to be a tough one”. He was a great example of a dog who needed the right balance. The term “give them an inch and they will take a mile” comes to mind, only he would take 2 and sometimes 3; he needed strong leadership and a lot of control. Joker has been re-homed 3 times and now belongs to Kevin, who has had Dobermans in the past and is familiar with the breed as well as dog ownership in general.
Jokers’ yeilding behavior was non existent; while working on a good solid recall, Joker would come in at 100 miles an hour, crashing into Kevin (or anyone else that happened to be there). Leash walking was an issue, as he would circle around you and stand in front to block the path for the walk. Needless to say, he did not go for many walks.
In the beginning of his training Joker would go into a state of mind commonly referred to as “Jokerland.” While teaching a sit with duration, Joker would break his sit and run full speed around the training area at Auditorium Shores (I think I mentioned something about 100 mph). He was having a grand old time in his own little world, smiling like he had just had the first taste of freedom after being in a penitentiary for 10 years.
The first thing we did with Joker was aim for an off leash recall and some loose leash walking. This would enable Kevin to exercise Joker, as he has boundless energy and needs an outlet. It would also allow him to just be a dog and to work on his social skills. Kevin was working very hard and was seeing moments of sheer brilliance, and of course at times he wanted to pull his hair out. Joker was learning self control, and Kevin was perfecting the art of patience.
Joker now has a reliable off leash recall so Kevin can call him back, send him to his target, and refocus him again on the new definition of sit. He still enters “Jokerland” but only when it is appropriate, now Joker will stay in a sit until he has permission to take a break from Kevin; that is the beginning of self control. While Joker still has a long way to go in order to graduate from our program, Unleashed Unlimited is thrilled with his progress so far.
If you would like to follow more of Joker’s progress, along with a few of our other interesting characters, please check back again soon.
If you are looking for fun things to do with your dog, or if you love the discipline, competition and intensity that dog sports provide, there are a lot of exciting options out there for you and your dog. It doesn’t matter if your dog is large or small, there is a sport out there for you both.
Dock Dogs, which originally aired on ESPN in 2000, is a great sport for dogs that love to jump and swim. Participants of Dock Dogs, Splash Dogs, and other similar organizations use a toy or other motivator to encourage their dog to launch off of a dock and land into a large pool of water. The distance traveled by the dog is measure by a complex computer and results are compared to determine a winner in a variety of categories. This sport combines huge air, extreme vertical, and big splashes that always get the crowds excited.
Lure Coursing is a modern sport that developed from the ancient sport of live game coursing. Lure coursing now uses a mechanical device to pull simulated prey along a large course filled with multiple turns. This sport was designed for sight hounds that hunt with their eyes, not their nose, and tests the dogs’ ability and desire to chase prey.
Agility is a sport where the handler directs the dog through a obstacle course composed of tunnels, dog walks, A-Frames, weave poles, jumps and more. Agility truly is a team sport, the handler must decide and communicate the fastest and most acurate way for their canine partner to navigate the course. Timing, directional control, trust and body language are all essential skills in this sport.
Disc Dogs is a series of competitions where handlers throw Frisbees (or discs) to their canine partners. The events are made up of choreographed routines and distance catching; both having a point system and winners are chosen in a variety of categories. The organized routine part of the competition is mainly where the handlers can showcase their dogs’ tricks, speed, jumping ability and drive for the discs.
Protection Sports provide an outlet for civilian competition in canine obedience and controlled protection work. This sport combines on and off-leash obedience and agility obstacles with real-world personal protection scenarios ranging from gun fire, car jacking, multiple attackers and fleeing apprehension.
Flyball is a dog sport where teams of dogs race against each other over a series of hurdles to retrieve a tennis ball from a spring loaded box and return back over the hurdles. One dog from each team races at a time, it is sort of a relay race that is complete when the final dog from the team crosses the finish line.
If you are looking to get your dog involved in any of these sports, there are usually local clubs or organizations that can help you out. By doing a little searching on the web and attending a local event or two, you can quickly start to get the feel for how fun and addicting these dog sports can be.
Remember that obedience is the foundation for any sport or activity you do with your dog. You cannot have a successful day on the dock or on the agility field if you do not have basic off-leash control over your dog; the basic control that we are talking about is all routed in obedience. I know that you are not going to formally heel your dog on the dock, but you will be using a come, sit/stay and a release command. If you need help with laying the foundation for future participation in sports or activities, contact Unleashed Unlimited Dog Training - we specialize in off-leash control and having FUN with our dogs!
When we speak of leadership and dogs, we speak of controling resources; these resources are food, water, space, toys, and affection. The leader is always cool, calm and collected for he or she knows their place. We do this on a daily basis with our children and with each other. We control resources for our children such as: “be home for dinner at 6″ or “do your homework and then you can go out to play”. We give them chores around the house and reward them for a job well done, and we set guidelines and teach them the rules.
Imagine what would happen if you did not control resources for our children. Would your 15 year old come home at 3am? Would they be the child who walked into the toy store and demanded all of the toys on the shelf that interested him and got them just because they demanded them? How about 15 candy bars in 5 minutes (remember Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?)
It is important to give our dogs proper leadership on a daily basis as we do with our children. Dogs understand what this means as they also do it to each other and it is nothing new to them. Sleeping arrangements, toy possession, spacial relations when it comes to a food bowl etc; some of which is done with just a look. We visit a lot of homes with dogs having behavior issues and 95% of those dogs are being free fed (meaning the food is out for the taking whenever they want), the toys are all over the floor and the dog sleeps in the bed even though he is the one controlling space on that bed. In these examples there is no leadership, the dog is calling the shots. It is a free-for-all with no structure; it is not a healthy environment.
This entry is meant to be food for thought about daily interactions between you and your dog(s). How is your relationship and where do you stand? I am not saying that implementing these guidelines is an automatic cure for behavior issues, but it’s an essential part of pet ownership.
Unleashed Unlimited Dog Training teaches owners how to be their dogs’ leader. We work with dogs and their owners to find the perfect balance that each relationship needs. If you need some shifting of the pack structure and establishing yourself as your dog’s leader, feel free to contact us.
