Dog won't fetch

Rorok · 07-10-2015 9:46pm #1

My dog wont fetch, not really bad but I'd just like if she would, sometimes she'll grap things and bring them to us but thats it. She's a maltese incase you were wondering

bottlebrush · 07-10-2015 9:48pm

Rorok wrote: »

My dog wont fetch, not really bad but I'd just like if she would, sometimes she'll grap things and bring them to us but thats it. She's a maltese incase you were wondering

I have a male maltese and he won't fetch either. Am wondering if it's the breed? Would also be interested to hear from other posters.

ShoulderChip · 07-10-2015 9:54pm

I have found that you have to make the first move, i.e. you have to throw the stick before they return it, have you tried that?

bottlebrush · 07-10-2015 9:57pm

ShoulderChip wrote: »

I have found that you have to make the first move, i.e. you have to throw the stick before they return it, have you tried that?

So you're saying, we're playing hard to get?

ShoulderChip · 07-10-2015 9:59pm

bottlebrush wrote: »

So you're saying, we're playing hard to get?

just a little, I am not exactly asking you to get down on your paws and beg...

bottlebrush · 07-10-2015 10:04pm

ShoulderChip wrote: »

just a little, I am not exactly asking you to get down on your paws and beg...

Well I tried that, but there was no way he was bringing back that mini fillet of chicken.

agent graves · 07-10-2015 10:18pm

Get food he likes and throw what you want him to fetch right infront of him/her.. if he/she goes towards it to get it mark it and reward.. eventually they will get the pic and start to pic it up and bring it back.. start to throw it further then.. do that little but often

EoghanIRL · 07-10-2015 10:23pm

If Pavalov can do it so can you :P
Condition your dog so that when it gets the item and returns it to you it gets a treat.
I did this with rolling over and it worked surprisingly well.

Dial Hard · 07-10-2015 10:36pm

Some dogs will never fetch, they just don't see the point of it. It's not exactly the end of the world.

kylith · 08-10-2015 12:08am

Of my two Tegan would chase a ball but only for her own gain: bringing it to bed to chew. Rani saw even that as beneath her dignity. It can be trained, like any behaviour, but some dogs just don't like fetching.

hardCopy · 08-10-2015 7:06am

Make sure the ball looks really exciting and interesting. Move the ball like crazy in front of the dog, don't throw it until their head movements start following the ball.

cocker5 · 08-10-2015 9:54am

My cocker who should be a hunting oreintated dog and is in many respects.. will NOT fetch, he never has... he just looks at me as if to say.... "eh hello you want it you get it"... even through he is very food driven he just doesn't get the fetch thing

borderlinemeath · 08-10-2015 11:14am

I have 3 dogs, all Irish setters, the oldest is ball and toy obsessed, absolutely loves having balls thrown for her, and minding her cuddly toys. She loves them so much she picks apples off the tree to have thrown for her, and I have to keep the babys cuddly toys kept away as she has her beady eyes on them too!!

The second has very little interest in ball throwing, unless you get him all excited, he'll run after it and pick it up but never brings it back, he prefers to bring it to his bed or to a certain patch on the grass and as far as he's concerned that's the job done! He tends to get excited more so when the oldest girl is excited too.

The third fella, who's only with us under a year, is afraid when you throw a ball that you're going to hit him with it and actually ducks or runs away

. He LOVES food, but even if you throw a treat, he'll duck and let it fall on the ground before going to pick it up and eat it. I don't think he was abused before he came to us, he just really lacks confidence with them, and probably wasn't given any toys as a pup.

New Home · 09-10-2015 10:14pm

Out of all the dogs we've had since I was little (all mongrels), the majority weren't interested in fetching or toys in the least, they'd look at you as if saying 'And what exactly did you do that for? Throwing stuff isn't fun, but each to their own... Well, I'm off now, I've got to see a dog about a man. Pfft! Humans...' On the other hand, our last two were toy-mad and fetching-fanatics, I nearly sprained a shoulder throwing stuff for them to go and get - they never had enough, and they weren't taught how, they were just born knowing how to fetch. I do think it's down to the individual dog's temperament and, possibly, breeds.

lanos · 09-10-2015 10:22pm

its all to do with intelligence
a clever dog who is hungry will fetch fairly quickly for treats
a stupid dog will look at you and salivate for the treat which never comes
he will never make the connection.

New Home · 09-10-2015 10:28pm

In fairness I wouldn't have called my other dogs stupid. They showed their intelligence abundantly in other ways, but they just had no interest in fetching. Also, the 'fetchers' loved playing regardless of whether you had a treat for them or not, playing was a treat in itself.

But I must say, your description reminded me of Otis...

lanos · 09-10-2015 10:34pm

New Home wrote: »

....... but they just had no interest in fetching.

it is not a matter of interest, its a matter of obedience.
any dog I ever had that showed signs of disobedience or stupidity or both
got a 1-way ticket to the dog's home, as my father used to call it.

New Home · 09-10-2015 10:37pm

Charming.

borderlinemeath · 09-10-2015 10:48pm

lanos wrote: »

its all to do with intelligence
a clever dog who is hungry will fetch fairly quickly for treats
a stupid dog will look at you and salivate for the treat which never comes
he will never make the connection.

It's really not that simple.
It's more to do with the owner, and their ability to discover their dogs motivation.

I have a rescue dog that when he first arrived with me, was slightly food aggressive, he couldn't eat with our other dog as he would growl, bare his teeth and guard his food from her . I worked through his problems and his motivation for food and used it to my advantage with training, he would be the typical dog that would sit there and salivate for a treat if I threw it, and wouldn't take it unless I gave him a cue. But somebody who doesn't know him or his ability may view him as stupid. I certainly don't view him as a stupid dog, I see him as well trained and quite polite, he'll not take something unless he's told, he won't jump up onto furniture without an invitation and won't counter surf or steal food or do anything that a lot of owners see as problem behaviours. He offers the paw if he wants something, and depending on his proximity to whatever he wants I usually know what it is. Again, somebody who doesn't know him may think he's just randomly giving the paw!

lanos · 09-10-2015 10:51pm

borderlinemeath wrote: »

It's really not that simple.
It's more to do with the owner, and their ability to discover their dogs motivation.

I have a rescue dog that when he first arrived with me, was slightly food aggressive, he couldn't eat with our other dog as he would growl, bare his teeth and guard his food from her . I worked through his problems and his motivation for food and used it to my advantage with training, he would be the typical dog that would sit there and salivate for a treat if I threw it, and wouldn't take it unless I gave him a cue. But somebody who doesn't know him or his ability may view him as stupid. I certainly don't view him as a stupid dog, I see him as well trained and quite polite, he'll not take something unless he's told, he won't jump up onto furniture without an invitation and won't counter surf or steal food or do anything that a lot of owners see as problem behaviours. He offers the paw if he wants something, and depending on his proximity to whatever he wants I usually know what it is. Again, somebody who doesn't know him may think he's just randomly giving the paw!

yes he seems like a clever dog
but will he fetch a ball for you
it is not too clear from your post

DBB · 09-10-2015 10:53pm

lanos wrote: »

it is not a matter of interest, its a matter of obedience.
any dog I ever had that showed signs of disobedience or stupidity or both
got a 1-way ticket to the dog's home, as my father used to call it.

Lanos,
Your style of posting is very inflammatory.
Please do not post in this thread again.
Thanks,
DBB

Cows Go µ · 09-10-2015 11:06pm

It's not obedience, fetching is a fun game. If they don't find it fun, why force the issue? Find a game they do like.

I've one dog, Pepper. Extremely intelligent, picks things up really quickly. Really really eager to please and learn but she's just not into fetching. She can do it if pushed. She'll enjoys it if there's another dog but that's just because she likes to chase the other dog. The only time she really loves it is when I have a ball with food inside. However I know she loves to chase so for rewards I tie toys to a lead and run around for her.

My new puppy who so far seems clever enough. It's hard to tell at the moment because she young and isn't all that focused yet and I'm not really forcing it. But when she is focused she learns tricks really quick. She obsesses over a ball and fetching anything she can. I can't throw anything on the ground because she has to fetch everything I throw. It'll be handy when she's older and doing agility as it's such an easy reward.

I would be of the opinion that it's rare that a dog is stupid, it more likely that the trainer just hasn't worked out how to train it properly. All dogs learn differently and have different motivations and it's our jobs as owners to work out what they need to learn. I'm having to relearn how to teach my pup as she's so different to my adult dog in temperament

mymo · 10-10-2015 9:25am

I have two dogs, male runs when you throw something, then continues to run but in another direction, or stops at looks down at what you threw and, I swear looks like he's laughing before running off.
Female with run after and "kill" stuff, occasionally bring things back for you to throw again.
I don't think it has anything to do with intelligence, one of the dumbest dogs I knew (in 15 years he never worked out which way the door opened, or which side the opening was on) was ball obsessed.
My two can do loads of tricks, and the male learns very quick, but has zero interest in fetch. Hold up a hula hoop and he'd jump through it all day!

kylith · 10-10-2015 10:13am

Rani did not lack smarts, put food somewhere and watch her figure out how to get to it, she just had no interest in chasing anything that wasn't alive.

delahuntv · 10-10-2015 10:20am

Try a small or x-small kong tennis ball - usually come in packs of 3.

My little one won't fetch anything other than one of these and even then she's fussy on which one she'll play with.

Generally Maltese / bichon types won't "fetch" like other dogs, so forget sticks and other objects.

Dog won't fetch

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