# My dog won't play fetch?



## Sawyersmomma

So Sawyer will get playful in the house, I can throw toys and he runs to get them, shakes it a bunch and brings it back. But the second we get outside it's like he couldn't care less. I REALLY want to be able to play fetch with him because I know he's got more energy and it would be fun, but how do I get him interested in the stuffie or ball outside? It's like he gets too distracted. He's known to chase cars, bark at people so I can rarely let him off-leash around my place. Luckily theres a large field beside it though, and we can play there for a bit, but he'd rather play with me by jumping up and biting my arm (bad I know, but I was recommended to get something else to put in his mouth instead of getting me... hence the fetch thing) so any ideas? I know it would be SO good for him, but I just have no clue how to go about it


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## Ladywolfe

Great question. My boy seems to have no "retriever" instinct. He has plenty of "steal it and run outside through the dog door" instinct, though. I figure if he can steal things and manage to carry them for long enough to get them to the back yard, he should certainly be able to play fetch. Hahaha

(You all should have seen the day he stole the last roll of toilet paper and ran with it....out the dog door, again.)


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## Sawyersmomma

Ladywolfe said:


> (You all should have seen the day he stole the last roll of toilet paper and ran with it....out the dog door, again.)


:hahaha: 
that's awesome!!! I'm sure not at the time though.
Sawyer definitely has the retriever instinct, in the house, he brings it back without me even asking. but for some reason he doesnt care about the toy at all when he's outside


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## Ladywolfe

I know you will get great advice here. I was wondering, since he does retrieve when you are inside; perhaps you can automatically associate a word with his returning it, if you don't already. Then, get a super-long lead for outside work, and simply use the word when working with him on the long lead to help with a return? Then, again, if he won't go after the item outside................hmmmm

Well, as I said, the real trainers will chime in soon. And, I am glad you asked, because there may be something there that can help me, as well. I usually like to use the word "give".......but, right now, Oliver is much better at "take".


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## fluffy buffy

I must say I have been taken by surprise by the bouncyness and pure joy of living my girl has as a six month old puppy.
I am trying to train her not to go jumping all over the lounge suite. I wish she would leave the cats alone too. 
I wonder if I need another dog as a friend for her.then the cats might not be so interesting.
As I have a bad back I cant take her for lovely long walks so have to find games to run the energy off her
Does any one have any ideas ?


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## Sawyersmomma

fluffy buffy said:


> As I have a bad back I cant take her for lovely long walks so have to find games to run the energy off her
> Does any one have any ideas ?


I would try fetch. or hide and seek. 
Still, anyone know how to make him fetch outdoors?


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## Arcticfox

Maybe try some other training outdoors first? It just sounds like he needs distraction proofing, so working on easy things like "sit" and "watch me" should help him focus on your when asked.


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## PammiPoodle

I think it's distraction issue, just like you and Arctic Fox said! When I found Lumi way too distracted by the outdoors to respond to cues, I started doing training in the front room with the door open (on leash of course!). This helped desensitize her to a lot of the sounds and scents of outside without overwhelming her with the sights and the feel of the dirt under her feet. We progressed from training on the other side of the room, to in the open doorway, and eventually training on the front walk. I also took short (less than a minute) trips outside with her on leash and really tasty treats. I didn't even ask for behaviors at first, just offered her treats until she got more excited about me, the "treat dispenser", than the rest of the world that she couldn't interact with anyway. She stopped getting overly excited about going out to sniff everything and run like a fool, since it started meaning we just stood on the front walk and ate some treats then went back in. I basically just made outside more common and less exciting. Once you've got him in a calmer state outside, you can shape a retrieve, or you may find he knows exactly what to do once he's not too excited to focus! : P


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## Sawyersmomma

Thanks! It makes sense, whenever he goes out it's generally a big deal to him. Either going for a car ride, a walk or a hike. It's hard because he likes to chase cars/people so until I get his proper fencing up he still can't go free offleash. or only really late at night when I know people won't be walking/cars won't drive by.
He definitely naturally has the retrieve instinct since I would just throw a toy, he'll shake it and play for a few seconds, then run back to me to give it. I never had to call him back (in the house) which I was excited for. My eskie won't play with toys ever. Never had an interest so when I was looking for a new dog I was happy to learn poodles are natural retrievers =D


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## Arborgale

Rosie (8m) will bring things to you sometimes. It is only on her terms though. 

Last night we were out playing badminton. In between plays, we would throw Rosie's balls and frizbees. She finally got tired of that kind of play and wanted something more interactive and exciting, so she waited until someone dropped the "birdie". She made her move, snatched the birdie and ran around for 5 minutes while we all played catch the poodle. She had the BEST time! Catch the poodle is Rosie's favorite game! Rosie looked so funny with the birdie in her mouth she actually had the mesh part in her mouth with the ball on the tip of her nose. She looked just like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I don't like Catch the Poodle and really do not encourage this game, but I made an exception last night. It was just fun for everyone and got us all moving! 

I think as Rosie gets older she will learn to bring it back every time not just when she wants to or when she wants to start a game of Catch the Poodle.


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## tortoise

Get a long line. 15 feet is long enough to play and short enough to not be a tangled mess. 

Find something more fun to do outside. Every time you try to play fetch and he doesn't do it, you are teaching him that everything else is more fun than playing fetch - especially if you're trying to put it on cue!

Get some smelly canned dog food (Innova Evo 95% Beef is awesome). Go outside and start feeding it to your dog on a spoon. 10 seconds. Then go back inside. Repeat often - 20 times every day. Use it as a reward for going potty.

Your dog's engagement will begin to improve and he will start to associate going outside with fun with YOU (not fun with distractions).

After a week of going outside with canned food 10 times a day, then start attention training - OUTSIDE.

Put your dog on a short leash and step on it. Have the canned food ready. And WAIT. Now with your dog you might be waiting a loooong time. Maybe hours. But with your canned dog food prep you might not wait at all. You wait for your dog to "check in" with you - even if he doesn't completely look at you. If he does as much as flick his eyes towards you or begin to turn his head to you, say "yes!" (or use a clicker), and feed him the canned dog food. Then start over ignoring him. Do this 10 repetitions, 10 times per day. If he gets really worked up with barking, you can give a correction (say "No" or "Ot" and tug on the leash to get him to stop, then reward when he stops). Correction is appropriate because barking is a self-rewarding behavior. If the barking impedes teaching an alternative behavior in a positive way, correction is appropriate. However, it should be used carefully and should not take away from the overall fun and enthusiasm of the training session. Think of it like reminding a 5 year old to follow the rules while playing Candy Land. You're not going to haul off and spank the kid, you'd say "Stop, it's not your turn yet" and go back to the game. Make sense? If the barking is not getting more intense, you can simply wait it out (if you have time and patient neighbors!). This is preferred, although not always possible.

You should see dramatic change in his focus and level of distractions in 1 - 2 weeks. There are some videos on attention training stuck into a recent thrad called "Pica" started by Bunny. Those should help too.

When your dog sees something distracting and whips his head around to look at you and earn a treat, you're reading to start playing and maybe retraining fetch outside. Don't worry - it will be sooner than you expect!


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## Sawyersmomma

Thanks everyone!
Tortoise: I wish I read that before I took him out today!
But today I tried training him outside. We used cheese for the treats since its relatively inexpensive, but he loves it. Had him on a 6 foot leash and stepped on the end. Did about 15 minutes training. it was only about 2 minutes in before I knew he would be safe to have the leash just loose. He did incredibly well! I'd tell him to sit or whatever and he'd do it. at first he would get a bit distracted and I would just ignore it and wait til his eyes were back on me, then give him a treat. He heeled, stayed, came. Everything I've been working on so it was awesome! 
I brought out a toy for after and he played with it and completely forgot about the outside world, it was awesome! still wouldn't bring the toy back but I think he was just enjoying the freedom of running around with the toy. Inside there isn't much room for him to move around too much. But it was a good time! Can't wait to do it again


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## Sawyersmomma

tortoise said:


> When your dog sees something distracting and whips his head around to look at you and earn a treat, you're reading to start playing and maybe retraining fetch outside. Don't worry - it will be sooner than you expect!


I used this technique to help him stop lunging at cars on a walk. Everytime one passed I'd give him a treat. By the 3rd day he would already lunge to my hand instead which was great, but I wasn't sure how to get him to be a bit calmer. I sort of stopped doing it :ahhhhh: because I thought he'd bite my hand off, and have no idea how to calm that down.


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## Arborgale

How old is Sawyer? 

If hh

I agree a long line is a MUST when you are training. There has to be enforceable boundries. If you give a command, the dog needs to be successful every time. 

I have never tried this, but I have heard to feed treats on a fork to teach how eat more gently. If done around the house, it may carry over on your walks.


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## DivinityPoodles

Train a gentler way of him taking treats. I do this with all my puppies (or dogs) and reinforce thru their lives. I hold a very high value treat in my closed fist, tell them 'gentle' or 'easy' or whatever and present my closed fist. As soon as they nose my hand (looking for the high value smell) I open my hand and give them the treat. If anything but their nose touches me (ie teeth) my hand remains closed and they get pushed back to try again. 
I have trained older dogs with this method and have ended up with scratches but no serious bites. I also have all my dogs trained to wait before they are 'released' to eat or take a treat so patience is already at work.


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## Arcticfox

When we were still working on bite inhibition, I'd feed Tesla her treats by holding it pinched between thumb and finger. She'd have to be actively careful not to bite my fingers rip get the tasty. If she did nip me by accident (happens more often when she's excited), treat/training time stops and i act exactly as i would of she nipped me in play - yelp and leave for a min. She learned the pattern very quickly by me hand feeding a bowl of kibble.


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## Sawyersmomma

He's 14 months today, he's always been super gentle with taking treats out of my hand, I got him at 5 months and never had a problem until I tried while he was focused on the cars. then he knew to turn his energy towards me with the treat, but completely forgot about being gentle. the fork idea sounds worth a try, though I'd be scared he'd stab his mouth when really into the car thing.


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## tortoise

That would be a learning experience.  No seriously, he would never do it again. Maybe try a spoon though - less likely to cause injury.


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## Sawyersmomma

this is true. ... on an unrelated yet slightly not unrelated note, he loves metal. He used to try to steal our cutlery from our plates instead of our food. hope he doesn't consider it a treat during this too...


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## tortoise

Willingness to pick up metal objects is often used to evaluate dogs for retrieving ability.


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