# Help for my 5YO spoo who has never tugged or fetched.



## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

Maybe you could try biking with him - you set the pace, and he really will keep up (you know, provided you are sane about it and not training for the tour de France....) 

we have this massive purple ball with a rope through it that Spike seems to like carrying around and will chase, and fetch, but he prefers tennis balls...

sarah


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

For a treat/chew toy, I'd say the biggest black Kong you can find. The black Kongs are the toughest. You can stuff that with treats and kibble. Since Dude is on a diet, you can stuff it with a portion of his daily meal, or some low cal treats like celery, carrots, green beans, etc (if he likes them). Keep it easy at first so that every time he moves the kong in any way, food falls out. You can increase the difficulty later by stuffing it denser and adding abit of water and freezing.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

Some dogs just don't care for fetching. My two are sisters and one of them is a fetching FIEND, while the other isn't at all interested in it. Neither of mine like to tug either. Maybe you could take him to a pet store and dangle a few things in front of his nose? Maybe he'll surprise you and show a real interest in some toy. For exercise, remember to take it slow because being overweight is hard on his joints, so the last thing you want to do is make him overdo it. Walking is good! Since I have such an active girl, to me it sounds kind of nice, you having a mellow guy


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

Play/prey drive, tugging and retrieving CAN be taught to dogs that have little or no motivation to play these games.

Google the "tug for treat" method.


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## mbculhane (Jun 23, 2012)

You need a Leerburg Everlasting Treat Ball. You can buy treat inserts or make your own and freeze! We had one for each of our dobermans and they were actually soft enough for the dogs to 'chew' and crush in their mouths but never showed any wear!! 
Anytime a client tells me I need a toy for a dog that destroys everything I show them these. have a look on the leerburg website and they have videos of the product.


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

I would stay away from treats as he needs to lose weight. I would take him for walks everyday. If you can't, hire a dog walker. He might like to swim? I was so sure Carley would love fetch , she is not a bit interested in it... But she loves her 3-4 mile walk everyday. If you can take him somewhere where he can be free off leash, that would be the best.


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## kukukachoo (Jul 26, 2012)

Thanks, guys. I haven't had him near water yet, but his previous owners say he doesn't like it. I may still try myself for some occasional fun, but I won't be able to countin that for daily exercise.

I just got a bike attachment for his leash in the mail yesterday and i am anxious to try it out today! I have a feeling he is going to love it. Due to his long legs, he can almost effortlessly trot at a decent pace so bike riding is hopefully going to work out well for him.

I really do hope for him to find the joy of retrieving, though. It just seems like a great way to fit in shorter segments of exercise throughout the day, especially on days we have too much going on to get in our regular walks. Plus, I hope the kids will be able to interact with him in this way. He has chosen to stay attached to me like Velcro and I think the kids would get a kick out of being able to play with him more.

I think I'll try a kong (or the other brand someone mentioned that I can't recall right now) and try to factor in the treat calories into his daily food allowance. Hopefully, that will work and hopefully I won't have to include treats in e play for very long. Oh, and I love the idea of just taking him to the toy aisle and see if he picks something. I love a good excuse to take him there, the employees love him and he gets lots of lovin'!


ETA: I just noticed my AVI shows a pic of us beside the river after I said he had never been near waterwithme! Just wanted to clarify that the banks are to steep on those trails for him to have had a chance to swim even if he wanted to. Do you guys let your dogs swim in rivers?


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

mbculhane said:


> You need a Leerburg Everlasting Treat Ball. You can buy treat inserts or make your own and freeze! We had one for each of our dobermans and they were actually soft enough for the dogs to 'chew' and crush in their mouths but never showed any wear!!
> Anytime a client tells me I need a toy for a dog that destroys everything I show them these. have a look on the leerburg website and they have videos of the product.


Depends on the dog. I have had 2 that couple nibble off one of those for 6 months or more. At that rate it's a low-calorie way to occupy the dog. But many MANY dogs I've had learn to pop out the treats - even when I got the ones that screw together.

My mpoo is one of the nibblers, but if my fiance's golden retreiver got it.... it was GONE in about 30 seconds. Got to be expensive and his dog was getting fat from too many treats. I gave them away.

I was not using a small size with my mpoo. What I've learned is it has to be big enough that dog can't fit the diameter of the rubber ball in its mouth. They just don't come big enough, IMO.


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## tortoise (Feb 5, 2012)

kukukachoo said:


> I just got a bike attachment for his leash in the mail yesterday and i am anxious to try it out today! I have a feeling he is going to love it. Due to his long legs, he can almost effortlessly trot at a decent pace so bike riding is hopefully going to work out well for him.


Go slow and short at first. His body needs to get used to exercise - but MORE IMPORTANTLY the pads of his feet need to be conditioned to walking/running on a hard surface! Don't bring your baby home with burned or blody foot pads


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Everyone has great ideas, but no one has mentioned the fact that he is very overweight. That could easily be keeping him from feeling frisky and playful. At 27 inches tall, he should weigh 75 pounds max for a large boned dog, down to 70 or so if he is smaller boned. Search for pictures of Nova who is about the same height and is 65 pounds. She is a mean, lean machine- not thin. 

At 112 pounds it's a wonder he can do those hikes! I would put him either on a calorie restricted kibble or reduce his food, but probably both of those things. It's great you are exercising him! I had to reduce the weight of my whippet and at first the poor thing felt like I was punishing him, but after a few weeks, his energy level was way up not to mention how much better he looked.

I place a bet that in a few months if you get 35 pounds off of him (which is a lot) you will see a huge change.


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

With him being overweight and needing some "gentler" exercise at first, this is a good time to start in on the foundation of fetching if you're teaching it "from scratch," as it seems you are.

This method of training the retrieve starts with the end: the dog picking up and placing the toy in your hand. 

This does involve food, so you'll have to be judicious about portioning his daily amount and setting aside some that can be used as training treats.

Train with the dog in a willing (hungry, eager to be with you) state of mind. Train in a completely small and uninteresting room, like the bathroom. You can do this with the clicker, or just "Yes!" as a verbal marker.

Sit on the floor, have the dog there, and have an intriguing toy there. You've got your treats. (It would be nice if the dog has IYC* and knows that there's no way he's getting those treats without work, so that you can just set the bowl down; otherwise, you might have to conceal the treats in your lap). 

Since there's nothing else interesting in the room, hopefully the dog will look at the toy. "Yes!" and treat. It might take a minute, but hopefully he'll look at the toy again, or move his head towards it. "Yes!" and treat. I think you can see where this is going: the dog will figure out that interaction with the toy = treats, and eventually (could be within a minute, could take more than one session) will mouth / pick up the toy. Sessions should last only a few minutes (literally, 3-4 minutes!) and never end with frustration, always on a good note. 

Once the dog is picking up the toy, now the "Yes!" comes when the dog also turns towards you with the toy or gets close to your hand with the toy. Eventually the "Yes!" comes when the dog touches your hand with the toy. It may take a while depending on when things "click" in the dog's head, but eventually you will reach a point where you place the toy on the floor and the dog picks it right back up and tries to place it in your hand.

Don't progress to throwing the toy yet! Now take your "pick up toy, place in mom's hand" behavior out of the boring room and into other situations. A more interesting room. Outside. Eventually you can give the toy a little toss, then a longer toss. By this time the behavior of "place in hand" has become so ingrained, it's almost automatic.

I did this with Sugarfoot just to solidify the "return to hand" behavior. Granted, I started very young, and he is an incredibly smart dog, but he went through the steps very quickly and now retrieves pretty much anything, and will retrieve until worn out (I stop when he slows down as I always want to leave him wanting more). I think the entire process is easier with dogs who possess a natural retrieving instinct, which should include poodles.

A lot of dogs seem to catch on to retrieving without even really being formally "taught" to do so; they just do it. But the steps above are a good process for starting out in a more structured way.

Oh, I also rarely / ever scold Sugarfoot for picking things up with his mouth. If he gets something he shouldn't have, I either go get it from him or ask him to bring it to me. I think some dogs (and this could apply to an older dog who's lived in another home like yours) get their retrieving instincts squashed because they get yelled at when they grab something. You've got to build it up again.

Hope this helps! I've been wanting to reply to your thread, but I knew I didn't want to type this tome with my iPad, so had to do it when I could get on my big computer again. 

--Q

*IYC = It's Yer Choice. Along with Crate Games, this is foundation level to all my training. Dogs shouldn't snatch for food. They await permission to get it. With a good IYC foundation, you can train with a bowl of treats just sitting there open and unprotected.


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## kukukachoo (Jul 26, 2012)

You guys are great! Thanks for all the help!


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