Training Your Dog To Play Fetch

So you're the proud owner of a dog and you love him to death. Now you want to play with him in order to strengthen the bond between you two. What better way than to play fetch with your dog?

Some dogs know instinctively how to play fetch. Other dogs need to be taught. Luckily, dog training for playing fetch is a fairly simple process. You need to stick to a few simple guidelines for a couple of weeks. The three simple guidelines are listed below.

1. To start with, your dog needs to show interest in the ball. If he has no interest in the ball, the game of fetch will go absolutely nowhere unless you teach him this first. You can do this by waving the ball around in front of your dog's face. Eventually, your dog will sniff the ball. Once he does this, praise him a little and repeat this a few more times. This way, your dog will learn to show interest in the ball.

2. As soon as your dog has learned to show interest in the ball, it's time to move on to the next step in his training. Now, he must learn to pick up the ball in his mouth. He might even do this all by himself. If he does not, then you will need to teach him this as well. You can do this by smearing some meat paste on the ball. This will make the ball a little more enticing for your dog. Once he picks it up, praise him and feed him a dog treat. Your doggy will learn to pick up the ball this way.

3. Now that your dog chases after and then picks up the ball, you need to teach him to let go of the ball. Once your dog has picked up the ball a few feet away from you, you can lure him back with a treat. Once he arrives with the ball still in his mouth, give him the treat. He will likely drop the ball in order to make place for his dog treat. Should your dog lose his interest in dog treats throughout the training, you can use a second ball to entice him to drop one for the other.

After about a week of repeating these simple steps, you can try a few fetches out in the field. Take your dog into the yard or any other area with enough open space, and throw the ball a short distance away. If your dog has understood his fetch training, he will eventually chase the ball, pick it up and take it back to you. Every time he gets it right, praise him and give him a dog treat. Then, throw the ball a little further.

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.

Owning a dog is a great thing. Dogs are loyal pets that will love you unconditionally. It's definitely worth investing your time and energy to get the two of you closer together. Playing fetch is a great way of doing this. So stick to the training, and before you know it your doggy and you will be having a ball!

Training Your Dog To Play Fetch by Casey Swells.

About the Author:

Casey Swells owns many dogs. He writes a lot about dogs too! You can read all about it at his website dog health or at dog breeding.

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