Teaching your dog to fetch a ball can be one of the most exciting parts of dog ownership. It’s fun to watch your dog attempt to hop, trot and scamper all over your guests’ gifts and to see them laugh with glee as they realize they’ve once again found a great pet. Unfortunately, this can also be a frustrating stage in training for many dog owners. The good news is that this is completely normal. Here are some dog training tricks you can use to successfully teach your dog to fetch a ball.
How to train a dog to retrieve a ball The first of the dog training tricks we’re going to discuss is how to teach a dog to retrieve a ball. The key to learning how to train a dog to retrieve a ball is to remember that dogs have distinct personalities. Some will learn tricks easily, others may take longer, but all have their own personalities. If your dog is having difficulties on this stage of dog training, then please refer to previous blog post on training a dog to retrieve a ball.
Here’s one of the dog training tips I like to use: To encourage your dog to learn how to ifetch with the ifetch funnel, distract it with treats. Your dog should ignore the treat when using the fetch funnel. Once your dog finishes with the treat, quickly reward the dog with a treat. Do this repeatedly, and your dog will start to associate the word “fetch” with the action of picking up the treat and not with hearing the word “fetch.” You can also add in some positive reinforcements, such as a pat on the head or verbally encouraging your pup to come to you.
Next, start off by having your dog on all fours, and with its nose pointed toward the ground. Your dog should not be looking up at you. Walk up to your dog, and while holding treats in front of it, say “ouch” in a calm voice, while waving your hands in front of its face. Your dog should turn around and look at you. It is your job to get it to turn around, into position to start twirling its legs and towards you.
After your dog has turned around and while still in position to start twirling its legs, reward with a treat. As soon as it stops moving its legs, reward with a treat. Continue this behavior pattern a few times, and your dog will start to enjoy the movement and will begin to enjoy being called “ouch.” Let go of the treat and immediately tell your dog to stop and give it the treat.
If your dog does not seem to want to stop and give the treat, continue the training sessions in this manner until it learns to stop itself from moving its front feet when you say the word “ouch.” Once your dog is comfortable with this behavior, work on having it hold still only while looking up at you. You should have it in this position for at least one minute. You can try to count the seconds while your dog is in this position. Reward with a treat if it stops in the one minute mark.
A great trick to teach dogs who love to be on the go is to perform the same training without using your voice at all. You can use your voice to motivate the pup, but you should not have to vocalize. Just point to the spot that it needs to reach and have it follow. You can even tell it to “come” while doing this, if you are the kind of person who likes to correct things by saying them out loud.
One of the most fun tricks for dogs is the “clicker training.” You can purchase a simple clicker (which looks like a tiny metal disc) at any pet store. Once you have found one that you like, set the clicker near your dog’s nose and then say the word “clicker.” The dog will soon begin to eagerly click as it will know that it is getting a treat when it makes contact with the clicker. You can use a larger dog or a larger clicker to get your dog to pay attention to the clicking noise.
