hi all.

just a quick question. I have got maiya catching her tug toy, and returning things to me with fetch, yes sometimes she runs right by, but she drops the ball or the tug toy before i give the out command, and i would like to teach her to hold onto something until i tell her she can release it.

would someone be able to give me a direction as to how i would achieve this?

cheers
Bret

YOu should have taught her the hold before the retrieve.Plus you never play retrieve with your dog unless she knows the hold and the out.You have to use a long line.By the way you can play retrieve all you want but if you are looking to have those 3 things into that exercise it is taught seperately.I always taught my dogs the "hold" then the "out" and then put in the retrieve "bring'in to it.Your dog is simply playing with you not "retrieving" All that can be taught in a hall way, not the park.I use a small area first and then I go to a larger area.But that is my way , their are many other ways to teach it.I found that when they are pups, a hallway is great cause they can't get far and it's you and the pup and no distraction.Distractions come later on.Good luck!
Angelique

hi,

yeah i know its playing, but it also comes into the sections you described. she already knows the out command, ie: when she want's to play tug with me and the toy, she gets teh 'out' command and releases the toy. your post though didn't give me any idea's on how i can train the hold command, she is only 11months and definately not too late to train it, so if you have a proceedure that would be followed, that would be great.
cheers

bret

what kind of dog is it? ppd,schutzhund,PSA ring or just a pet???? I can give you a web sight that has a very good method but may hinder the bite of a working dog?????

Sorry ,Bret I meant to come back and write it out for you and got distracted with my King Charles pulling out our drippers from a palm tree I could see from where I sit at the computer!!
Ayways,the way I teach the hold is like this:
When my dog was very young(and yes you can teach the hold at any time) I would put a puppy tug in his mouth( he was always happy to hold it) and calmly I would tell him hold ,I would have one hand underneath his chin (kind of supporting it) and the other hand would pet his head(saying "hold") I would tug a little bit on the tug as to pretend I was trying to take it but not doing so, I would have him on a sit so that he can be still and not move around during this.As soo as he would hold it firm for a few seconds I would bring the tug to the ground(still slowly) with him still holding the tug and has his noze would touch the ground with the tug in his mouth I would say "out" and usually he would out right away( they don't like their noze to the ground like that) and we would play with the tug , mostly bring the tug in the air throw it, ect.., then we would start all over again, as you do the hold exercise you will see that his grip on the tug will get stronger and stronger.When you do the "hold" have him calm down and be very calm and no pressure should be giving to this exercise , you want the hold to be a good thing.Sometimes when people put the wrong kind of pressure during this exercise, the dog will not want to hold at all.So be patient.If you need more detail explanation let me know ..I am not good at writing exercises out but I try..
Angelique

she is a beautiful pure breed border collie. she is just a pet, i decided 3 days ago no to breed, i am having her fixed as soon as her first heat is through. i want to take her to trials for sheep dogging, and also maybe get her into agility / movies, just for her fun and my fitness