I watched a man play fetch with his lab the other day and feel inspired to improve game of fetch with Maya. His dog would always bring the item right back to him, and didn't drop it unless the owner asked him to.

Fetch right now involves Maya sometimes bringing the item directly back, or sometimes doing a little victory lap around the yard. If she does come right back, she often stands there with the frisbee or ball in her mouth, not wanting to release it (she looks like such a dodo standing there gumming on the ball). She'll turn her head quickly or trot away if I reach down to get it. And usually before she finally drops it, she takes a couple jumps backwards before doing so.

We've played the two-ball game. She's really into it for the first couple of minutes, although she drops the ball usually before she gets to me. After awhile, she'll run back to me but continues to hold the ball in her mouth, staring at the other one in my hand.

I'd like to train her to come back to me and hold onto the item unless I say drop (she knows the drop command, but doesn't always follow it). Ideas? I feel like this might be a little more tricky since I am not starting with a blank slate. She also loves fetch and is really intense about it, so it's sometimes hard to break that focus to listen to me, although she will sit and stay if I ask her to when throwing it.

This thread includes an easy way to teach fetch, starting with the "give" or "drop it" command ..... or whatever command works best for you with your own particular dog. I use "give."

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=134&Number=238356&Searchpage=1&Main=23123&Words=fetch+Connie+Sutherland&topic=0&Search=true#Post238356

And this one http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=15&Number=188925&Searchpage=1&Main=18946&Words=fetch+Connie+Sutherland&topic=0&Search=true#Post188925 links you to four others.

You are using two identical balls?

Is she food motivated? I sometimes use treats when playing fetch and I get a fast drop this way (instead of two balls, I mean) My dog is not super motivated to play fetch (at times) and using a high value food reward gets her returning to me faster, also.

The other thing I'll do is to ask her to drop it, and then immediately toss it back to her; I repeat this 4 or 5 times in rapid succession, and then resume the game.

If she loses attention and won't bring the ball back rapidly, then I end the game...

Thanks for those links Connie. I'll read through them and see what we can do. Lynne, Maya loves treats in normal training, but when a ball or frisbee enters the scene, that's all she cares about. I've tried breaking the fetch process down into smaller steps and we've practiced inside, but there are still some snags. Hopefully the previous posts can help us out. Thanks again.

 Quote: connie sutherland

"drop it" command

My only advice with "drop it" is lose the "drop it". I created a big problem for my retrieves for sport by having my dog "drop it" by using a chuck-it and frisbee. That took me months of patient training to correct. And still she has dropped my retrieve item at my feet during trials, it is a real pain in the butt.

If you can get the dog to reliably "give" you the item you will be way ahead if you decide to add a sport like SchH, AKC obedience or the like to you and your dogs activities down the line.

That's a really good point!

I like "give" myself, but I had not even considered this excellent point.

I backed off using our Chuck-it for that reason. Sure in a perfect world it would click in her head about the different retrieve items. But somehow it didn't and I've done a lot of work to correct it. Thankfully all those "hold it" and now "give" is starting to sink in.