So Vice LOVES toys and playing fetch. The problem I'm having is that he doesn't want to give up the ball when we are playing fetch. I do end up getting it and things are better than they used to be but I would love if he would just bring it back and drop it at my feet.

I think the problem is that he is waiting for the game to end and he's never sure if this time when I take the ball it's going to be time to be done and go in. He would rather hold on to it and chew and entertain himself than give it to me if he suspects we are almost done. I live in an apartment so just leaving him out in the yard until he is done is not an option. We have a fenced in doggy area in my complex so this is where we play fetch.

Things I have tried to limited or no success include trading for a treat, trading for another toy(this defeats the purpose of gathering everything up and going in), and trying to let him keep the ball and carry it back to the apartment.

Any suggestions would be great! Now that the weather is better and there is no snow to hide the balls there will be a lot of fetch!

there is an AMAZING free video i just saw on here..it's about teaching the dog to enjoy playing with you more than the toy. it's a michael ellis video. here is the link..just press play. i have the same issue with my pup and am soooo excited to start this training this afternoon
http://leerburg.com/flix/videodesc.php?id=143

If you do marker training I might do that..

I would use steak or liver (Or whatever your dogs fav thing is)..

everytime he drops the ball mark it.. This might be easier if he is on a 20' lead so you can make him stay close to you until he drops it. I would back up to get him to come close to you.

This works for my 9 month old. Let him pick up the ball and everytime he drops it Mark it with yes or a clicker and give him the steak.

The flip side is you might want to teach him to pick up something. or bite something.

Stephanie you are right the video was great. I will have to try that. I wonder how long the backchaining process takes and how long before I could implement the retreiving.

John- I am currently reading the marker ebook. I made a half hearted attempt with Cicero and clicker training but I don't think I had enough of an understanding of it and gave up. I am committed to getting a better understanding of it this time.

It's easier to teach the dog out using a tug instead of a ball. The out is covered in the ME tug dvd if you can afford it I would suggest getting it you wont be sorry.
Start playing tug with your dog when your ready for him to out it stop moving the tug and stabilize it the best you can sometimes holding your hand on your knees helps (the idea is to keep the tug from moving so he wont get any satisfaction from pulling on it) While holding the tug tell your dog to out or whatever command you want to use drop it leave it etc. It might take a minute but he will let go eventually the second he does say yes or whatever your mark is pull the tug away from him and let him have it again. The trick is as soon as he outs on command give it right back to him it enforces the behavior and he wont associate out with the end of the play session.
After you do alot of reps like this your dog will have a great out and you can easily transfer it to a ball or any object for that matter.

 Quote: juliana mccabe

So Vice LOVES toys and playing fetch. The problem I'm having is that he doesn't want to give up the ball when we are playing fetch. I do end up getting it and things are better than they used to be but I would love if he would just bring it back and drop it at my feet.

Backchaining might have been unvented for the retrieve.


"I wonder how long the backchaining process takes and how long before I could implement the retreiving. "


You mean how long each "link" might take before they are joined together into the whole chain?

Try starting the two ball game Juliana.

Once they understand that the "out" means that the game will start again, he'll be spitting the thing at you. I agree that you should teach it with a tug, or at least a toy or ball on a rope. It has to be something that you can immobilize. Also, you'll have to have him on a long line, so that he can't run away with it.
If you can afford the tug video, I would get it, or, you could watch it on the new pay-per-view version! This is the intro chapter, and it says he talks about the out. It's only $12.50, and you can watch it for 2 weeks.

Back woods tying?

Edited by Aaron Myracle (03/22/2011 06:45 PM)
Edit reason: to add that this is an old inside joke.