I am training my 2.5 year old GSD for the retrieve.

He launches himself at the dumbbell, which causes it to be kicked around. He will lose points for this in a trial. How do I stop this behavior without ruining his retrieve?

Also, he sometimes retrieves the dumbbell by the end, and not the middle. I correct him by re-positioning it in his mouth and repeating "brring".

I started his retrieve training with him sitting in front of me, holding the dumbbell correctly and quietly. Should I start doing this again?

Thank you.
Jackie

If I am understanding the problem correctly, it is that the dog is either running past the dumbell or is hitting it and thus knocking it out of the place it landed before bringing it back correct? If not.. maybe you can give a better explaination?

If I am correct, one way to stop the dog from overshooting the dumbell would be to throw it up against something solid, such as a wall or a fence. That way the dog will have to slow down BEFORE the dumbell and turn after picking it up. As the dog progresses to going back on a field you can get some of the green garden mesh and set it up so that the dog will run into that if he again tries to plow past it. The mesh I am talking about is string and very hard to see for a dog against the green field.

Then there is always using a long line. Be wary of that though.. I burned all five fingers doing that today with my young dog on the retreive... owwww! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

About picking it up the wrong way...

There are some dumbells made especially for this but if you are handy with wood (or have someone who is) you can alter one yourself. They take and place 1/2 length wooden dowels (flat ended) diagonally on the ends (3 on each side) so that if the dog picks it up the wrong way it is uncomfortable. It doesn't hurt the dog... just feels lousy, so most will pick it up by the bar instead. I don't know of anyone off hand who carries them.. I have seen them pop up on Ebay from time to time though. All you would need to alter a regular DB though would be a wooden dowel, a drill, and some wood glue.

We had a awesome dog that would ocassionally pick up the dumbbell by the bell instead of the bar cuz she was so freaking motivated to grab it and get back that she would snatch whatever part was closest to her. We took medium grit sandpaper and taped it around the flat surfaces of the bells. She picked it up only one time by the bell, didn't like the feel, and never did it again. Might not work on this dog, but very simple to try.

Deanna, he's not running past it, just jumps the last few feet and lands on the dumbbell (almost like a fox would do if it were trying to catch a mouse). Using a wall is a good idea. I will see if that works. If not, I will try the long line (with gloves <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ).

Lee, great idea with the sand paper. I will definately be applying sand paper to my dumbbell tomorrow. And if that doesn't work I can always try the "prong end" dumbbells, I've seen them on a couple of websites.

Thank you.
Jackie