Can anyone give me any advice please? My 2 year old lab has always had the same problem where is seems to mark & find a dummy fine ( he runs to it with lots of enthusiasm) but it’s bringing it back is always unpredictable. He will sometimes bring it straight back and other times drop it half way back and start sniffing the ground and completely forgets about the dummy. I can’t seem to find a way to keep him coming back to me every time. I’ve tried lots of different rewards every time he returns it to me, running away so he chases me but it’s still hit and miss. Any ideas would be much appreciated ??
You need to get him mad keen on the dummy. If going back to tennis balls increases his enthusiasm, then do that for a while. Drop any formalness (is that a word?!), don't be asking for sits, waits etc and forget about any steadiness. Try playing with two balls. Once one is nearly back, toss the other a short distance behind you. Once he is mad keen on the 'game' then you might want to look at teaching him to hold, then just pop the dummy on the floor for him to pick up, then sit him a few steps away from you and put the dummy between you and him, so he collects it on his way past. Also, make sure his recall is 100%, as he should come straight back to you whether he has something in his mouth or not. Failing all this, get along to a gundog trainer. It's something they'll be able to sort out quickly.
I agree with everything that was said in the post above. I had a little different methode with my old boy who wasn't the fastest dog on his way back with the dummy either. Instead of trying to get him mad keen on the dummy try to get him crazy for a tennis ball(i had a little fur ball which he was totally crazy for) and in the very moment he returns the dummy toss the ball for him. No waiting, sitting or anything just let him go for the ball. This speed up my dogs return quite a bit since was keen to get his ball.
