I have a 5 month yellow, when I throw his toy he comes most the way back to me, but then just lays down and chews on the fetch toy. How do I get him to come all the way to me. Thanks for any advice
Hi, Cory! From my experience with Ema (now a year and a half), she had to mature a little before doing it right. It just happened! I've learnt that waiting for the right time is crucial. You may want to "capture" the behaviour for now, instead of "shaping" it: reward every time your pup voluntarily brings stuff near/to you. All the best!
Captain is more than willing to go get anything i throw. It doesn't really matter how far i throw it. Getting him to bring it all the way back to my feet is a piece of the puzzle he forgets sometimes. I have found that i have most of my success when i am walking or slowly running away from him while he is returning. I throw the object, and follow him for a few paces while i encourage him "Go get it". As he reaches the object i mark it with something like "YES!! Good job! You got it!" and then begin to walk away. I don't turn away, though. I am facing him the whole time, and as he begins his return i say "Come here" while i pat my legs or make noises. I do this for the first 5 or 6 times, and we usually keep the habit the remainder of our training/play time. I also do not reward him unless he is at my feet for various commands. When i tell him to come here at times we're not playing fetch, he only gets a reward when he comes all the way to my feet, for example. I also am not quick to take the object and throw it as soon as he returns. I will play tug of war, or let him chew on it for a brief time before i have him drop it and I throw it again.
How about you back away as he returns to you, encouraging him with an excited voice? So don’t stand still but keep moving back still facing him. If you keep your hand out he may be reluctant to bring it to you initially because he thinks you’re going to take his toy, so just let him bring it to you and if he gives it up click and treat.
He's very young and doesn't understand what you want him to do. Try just sitting on the floor, say in the kitchen, throw a toy and and encourage him back to your lap, be silly, make lots of happy encouraging sounds and when he brings the toy to you be super excited, but don't take the toy straight away, just stroke him and make a big fuss. The important thing is he comes back to you. Don't repeat too many times, make it successful and stop on a positive! My youngest lab did't show much interest in retrieving until was about 6 months old, she's going to be 12 months tomorrow, and now loves to retrieve! Just takes time.
I hope the link works. This is a short video of Captain and I playing fetch. Of course, any feedback is appreciated, but the post is an attempt at showing how we went about learning fetch.
I also used to give the item he retrieved back to him when he brought it to me so he knew he would get it back if he wanted. It knocks the value down. This also works with items he’s not supposed to have. He’s more willing to give them up if he’s comfortable that you will give them back. It kinda makes the forbidden fruit less forbidden if you catch my drift.
