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Ask Yvette

Dear Yvette,

With the cold weather, we're trying to get some indoor exercise for our Viszla. As you know, they have short fur, so the extreme cold is very difficult for Bella. We have tried to play fetch, but Bella grabs the ball and plays keep away instead. Can you tell us how to teach this to her? Do you have suggestions for other activities?

Paul,

When people start teaching fetch, most try to do it the same way. People throw a ball and the dog runs. The people cheer the dog on. The dog picks up the ball and plays 50 feet away. The owners move toward the dog quickly learns how to get the humans to play chase.

Some dogs can have the appearance of misers refusing to give up the toy. They drop the ball, and then grab it again. It appears like they are in a state of conflict. That is called instinctual drift.

There are a couple ways to get around these problems.

First, plan your strategy on paper. Planning helps you, the owner, to visualize how you will act. In my opinion, this is the most important step. The difference between a great handler and an average handler is their ability to break down their teaching strategy. If you cannot explain what you are teaching, then you're guessing. A great handler can tell you in one sentence exactly what they are working on.

Step two in teaching fetch is to teach the dog to drop a ball into your hand. There is no throw. You work on give and take over until the dog will reliably drop the ball on your request in multiple environments. This way, the reward comes for dropping the ball, not carrying or picking up the ball. This also decreases the chance that you will chase your dog unnecessarily.

Step three is to place the ball less than a foot away from you. You encourage the dog to pick up and put the ball into your hand. The pick up leads to the drop, which leads to the reward. This is a behaviour chain. As the dog gets good you increase distance gradually. One foot leads to two feet. Two feet leads to five feet and so on. But the pattern is always the same. The reward comes for dropping the ball near you.

This basic technique is called back chaining. There are other strategies that can compliment a back-chained fetch.

Some people like to use a two-ball method. They teach a dog that dropping a ball makes the humans throw a second toy. As the dog chases ball number two, you pick up ball number one.

You can also try adding run away fetches for the dogs that like to run. By planning to run away, you plan to avoid teaching chase.

There are many activities you can teach a dog. Treat balls are fun for many dogs. But don't be afraid to think of fun and useful activities. Do you want your dog to fetch slippers? Do you want your dog to find your keys? Do you want your dog to fetch dropped objects? Many dogs love having a job to do. But as the human, you need to plan each exercise step by step. If you plan for success, then the sky is the limit.

Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
See more of Yvette... www.awesomedogs.ca
www.meetingmilo.com

Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...

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