Tucker and retrieving

[jdescobar19]

Well my pup Tucker is now 14 weeks old and has been coming along pretty nicely with most of his obedience training, house training and finally got used to his crate (thank god! I've only been doing some basic things with him but mostly letting him be a pup so far. For the past 2 days I've gone outside to just play fetch with him, once with a tennis ball and the other a canvas bumper but with both he'll retrieve it and come about halfway back and then circle around me to play with it. I was just wondering what kinds of things can be done to assure that he'll come back to me everytime. I'm really loving this dog and everything he does, thanks for your time and any advice in advance!!

198767_513517671061_175000578_30430557_4437058_n.jpg

[kninebirddog]

When you play retrieve do this on a check cord bring him to you reward him then walk with him on the lead with the object in his mouth let him learn you are not just gonna take stuff out of his mouth right away at this point make it fun let him sport stuff But have control...Every time you play retrieve and he doesn't have to come to you and he is allowed to do his own thing and play wit the item you are going to create a problem.

Keep stuff fun and small games

[Nhuskr]

Hey, I have a Tucker, too! He's almost 5 mos old. What I do is play fetch in the hall with the doors closed, so that the only place he can go is straight back to me. It's about time to move to the yard with him though. I'll have to put the other dogs away, though. They are way too distracting, for the both of us.

Nice looking pup, by the way!

Cheryl

[GUNDOGS]

Play retrieve with him on the cc and reel him back in and praise..by using the cc if he doesnt come you can correctly bring him to you without having to repeating come or chasing him which is not what you want to do..our pup is 15 weeks tomorrow and we gave a small liver treat to her when she brought us the bird or dummy or ball or whatever, she brings the item to us and waits for us to give her the treat or pat on the head..we now give a treat every few times and just a nice pat on the head other times so we can begin weaning her off the treat idea and she will accept the pat on the head as her reward..also if you can do this with the cc at a park or somewhere where theres distractions its great for the pup because they need to learn to pay attention to you whether people or other dogs are around or not..we always go to the school yard in the evening or the park and even the dogpark at times just for that reason and now our pup could care less about distractions because she is focused on us..we do train alone with her too but not always...good luck..ruth

[jdescobar19]

ok, thanks for the advice! That's basically what I did with him earlier, I just used his walking leash to reel him in when he'd try to run off and play. I'll give him treats when he's doing it right but it seems like I really need to get a cc soon!

[GUNDOGS]

ok, thanks for the advice! That's basically what I did with him earlier, I just used his walking leash to reel him in when he'd try to run off and play. I'll give him treats when he's doing it right but it seems like I really need to get a cc soon!

We bought a 100ft rope at home depot for 10 bucks and 3 bucks for each clip..we made a few different lengths to use as a cc with it..we made 1 20ft, 1 30ft, 1 50ft..i like the 20ft for retrieving lessons..and i use the 50ft at the lake(lake st.clair) with my older dog cause theres quite a current when you get out farther and i want to be able to allow plenty of swimming length for him but be able to reel him in if he drifts away ..we dont have easy access to a place here to get a good stiff cc but the rope works fine and we went with what we had access to..you will definitely need something ruth

[jdescobar19]

sounds like a good idea... There aren't much places here in town either to get any training stuff, just an hour drive to San Antonio to Bass Pro Shops! But thank you very much for the advice, Im looking forward to continue working with this little guy!!

[Chuckles]

I have a 9 month old Britt that is retrieving quite well now. I started with a ball in such close proximity that I could give treats if he dropped the ball closer to me, then when he gave it to me. As I moved out into the yard, I used a toy he loved to hold and carry and if he wouldn't bring it, (I had already trained Come and come here) I would walk away and say "bring it here" "come on" etc, he would follow and bring it to me then I took it from him and treated - you can transition from treats to clicker anytime there. I just continued to play and always quit before he was sick of it and he is now bringing birds to me using the same general technique - minus the treats - just lovin him up when he retrieves. I don't think you necessarily need a check cord - never seemed to help me with that early training.

Chuck

[GUNDOGS]

I have a 9 month old Britt that is retrieving quite well now. I started with a ball in such close proximity that I could give treats if he dropped the ball closer to me, then when he gave it to me. As I moved out into the yard, I used a toy he loved to hold and carry and if he wouldn't bring it, (I had already trained Come and come here) I would walk away and say "bring it here" "come on" etc, he would follow and bring it to me then I took it from him and treated - you can transition from treats to clicker anytime there. I just continued to play and always quit before he was sick of it and he is now bringing birds to me using the same general technique - minus the treats - just lovin him up when he retrieves. I don't think you necessarily need a check cord - never seemed to help me with that early training.

Chuck

The check cord is useful when teaching a command in order to reinforce it..you dont want to "hope" a pup will listen to come or "hope" a pup will bring back a bird because if they dont and you dont correct them they are learning to do as they please with no consequence.. the correction must be instant or it is not understood by the dog, this is why a check cord is a good tool because its like a long arm..just like the ecollar will be at a later time.....ruth