Dog Training-Train your Poopi (dog) to Fetch on Command

Wouldn’t you just love it if you could toss a ball or chew toy and then watch as your loving Chow-Chow (whom we shall call Poopi for the moment) immediately chases it down and returns it to you with a look of pure joy and satisfaction on his face? Sure you would. Well your dog can be trained to fetch.

Although this is clearly not an advanced trick for a dog, it does work a lot smoother if your dog already has some basic discipline instilled such as being able to sit still when commanded to do so.

You may have heard that dog training techniques for fetching require that your dog love carrying things in his mouth. I am referring here mostly to toys or tennis balls. Well that helps, but it’s not really a requirement.

Dog Training Fetch Session 1
The first step to teach him to fetch is to get him to sit. Do whatever you

normally do to get him to accomplish that, such as talking, hugging or kicking….oops. I meant “kissing”. Never, ever kick your dog. Don’t even think about it! Next, position the dog’s toy a few steps away from his present location. Make sure he sees it. Use that magical commanding voice of yours and say “find it boy” or “girl” as the case may be. Say it out loud so he can remember the phrase.

Once he goes to the dog toy, immediately lavish a little praise him. Ok, maybe overdo it just a wee bit and make him feel like a King for a moment. Do that even if he comes real close but doesn’t actually touch the toy. Repeat this dog fetching training a few times. On the 6th attempt, try to put the dog toy in his mouth when he gets to it. When that dog toy is in his mouth, praise the little devil yet again by touching and hugging him while talking to him.

Let him chew down on that little sucker for about thirty seconds so he gets a good feel for it. Doing this gets him to realize you are not just trying to steal his poor little dog toy away from him. Don’t forget to give him a little treat. Then take the toy out of his mouth in a gentle way. Yes, I said take it away from him.

If he follows you, command him to sit still. After placing the dog toy on the ground again, use the same phrase that you used earlier “find it boy” to tell him to go get it. He should bite on to it this time. If your dog doesn’t , just keep at it and give him a little time.

Dog Training Fetch Session 2

The next dog fetching stage is to get Poopi to bring that toy back to you. As soon as he grabs the dog toy in his mouth, use a treat to get his attention and get him to come to you. When he does come, give him that treat and praise him. Make him feel as if he has done something great.

Repeat this dog fetching exercise several times. Only praise when he brings the toy back to you and drops it in your hands. Otherwise he won’t know that doing all the steps is important. After a while, try getting him to do it with a random treat. If your dog doesn’t come, be patient and give him some time.

Dog Training Fetch Session 3

Once he has learned the steps above, you can continue training him to fetch by hiding his dog toy in more and more challenging locations such as behind a tree or in a room. One word of caution – don’t use a car or the area surrounding a car in your dog fetching training as you don’t want to encourage your dog to play around cars, even those that are not moving at the time.

After you have hidden his toy, just give him that same “find it boy” command. After hearing this hundreds of times, he knows that it means to bite on that toy of his and bring it back to you. Dogs have an exceptionally keen sense of smell. Remember that little point the next time you are tempted to break wind in his presence, lest the poor thing have to cover his delicate nose with both paws and cower in totally misery until the area has cleared.

Now back to our dog fetching training lesson. Chances are Poopi will find that toy of his simply by his awesome power of smell. After he finds something and brings it to you, even if it’s not the toy that you hid from him, lavish him again with praise.

Have him keep trying it by letting him see you get and then re-hide his toy. He will get better and better at finding and returning it.

Dog Training Fetch Session 4

Here’s a slight variation of dog training related to dog fetching. If you are patient with your Poopi in these dog training sessions, your furry little friend will soon be performing these tricks like a circus star. This dog training trick deals with "naming." Get an object and “name” it in front of him. Say it loud and clear so that he can hear it. Repeat it many times (not just three or four times, remember – he is a dog, not a human being).

Make sure you use only one object at a time. If you have decided to knot up a sock and call it “ball” then please don’t cheap out and give him an Al Bundy special. Give him a clean, unscented piece of your old hosiery that will deliver weeks upon weeks of pleasure for the two of you. Hold up the knotted up sock and say to him “ball”, “ball” over and over again until you can see he really gets it.

Then throw it so that he can practice getting it and returning it to you. After that, progress to hiding it as before and then simply say “ball” and wait to see what he does. You will soon be astounded to find that he is persuaded your old sock really is a ball and he will chase it down almost tirelessly until you are ragged and in need of a rest from just watching.

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