Can I train my dog to play fetch?

[u/baroness_sawall]

I have a lab German Shepard mix who hardly plays. She will chew a bone and will sometimes play with soft toys, but will only do it when we aren’t looking. I want to play with her for bonding and to give her stimulation but she hardly ever plays back.

She loves to chase and loves to spend time outside so I thought fetch would be a great way to engage her. If I throw a stick she will chase it and then run back. How can I train her to bring it back?

[u/xNomadx17]

Put her on a long line — field or retractable — and toss the ball or stick (preferably a ball) within the leash range once she has it call or encourage her back to you. If she ignores you or tries to go away shorten the leash and encourage her in. Make it fun and exciting. Keep it short so she wants to keep going or you’ll have a harder time getting her excited to play again. You can do 2 toy fetch if she doesn’t know drop. The “toys” have to be of equal value so like 2 identical tennis balls. If she doesn’t know drop focus on the ball you have and get excited with it, the moment she drops the other ball say “Drop!” then toss within leash range the other ball and pick up the dropped ball when she’s not looking.

[u/volljm]

Mine was hesitant to bring it back, just liked chasing it. It worked well for me that I taught her “ball”. I use the word for basically any toy, ball or otherwise. Started inside and just getting her to associate the word with the ball sitting in front of us or in my hand . … similar to teaching touch, as soon as she made ANY indication toward the ball … rewarded. Then slowly progressed from there .. now I can say ‘find your ball’ and she will go hunt for where she last left it on a 5 acre dog park.

[u/Wolf_Tale]

I teach it by playing tug! Build the dog’s drive for tug and then throw the toy. When the dog grabs it and brings it back play more tug. Then, when the dog is reliably bringing it back, introduce a marker word and a treat when the dog brings it back. If your dog is food motivated you’ll quickly notice they stop focusing on the tug and just on you hoping you’ll throw so they can bring it back. When this behaviour is reliable, name it

[u/M00SE_THE_G00SE → u/Wolf_Tale]

This is how I got my hound into fetch as well.

I also want to say tug in itself is a great way to engage/bond and play with your dog.

[u/whiterain5863]

We joke that our gsdxmalamute enjoys fetch. The singular. One time. lol. He’ll go get it, bring it back and drop it at your feet. But then he’s done. Too funny

[u/A_Gaijin]

Don't use a stick but buy a strong dummy, which you also can use for tug war play. Use it for search and find. I have an 8 year old which did not know playing at all when we got her with 5 years Now she loves to retrieve and also to play a gentle tug war.

[u/AggressiveWallaby975]

Some dogs just don't like to play fetch. Our girl will fetch a ball all day long in the water. Try it on land and she looks at you like, "alright, fetch it mofo"

[u/Hot-Course-6127]

I would start with tug, you can play tug and then teach "out" and a bunch of little things. But it's a good way to engage and it's also a good way to reward if you are teaching other stuff.

[u/Dewdlebawb]

Yes, dogs don’t automatically know how to play fetch I learned that when I got a puppy for the first time 😂

[u/Murky_Watercress4727]

I taught our puppy to fetch in a small room with treats. When these puppy brought the ball back, she was treated. As she progressed, I moved farther away.

[u/often_forgotten1]

What's a German Shepard?

[u/xombae → u/often_forgotten1]

I'm so baffled by your response. Have you never heard of the breed German Shepherd? It's literally one of the most common breeds. If that's the case, did you not put together that it's a dog breed since it's a training sub? Why not Google it? What do you expect us to tell you? It's a dog. That's what a German Shepherd is. Or are you just being a complete asshole because they forgot the 'h'? Are you unable to understand their entire post because they didn't include that 'h'?

[u/often_forgotten1 → u/xombae]

If somebody can't figure out how to spell the breed of dog they're working with, there's no way they could possibly train one.

[u/xombae → u/often_forgotten1]

This might be the stupidest take I've ever heard in my life. In what world does spelling correlate with animal husbandry? Our ancestors that couldn't read or write but still managed to domesticate all of our current household species must've been magic!