Hi Jane,
I am glad that your husband has decided to get more involved in discipline of Sammie.
Doe Sammie fetch a ball or toy? If so, it will be easy to train him to "pick up" an object. It goes like this~
1. Show him one of his favorite toys (but not the ones that he would guard
) and throw it close by, maybe between you and him.
2. If he goes to the toy, say "Yes!" (or a cricker - I don't use crickers myself since my eye-hand coordination is bad
) and a treat. If he picks up in his mouth, say "Yes!!" (or a cricker) and a treat. Repeat this until he understands the mechanism of "picking up a toy in his mouth=praise and treat".
3. Now, you point a toy that is laying down close to him on the floor. Some smart dogs can figure out what you would expect by just looking at him and the toy alternately (by the way this is a good way to test your dog's IQ
). If he picks it up, praise and treat!
4. Move on to another toy and do the same thing. Of course you will stick in "drop it' in between.
5. Once he learns this game, you would not need to point out toys any more. You can just sit in front of the toy basket and tell him to go get toys and bring them back to the basket. Sammie will get a treat each time he brings a toy and puts it in the basket. I play this game with my 3 doggies. It is a good mental and physical exercise, especially you put toys in a separate room and put some obstacles on their way to the room.
Enjoy the game
03-24-2010, 07:24 PM
Does Sammie know how to fetch?
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