6 steps to teaching your dog to fetch

6 steps to teaching your dog to fetch

Teaching your dog how to fetch seems like it should be one of those things that’s so simple it requires no real thought or effort. After all, dogs love both playing and pleasing their humans, and fetch involves both of these things — you should just be able to do it, right?

Short answer: nope.

While there are some dogs that just seem to intrinsically understand the game and will automatically chase and retrieve whatever object you use the first time you try, most do not. Either they sit and stare at you, wondering why you would choose to throw away a perfectly good toy, or they chase after the object but don’t “catch” it, or bring it back.

So what can you do to help your pup learn the game like a pro? Here are six tried and true tips.

1. Start with chasing
   If your dog is of the “sit and stare” variety, your first goal is to teach him to chase after the object you want him to fetch. Generally speaking, there are three ways to do this, depending upon what motivates your pup: you can offer him affection, treats, or play for retrieving the chosen object.
   
   
   Whichever motivator you use, the process is basically the same. Encourage your dog to go after the item you want him to fetch. When he grabs it, reward him with his motivator of choice, then take the object away. Repeat this a few times, then toss the object a short distance. When he goes for it, immediately reward him again. Repeat the process until you can reliably toss the object and get him to chase it.
2. Add extra motivation
   Want to encourage her to give chase even more? Try holding her back after throwing the toy. She’ll naturally tug against you, especially if you offer verbal encouragement while still holding her back. Once you finally let go, she’ll be after the object like a rocket.
3. Retrieving
   After your dog chases the object, the next step is getting him to actually bring it back to you. There are a number of different things you can do depending on your dog’s behavior. If he won’t bring the object back at all, it can help to use a second toy. Once he’s “caught” the first one, show him the second and throw it in the opposite direction. He probably won’t carry the first toy with him, but it will at least get him accustomed to the idea of running back to you after he’s caught the object.
   
   
   After he masters this, try calling him to come back to you while he’s holding the object and asking him to drop it. If you show the second object, he’ll likely drop the first one to chase after it. Eventually, he’ll learn that if he comes back to you and drops the object, you’ll throw it again.
4. Avoiding “keep away.”
   For dogs that like to catch the object and run off with it, a rope can help. Once she catches the object, wriggle the line and pull it towards you or run away from your dog with it. This should encourage her to follow you. Even if she doesn’t, reel the rope in and praise her when she gets close, then toss the object again and repeat. Do this for a few weeks and your pup should come to you naturally.
5. Getting the object back
   If your dog stops and drops the object before reaching you, back away while saying “All the way,” or “Bring it.” Once he reaches the spot where you were originally located, go to him and offer praise, then toss the object again. If the issue is that he won’t let go, tell him to drop it and put a treat by his nose. Most dogs will drop the object to go for the treat.
6. Pick something your dog likes
   Perhaps the most important rule of all — your dog isn’t going to chase after something unless she actually wants it, so feel free to experiment with different objects (balls, Frisbees, sticks) until you find one that she’s interested in.

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Does the Click End the Behavior?

Does the Click End the Behavior?

It seems straightforward: we click to mark a desired behavior, and then we reinforce. The act of reinforcing the behavior necessitates a change in action: the horse eats the treat, the dog plays with its favorite toy, and the animal in the process of being reinforced no longer performs the behavior for which it was clicked. The click, therefore, ends the behavior.

Yet, is it true? The more a trainer explores the use of the clicker, the more he or she may begin to question this principle. After all, if you only click at the end of a behavior, are you also reinforcing "stop working"? How do we use an event marker if we wish the animal to keep going until it is cued to stop working?

Often when we find ourselves in these gray areas, we discover that the question we are asking is the wrong question. Rather than asking "Does the click end the behavior?" we need to ask "Is the click followed by a reinforcer

Can the click carry two meanings?: 1) yes, that is the behavior I want, and 2) please continue doing the behavior. Can it be both an event marker and a keep-going signal? Karen responds: "If you switch the click from being a marker signal to being a kind of encouragement or 'keep going' signal, you are going to be in trouble. When you give random clicks during a continuing behavior (while training a "stay" for example), unpaired with any other event, you separate the click from the reinforcer." Studies at the University of North Texas have demonstrated that to maintain the strength of the association of the click with the reinforcer, you need to keep those two items paired and associated in real time as much as possible, or the power of the click will be reduced until it is meaningless to the animal.

Sometimes, people click and also treat repeatedly during a long-duration behavior, but don't let the behavior stop. In this case the click continues to be paired with the reinforcer, but the click actually has no information in it at all, since it is not marking a clearly identifiable behavior. You have eliminated its main purpose, as a marker signal.

So, if the click must be maintained as an event marker, rather than a keep-going signal, and we don't want to click until the behavior ends, how do we build enduring behaviors?

For horse trainer Alexandra Kurland, the click always ends the behavior: but only temporarily. She writes, "Suppose your horse blasts forward into his usual fast trot, but then has a moment where the trot steadies and slows down. You click, and he stops. He stops BECAUSE the click marks the end of a unit of behavior. If he's going to collect his ‘paycheck,' it has to. So, now you pick up the trot again. The horse rushes off, but he's a clicker-wise animal. He knows he was just reinforced for something. He just doesn't know what. His trot steadies again, just for an instant, but that's all you need to click and say ‘Yes- that's what I wanted.' The horse stops, collects his paycheck, and then starts up again. Eating is relaxing, so the next time he picks up a trot, he's much calmer. Click! You mark that right away and give him a jackpot of a special goody. He's starting to figure out that trotting off slowly turns you into a vending machine. Once he's going into the trot calmly, you can begin to withhold the click and ask for a little more and then a little more." In other words, you build duration the way you would shape up any other behavior: in small increments.

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