Home Based Dog Training

Once you have a dog, you instantly want him to be knowledgeable of all the available tricks that you know. One of these famous tricks that you can teach your dog to do is to fetch things for you. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a dog just like the ones we see in the movies who are fetching the slippers of their owners the minute they walk into the front door? Although this can be achieved, it would be rather hard and would take a lot of time and patience on your part.

For now, you can only teach your dog how to fetch a stick or his favorite toy. This can be done as soon as you feel your dog is ready for the more advanced parts of his training. Meaning, he should have already learned how to sit on his own. When he is already on that stage, you can grab his favorite toy such as a ball or a squeaky toy and use it as bait.

Keep a long leash on your dog so that you can control him if he gets too far. Start by telling him to sit and wait until he comprehends your command and turns it into an action. Once he has done this, grab his toy and throw it in a short distance. Simultaneously, give him the command “Fetch” so that your dog will know that that word should be associated with the action.

Allow your dog to run after his toy. When he has the toy in his mouth, gently pull him back using the leash. So that he will release the toy, show him his favorite doggie treat. You should wait until the dog gives you the toy willfully before you give the treat to him.

Teaching a dog to give you the item he has fetched willfully is an important part of training him how to fetch. This is because if you are going to pull the toy away from his mouth, he will either get defensive or think that you want to play tug of war with him. Once your dog gives you the toy on his own, shower him with praise and reward him with the treat.

Repeat the process until he can bring back the item to you on his own. When he has reached this level, you can remove his leash so that you can throw the item in a farther distance. Do not forget the praise and the doggie treats every time your pet has done the command properly. Also, remember to use a happy and playful pitch of voice every time you are giving out the command. This is so that your dog will associate the command with playtime and he will not be frightened.

Once your dog is capable of fetching on his own, there is a more complicated lesson awaiting him. This is to teach him how to associate a certain term with an object he is fetching. An example for this is if you are telling him to fetch a ball, he will know what a ball will look like. However, this is a more complicated lesson which sometimes, only the experts can fully accomplish.