Can't get her to fetch

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Spazzy Jazzy

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I have been trying for months to teach Jasmine "fetch". She's not catching on. I really want to teach her how to clean up her toys, but since she won't fetch, I can't add anything onto it. I've been spoiled with labs, retrievers and GSD/Husky mixes who instinctively run down falling objects and bring them back. Anyone have some advice for Jasmine? She tosses her toys everywhere while she's playing. She should have to pick up her own darn mess. Lol.
 
Try playing tug first to see if she likes that game. My Hanna will bring toys to me for tugging. Start by throwing it quite close by and don't pick it up until she brings it quite close ( I like it touching my foot or in my lap), play a bit then just throw it further away each time. Another game we play is I fake where I'm going to throw it and then she has to search - that will only work for a short time as they soon figure out to watch the toy actually leave your hand to see where it's going.
 
Does she like to tug? Here's what I would try- remove/put away all her toys in the room your going to be working with her in, except for one. Make sure the one you leave out is her favorite. Start engaging in tug with her and get her really excited about playing with the toy. Then toss the toy away, only a few feet. Don't toss it too far or she might lose it. As soon as she grabs it, call her and encourage her to bring it back. Once she does, throw a party- start tugging with her, give lots of verbal encouragement so she knows your happy with what she did. Lather, rinse, repeat. Don't too too many repetitions at first, so she doesn't get bored with it. After she starts doing it consistently, you can add a verbal command like "get it" or "fetch it up".

Luckily for me, Missy was a natural fetcher. Apparently it's not a trait that all Shelties have. I had no idea, because so far both my Shelties have fetched. Missy's favorite game in the world is tug-drop-fetch. Basically I do what I described above. We play tug with a toy, then I tell her to drop it (or let go), and then I toss it, she retrieves it, and then we tug again. Now she will retrieve balls and frisbees without the need to tug in between, although sometimes she thinks she needs to tug.
 
I agree with Missy's comments above, but want to add that you may need to back it up even farther. If you throw the toy even just a foot in front of you and she doesn't get it, take a step back. Move the toy around on the ground with your hands. Make exciting noises, pretend like it's the greatest most fun thing on the planet. I bet it will get her excited and she will want to grab it. When she grabs it, tug and play and reward with excitement and fun.

Once that's easy (she is consistently "going for it" when you are still holding it), toss it just a little in front of her (maybe even a couple inches!) when she is riled up. When she grabs it, grab it too and start to tug and play. Engage her and make the both of you having the toy the funnest thing ever.

Once this is no problem, you can start tossing it even farther. Maybe a couple feet. If she doesn't seem excited, run towards it with her. Hopefully she'll pick it up. If she doesn't, run towards it WITH her. Most shelties like to chase and it will keep her excited. Pick it up and move it around on the ground (like what you did in the first phase).

Hope that helps!
 
It's taken two and half years to get Olive to a point where she will bring anything to us. She wants to herd everything together and she hates if we throw it again. She will sometimes chase down balls but would take them to a corner of the park or room away from us so we wouldn't throw them again (why should couldn't herd the actual sheep, I'll never understand :rolleyes2:)

What finally got us moving towards an actual retrieve is teaching her a simple "pick it up" without throwing it. She learned it for a costume (she was going to be Sherlock Holmes and pick up an magnifying glass) and we've progressed to her picking up a stuffed toy and "bring it here." The next step is to stream line it into a "retrieve."
 
All of the above, but I also want to note, even after Honey learned to fetch (I used to joke I got a defective dog, because she was the first I've ever had that didn't instinctively do it) she's always been more excited to chase something than fetch it, so try rolling/sliding it across the floor instead of actually throwing it.

Having it dart past them on the ground seems to incite their herding instincts. Honey gets so excited anytime I can get a toy to roll between her legs...
 
JacqueZ said:
Having it dart past them on the ground seems to incite their herding instincts. Honey gets so excited anytime I can get a toy to roll between her legs...
Click to expand...

My neighbour sometimes will throw a ball for Hanna and, like a guy, he sends it way over her head. She's not impressed - theres' nothing to chase. I use one of those tennis ball throwers from the dollar store and I try to aim the ball low to the ground and really fast just to one side of her. Something about the speed she just can't resist.
 
This is what I do to get my Christy to learn to fetch. First get your sheltie engaged in the toy. Try to make the toy seem alive. Move it, make it freeze when the sheltie looks at it, make a twitch, then once the sheltie chases the object, make it run. Also make lots of funny, and excited noises. This activates the herding instinct in them. Then throw it. When your sheltie runs to grab it, you start running backwards to encourage the sheltie to run towards you. And if your sheltie doesn't let go, simply hold onto the object make it uninteresting and say "let go". Once she lets go for a second, reward her by giving the toy back. At first when I just threw the toy, Christy would ignore it. Now when I add this game, she enjoys fetching. I learned this from a Zak George video.
 
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