Puppy Training Guide

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Training Your Puppy to Fetch

Playing fetch with your puppy is a great fun way for you to spend time with your dog participating in an activity that is enjoyable for you both. Many dogs from game breeds such as retrievers and beagles also have an ingrained desired to want to fetch, which can make for an even more enthusiastic and enjoyable game. Of course, there are other dogs that prefer to play a game of 'fetch and hide', but whatever your puppy decides you can be sure that they will be having fun interacting with you.

The best way to start training your puppy to fetch is to discover what its favorite toy is. It doesn't matter whether it is a plush toy or hard squeaky toy, just make sure that it's something that makes your dog excited. When you first start training your puppy to fetch, it's actually a good idea to have two of these toys to train your dog with.

Dogs and puppies will naturally run after something that interests them, and you can use this to your advantage by making them 'chase' - which is the first step in learning to fetch. Start by throwing the toy relatively nearby, this will save you a long walk should your puppy decide to simply leave the toy where you throw it. Your puppy may or may not pick up the toy you throw, or it may just sniff the area where it lands.

Whatever happens, be sure to praise your puppy when it reaches the toy. Keep doing this until your puppy starts to pick up the toy. Use excited tones to show your puppy that they are doing the correct thing, and then show them the other toy. At this stage, your puppy will most likely come running back to you to retrieve the other toy.

Many puppies will start to understand that they must bring the toy back, but will not want to give it back to you. This is the other reason why you have two toys. When your puppy returns to you, praise its efforts, and take the first toy from them and then throw the second.

Repeat this process a few times so your puppy understands what they must do. Like all puppy training, start slowly and stop while your puppy still shows interest in the game. This means that they will still be enthusiastic the next time you want to do some training.

Each time you play with your puppy, throw the objects a little further away until you build up to your puppy fetching from as far a distance as you can throw. Fetching toys is a fun form of exercise for both you and your puppy, and can be a great way to tire them out so that they don't show signs of boredom while you are not at home.

Keep up your puppy's enthusiasm for playing fetch by introducing different objects such as sticks and balls, and you will see that fetch is a great game to play when you are out on your regular walks!