lawesy Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 NTTF - You may well have already posted a thread on this topic, but here goes: In February, we were given a partially trained 4 year old springer spaniel. Initially, he had a knee problem (which was sorted out really well with surgery and a gradual recovery period), but he is now fully fit and we have slowly re-freshed/re-trained him in all the basics and have discovered that he is fact quite good. He is a super, high-energy dog that hunts and flushes really well, stops on the whistle and comes back to heel. However, he has one fault that we are struggling to resolve; he retrieves short. When we send him for a dummy or tennis ball, he picks it up comes back and then about 3-5 yards from us sits down and plays with the item, wagging his tail. The only way to get him back is to turn and walk away, and then he follows. We would be grateful for any suggestions on training exercises that we can use to get him all the way back and deliverng a retrieve. We have an extendable lead (8m), which we have thought about using, but wanted to ask the experts first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new to the flock Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 lawesy, before using the retractable lead would you please try the following and let me know what happens. Toss a ball out the normal distance. As soon as he picks the ball up and is on his way back to you start to jog backwards....make sure there is nothing you are going to back into....... and praise him. When he gets to within 3 feet of you stop. His momentum will carry him right in front of you. Tell him to sit as soon as you stop . This should put him in a sit right in front of your feet. Praise him, and gently stroke his head but do not take the ball immediately. Let him hold onto it while you praise him for 30 seconds to a minute. Calmly take the ball after this time and give him another retrieve. Please let me know what happens with this exercise, and we can adjust from there. NTTF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawesy Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Thanks for your response. I'll give it a go tomorrow (but not near the river!) and let you know what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyfox Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Or a more disiplinary way of doing it, is put the dummy or tennis ball back in his mouth and hold his mouth shut while the dummy is in there at the same time say hold. Eventually he will know what to do. Df Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phez Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Or a more disiplinary way of doing it, is put the dummy or tennis ball back in his mouth and hold his mouth shut while the dummy is in there at the same time say hold. Eventually he will know what to do. Df ?:good:? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawesy Posted June 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2008 NTTF - tried your exercise several times today; no good I'm afraid. If we backed away, he just lay down further away, dropped the ball between his legs and looked at us as if to say "come on then, come and get it!". No amount of calling (but not yelling) would get him back, even if we waited for several minutes. A couple of times he came a bit closer and then lay back down, but not back to us. Only if we turn our backs and walk away does he then follow us. This is strange, because he's always good at coming right back to heel on the whistle, but not if he has possession of a ball or dummy. Perhaps I should be satisfied with his hunting/flushing talents and let my lab do all the retrieving! I don't really want to knock his confidence by getting impatient with him, because he is a good natured and affectionate dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new to the flock Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 Lawesy, If you hold a ball out in front of him and tell him to fetch will he take it from your hand? NTTF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawesy Posted June 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2008 Yes he will. However, he'll then immediately retreat a few yards away to enjoy his prize. I guess the challenge is to get him to take it and then sit/stay to enable us to praise him and then gently take it back, followed by more praise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawesy Posted June 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2008 Yes he will. However, he'll then immediately retreat a few yards away to enjoy his prize. I guess the challenge is to get him to take it and then sit/stay to enable us to praise him and then gently take it back, followed by more praise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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