first time training

[Koda]

Hi. My name is Robert and this is my first posting. I am not new to dog ownership, but this is my first attempt at any kind of actual training.

Koda is a pure bred black and white border born 6/17/2000. He has already proven to be a great family dog with a good temperment. He makes friends of strangers well (human strangers, that is) and happily puts up with all of the "abuse" that my 2 year old daughter and her friends can dish out.

We have been training on a daily basis for about three weeks now and Koda has shown great progress with "sit", "stay" and "come" commands and has even shown some understanding of the "heel" command which we have just begun working on. For our "fun time" he lives to chase the tennis ball which he returns faithfuly on every throw. He picked up on all of the above readily and makes daily progress on his consistency with obeying, but the one thing I cannot even get him to consider is to release his tennis ball after he returns it to me. He will sit politely about six inches in front of me holding the ball in his mouth as if he is ready for more more more... but will not release the ball.

If anyone has any advice at all on this issue I would be most grateful.

Thanks very much,

 

 

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Robert and Koda

Metairie, LA

[TT]

Hi, I have heard of people using a second toy to get the dog to drop the first one, when he comes and sits in front of you, you give what ever drop command you use then show him the other toy, when he drops the first one praise him and throw the second toy,pick up first toy and go on. this is what a friend had to do i never tried it as mine knows if you don't give we don't play anymore. Tina

[oldtintype]

I would get up and walk away ending the game. If he really wants to play he'll clue in fast that he needs to release it in order for the game to continue. Give the drop command ONCE and then if he doesn't drop it, game is over.

 

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Jennifer

[Koda]

Tina and Jennifer,

Thanks a bunch for taking time to answer me!

I already tried using two tennis balls as you suggested, Tina, but he caught on pretty fast and now he sits there looking at the other ball while he holds the first one in his mouth. I went with ignoring him when he doesn't release the ball, even as far as turning my back on him as if he weren't there. Sure enough, he dropped the ball, but not for quite some time. I'll keep it up in hopes that he'll put two and two together.

Thanks again,

Robert.

[Cindy Evans]

If he will let you touch the ball in his mouth try pushing in on the ball as you give the drop command. As you push in his mouth will open a little more and then quickly pull the ball out and praise.

Cindy

[diane allen]

This may or may not work, but have you tried giving him a treat? Mine is not very food motivated, but if you have really really yummy treats (gizzards are "our" favorite - ick - but the dogs love 'em!), you might be able to give the command, tempt with the treat, when the dog drops the ball, give the treat and grab the ball!

 

Another "trick" is to teach the dog to put the ball in your hand. Usually border collies are smart enough to keep trying things - it took mine awhile to figure it out, but she'd toss the ball at my feet; I'd stand with my hand palm up and extended, ignoring the ball at my feet; didn't take her long to figure out where she needed to put the ball to have it thrown again!

 

Have fun - sounds like you've got a sweetheart!

 

diane

[Koda]

Cindy, Diane,

Thanks to both of you for your input.

For now ignoring him seems to be working best. We're going to keep that up daily and watch for progress.

Treats sound like a great idea to me, too. But to Koda nothing else matters, and I mean NOTHING, when the ball has his attention.

Thanks again,

Rob.

[clarkshas]

Most dogs will retrieve as a game, but to teach them to do so in a structured way takes some time and training. My instructor told me to not play with the ball at all until she got it right with proper training, but I will confess that I continued to do so and she got it right eventually. Here's how I taught her: start with a dumbell (light, just about a finger width either side of the dog's mouth size). During structured training and at several other times in the day, tell him to 'sit', 'take' and at that time open his jaws and put it in and hold them. Tell him to hold and hold his mouth around it and praise. This must always be postive. Tell him to give as you let go and he should drop it in your hand. Never praise the give, only the take and hold. Otherwise he'll start to drop it too soon to get the praise on the give command. Only do a few at a time. When he voluntarily takes it, take it lower and lower until he will take it from the ground then a small throw then a greater throw. You should then be able to generalize this across to other objects such as balls and sticks. He should eventually chase after them, bring them back and sit at your feet, and give on command straight into your hand. You also need to have him doing a good consistent recall for this. Never chase him as this puts him in control and makes him top dog during the game.

 

Good luck with this. I do ongoing obedience work with my girl and she retrieves on the flat and over the jump and loves it. When I first started with the dumbbell you would have thought it was sheer torture. Most of the other dogs in my club seem to have a similar response initially, but they all seem to love it in the end.

 

Good luck. Border Collie's love the work and the challenge so I'm sure he'll get there.

 

 

Sharon