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When did your BC become interested in Fetching?


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Hi,

 

I have posted a few times here but I am still pretty new to the boards. My question is at what age did your BC become interested/fanatic about fetching? Most Border Collies I have seen including my other BC are ball fetching, Frisbee retrieving maniacs but 7 mo old Tucker could really care less. At home in the yard he will half-heartedly bring back a ball or fetch at the dog park if no other dogs are present but if 1 other dog is there retrieving Tucker has to herd them. The funny thing is that he associates the ball/frisbee/chuck-it with the other dog running so he can herd it but he just doesn't seem to want to fetch the ball himself. I am wondering if any other BC owners have experienced this? It seems to me his herding instinct is so discriminating that he won't focus on chasing things other than animals that he considers livestock. Wierd? Normal? I just don't know, it sure is fun to watch him chase those dogs and the looks on the other dogs faces when they realize that Tucker is herding THEM! :rolleyes:

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Dazzle (fetching fanatic) was fetching pretty much the day I went and saw her for the first time (4 weeks). She would bring you sticks, wood chips, grass clumps...

 

And she just seems to be getting even fetch-ier the older she gets! :rolleyes:

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My BC doesnt really care much bout it. She'll return something if you oss it but she isnt too into it just yet She'd 6mths

 

Mine does do a similar thing though, when I toss soemthing for my Lab she takes off and jumps and grabs his scruff running with him and snarling and tries to get him to head back lol

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I can't remember how long it took Kessie, but Kyla has learned it quite quickly. It's easy with her because she always wants whatever Kessie has, and if I throw only one ball she naturally wants to be the one who gets it.

We have one of those balls with a little bell in it and a rope for tugging and throwing. I used to let her play with it like a cat (chase it over the ground and swat it :rolleyes: ) at first...so she got the idea that this was an awesome toy, and when I threw it she naturally wanted it back (especially with Kessie around).

Kyla has even learned to drop it already, that's the part that took Kessie forever.

 

And be careful what you wish for..."interested in fetching" is putting it very mildly indeed :D

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Dakota was casually bringing toys back at about 9 weeks of age. He's always had pretty high prey drive, and retrieving was easy enough to teach him once he realized that returning the ball meant that there was a chance I'd throw it again.

 

He's a weird one and doesn't herd other dogs much. His focus is solely on the ball or frisbee.

 

I agree with Sandra, too. :rolleyes: Once they catch on, your arm just might fall off from all the ball throwing. I've had to teach my boy when to back off and quit bringing balls to me. If I'm in the living room watching TV, he'll bring me ball after ball until he has a nice collection of 10 or 15. Then he backs off and does the eye (more eye than he shows on geese :D ) until I throw one. I don't mind anymore, but it weirds some people out.

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I can't remember exactly when but my BC was never into toys when she was a pup. She just wanted to chase other dogs or chase a sock attached to a string. I had to physically show her how fun it is to chase a ball. In a few weeks, she was obsessed with it.

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When Jenna was a pup we had to start out rolling the ball on the ground. I used to sit on the floor and roll the ball so that it would hit the wall and bouce up off the base board into the air. At first she would watch the ball and try to grab it off the floor, but she figured out pretty soon that it was easier and a lot more fun to wait until it bounced up to catch it. I think I have a video out there somewhere. . .goes off on a hunt. . .

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Tess had ZERO interest in fetching for a long time but is now a passable fetcher of things, but only certain things and only if I stand in the right spot in the yard for her to bring it back. :rolleyes: However, she LOVES tug games so if I throw a cloth frisbee (a tough one), she will bring that back ASAP because she knows she gets a brief tug game every time she brings it to me. I have to keep the fetching toys very special and for fetch games only or else Tess is not interested.

 

Kipp has been fetching anything thrown for him since he was about 8 weeks old. I have to hide all the round objects or he won't stop.

 

Fetching is great exercise but if they get too obsessed it is not such a good thing. My two have lots of games they play with me in the yard and in the house, and we do tricks, etc. too, to keep some kind of well-rounded thing going on.

 

Allie + Tess & Kipp

http://weebordercollie.com

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Originally posted by Alicia:

Mine does do a similar thing though, when I toss soemthing for my Lab she takes off and jumps and grabs his scruff running with him and snarling and tries to get him to head back lol

LOL Alicia!! That is Excatly what Shelby does to Pete!! its so funny!

 

Pete ~ will fetch he is estimated at about 7-8 mths old.

 

Shelby ~ Will run to whatever you throw, look at it... maybe sniff it, leave it there.. THEN run back to you wanting you to throw again :rolleyes::D:D

she is 5 mths

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4 mos. And now he won't stop.....lol. But I love that about him.

 

Poppy does most of the work. Pepper just herds him while he does it, and occasionally steals the ball to incite him to chase her.

 

But he's great! He fetches it and brings it back and even puts it in my hand if I ask him.

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Jester came to me as a rescue at age 2. He didn't know or care the least bit for any toys. I had to teach him to fetch, like teaching him a trick, and reward with a treat each and every time. One day about 6 weeks after I started teaching him, suddenly the lightbulb went off (I could almost see it happen) and everything changed. He now is the biggest fetching fanatic I have ever known. If there are no toys he will bring a stick, if no sticks he will try to bring a tree, failing that he will grab a leaf and spit it out at me, then back up with that intense look I love so much and wait for me to throw it. It's a hoot. But...........beware what you ask for! You may create a fanatic! :rolleyes:

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Our BC, Zoey, had absolutely no interest in balls from the time we got her at 8 weeks old. I starting to worry she might never be interested in fetching, but I kept throwing it for her a few times each day just the same. Suddenly, at about 7 1/2 months it was like a switch went off in her brain. She's almost 9 months old now and all I have to do is say "tennis ball" to induce the Border Collie Dance of Joy. She's almost an expert on getting the ball, bring it back and dropping it in my hand. I see Flyball in her future.

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Jackson is a fetching fool! Skip thinks the only thing he should fetch is Jackson! And the foster girl Missy thinks the same! Poor Jackson! He has to run the gauntlet everytime I throw something! Sometimes I will make Jackson stay when I throw the object and Skip will get it but is 50/50 on bringing it back! But Jackson is happy to go get it!

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Kipp is fianlly starting to fetch. He is almost 2, and I've had him 2 months. What seems to be working is limiting his free time, and then getting really excited about a game of fetch with a squeaky ball.

 

I kept him pretty calm and on a leash for about a day and a half. And then when I fianlly invited him to play ball with me, his whole attitude was "finally, I can play!". Before that he would half heartedly chase the ball a couple times before getting sidetracked.

 

Missy was a ball fanatic from the first time I threw one for her. I highly doubt she played ball before I got her at age 3.

 

Missy loves her solid rubber balls, but could care less about the squeaky one I got for Kipp (in an effort to get him interested). Kipp seems to like to squeak the ball(now!), but the only reason to chase the rubber ones is if Missy is chasing one. It be interesting to see if that changes at all.

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Umm probably about a month ago - at age 7.5 YEARS!! :rolleyes:

 

Maggie still will really only fetch well for treats, but she was really into the soft squeaky balls from the IQube she got last night so we'll see how it develops lol.

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Happy was fetching from the day she walked into my house at 10 weeks lol while I was at school my dad would tell me how Happy would fetch all of the plastic water containers from under the fishtank and gather them at his feet lol Happy though has always been obbessive about it, she does NOT stop playing fetch and fetch is the ONLY thing she is willing to play, she has no desire to play with other dogs or wrestle with people, she plays fetch and thats it lol I cant forget taking a relaxing soak in the tun and looking over to see Happy pushing the bath mat into the tub for me to throw!

 

Misty is less obbessive,so I dont remember when she started, but she only plays fetch if you start it, then she continues indefinetly lol

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We started teaching Hannah to fetch right when we brought her home. She was obsessive about it by the time she was 4 months old. She also has no desire to play with other dogs or entertain herself...it has to be playing WITH me (ie me throwing the ball, or me playing tug with her).

Our aussie would chase balls etc when he was younger but wasn't really that interested. At around a year he got more interested in chasing balls and actually runs fairly fast to get them. Sometimes he'll bring them right back, other times he brings it part way back and then stops and tries to destroy it and rip it apart. When he was a puppy, he also would chase the other dog and grab at her neck and was more interested in that than the toys.

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