The retrieve

[MontanaRott]

Phil and Guerin have been working a bit on training for Open A, and the dumbbell seems to be the element that is going to be the hardest for Guerin. ANY hints, tricks, suggestions you all may have to flip the light on for Guerin will be gratefully accepted!

[diddybopper04]

It sort of depends on what issues you are having.

Does the dog have a play retrieve?

Has he been properly taught how to hold the dumbbell, and how to really GRAB for it when it's presented to him?

Teaching a retrieve the right way has a lot of work and steps before there is any throwing of the object.

[MontanaRott]

They are not even close to throwing it yet. Phil can offer it to him and ask him to take it and he will, he knows hold and will hold. Phil says out Guerin releases the dumbbell and is rewarded. BUT he will not pick it up off the ground. He will play fetch with balls or sticks or what ever all day long and bring you the object to throw again. But he just will not pick up the dumbbell.

[diddybopper04]

MR, that is certainly the hardest leap. You must get the dog lunging and grabbing for the object out of your hand before you ever start trying to put it on the floor or the ground. Whether you are using positive reinforcement, or forcing the retrieve, the dog must learn to really lunge and grab for that dumb bell every time you present it. Once the dog is to this stage, you will gradually start to offer the object at lower levels.

Once you get to the point you can put the dumb bell on the floor, with your hand STILL ON IT, and the dog will pick it up, you can start gradually and slowly taking your hand out of the picture, and increasing the distance the dog goes to pick up the dumb bell.

It pays to keep a careful watch on several things, and really nip them in the bud:

MOUTHING the dumb bell. Work on hold it if you get this problem

PLAYING with or POUNCING on the dumb bell, or run outs or returns that are too slow....
Go back to working on the lunge, grab, and pick up on lead if you get this issue.

The training of the retrieve properly in the beginning takes time and effort, but if properly done it will reward you for the entire working life of the dog.

[fbkeays]

The proper dumbbell makes a world of difference. My Misty is better in her old age, but for a long time, she would only retrieve her #6 J and J Invencibell plastic dumbbell. It took a while for me to find THE db that she would pick up and retrieve. Forget wood and cheap plastic, she wouldn't touch them. My Duncan doesn't seem to have much of a preference, but he uses a #7 Invencibell. Fizbin is a hard wood kind of dog. He likes the largest hardwood db- heck he might even prefer the schHI db. He doesn't like the mouth feel of the plastic.
For Fizbin and Misty, it was finding the right size, weight and mouth feel to get the solid hold and retrieve.

[MontanaRott]

Originally Posted by fbkeays

The proper dumbbell makes a world of difference. My Misty is better in her old age, but for a long time, she would only retrieve her #6 J and J Invencibell plastic dumbbell. It took a while for me to find THE db that she would pick up and retrieve. Forget wood and cheap plastic, she wouldn't touch them. My Duncan doesn't seem to have much of a preference, but he uses a #7 Invencibell. Fizbin is a hard wood kind of dog. He likes the largest hardwood db- heck he might even prefer the schHI db. He doesn't like the mouth feel of the plastic.
For Fizbin and Misty, it was finding the right size, weight and mouth feel to get the solid hold and retrieve.

Now that is some food for thought. Thank you Francis, we will experiment with different db's and see if that is the problem!

[poohbearsmom]

Perhaps you could try having some "fun" with it before working on giving/taking..... Deiter wouldn't touch a dumbell... till we were throwing the ball one day, and he was all worked up in prey.... then we tossed the dumbell, and he dug up dirt to get to it and bring it back. Now, he no longer acts like the dumbell is the scourge of the earth.

Also, how familiar is Guerin retrieving various materials (plastic, wood, metal).... ??

Just throwing this thought out there...I've been wrong before (no, really), but my thought is, if you make a game of it, the rest will follow, and you can then enhance your control later....