Learning to Catch

[Zumie05]

Yesterday marked the day that Gary finally learned how to catch. He is 6 months and 1 week old.

I have been trying and trying to get him to catch things ever since he was around 12 weeks. I would throw toys at his face and he would let them hit him then go for the toy once it was on the ground.

Slowly he began to try to grab the toys as they came for his face, still failing at the catch though.

Yesterday he caught his first ball! I am so proud of him. Now he will catch treats out of the air too. It's wonderfull!

What age did your dogs learn to catch things?

[Shelby427]

Congrats! It's a good feeling isn't it? Shelby learned to catch pretty young...maybe around 8 or 9 months? It's been a loooong time...I might not be accurate on her timing, but Hudson who is 1 this month ish just learned to catch a ball maybe 3 weeks ago? We too have been trying to train him to catch a ball...and he just never did until a few weeks ago! SO fun, he jumps and flips to get a ball, almost like those disc dogs, but is not consistent yet.

[Nishasmom]

Originally Posted by Shelby427

SO fun, he jumps and flips to get a ball, almost like those disc dogs.

Nisha does this too! But I get very nervous; I am afraid she is going to land wrong and hurt herself! She especially loves the frisbee

[moondog]

Chili learned to catch popcorn pretty young....probably around 5 months or so, I think. It took her awhile to learn how to catch a toy or ball with her mouth....she likes to rear up and catch things with her front paws as well as her mouth and then bring them to the ground. I throw a BIG party when she catches with her mouth!

[brunie's mom]

Out of the four Rottweiler we've had...Baxter is the only one that catches anything. All of them would catch food if you threw something good at them...but as far as catching a ball or toy.....only him.
Two were rescues....and I think they really never learned to play...and the other suffered from HD, and never really got to have too much fun.

Even Baxter get's bored after retrieving a ball or Kong-on-a-rope after 4 or 5 throws.

I've never thought of Rottweilers as being a breed for catching and retrieving.

Gina

[Nishasmom]

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

I've never thought of Rottweilers as being a breed for catching and retrieving.

Nisha is a better retriever than most labs we see at the park! She especially loves to do so in the water

[Zumie05]

It is so good to hear the stories of how your rotties learned to catch! I guess Gary is pretty young for learning to do it.

As far as retrieving goes, just about a week ago I had a breakthrough with him where I FINALLY got him to bring the ball back to me and drop it in my cupped hands instead of throwing it at my feet. It is wonderful!

If he is not in the mood for fetch though he will run after the ball and then just not pick it up, but sniff around instead. He definately doesn't have as high of a ball drive as my Zumi girl rescue mutt does. That girl will run for a ball until her feet bleed.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

I've never thought of Rottweilers as being a breed for catching and retrieving.

If they have enough prey drive, they're great at the retrieving, anyway. Chili's favorite "games" are when we work with her dumbbell and our just started directed retrieve......she's a rocket both out and back! She absolutely LOVES the pivot spin, the mark, the send, and especially the GLOVE in the directed retrieve. Those are both obedience exercises, but to her it's just a really fun game to play. She also has high prey and pack drives and has always had a strong natural retrieve. I think that's the difference, not the breed.

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by moondog

If they have enough prey drive, they're great at the retrieving, anyway. Chili's favorite "games" are when we work with her dumbbell and our just started directed retrieve......she's a rocket both out and back! She absolutely LOVES the pivot spin, the mark, the send, and especially the GLOVE in the directed retrieve. Those are both obedience exercises, but to her it's just a really fun game to play. She also has high prey and pack drives and has always had a strong natural retrieve. I think that's the difference, not the breed.

Well, I know that he has high prey drive...there is not a deer, or critter that he does not want to chase. If I throw a ball....he will run after it....but if he brings it back it's another story. Or just throwing something up in the air for him to catch, he may catch it, or he may not.

I was thinking of the breed as a whole though...since I board mostly Golden Retrievers and Labs...now those are breeds that will jump in the air to catch things and retrieve for hours if you let them. They don't seem to have the prey drive though (and that is what makes them such easy, and good family members).

Chili's got the retrieve all figured out. Baxter thinks tracking is more fun.

Gina

[Jaidann]

Gotta say, our Rottie was definately NOT interested. She would catch a treat just fine. Stray cat you say? The game was on. But a ball, no way. Retrieving ... forget it! I worked and worked with her. Definitely wasn't her thing. You could get her to do it once, MAYBE twice if you were lucky. Anything more and she'd look at you with this puzzled expression that basically stated ... "I just brought that back to you. You went and threw it again??? You go get it now, ya dummy." Anything else, she'd do just great. But this ... nope. Still makes me laugh to this day when I think about it. I'll never forget the expression on her face. One of those "Kodak" moments forever imprinted on my brain and is a great memory of her to have.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

Well, I know that he has high prey drive...there is not a deer, or critter that he does not want to chase. If I throw a ball....he will run after it....but if he brings it back it's another story. Or just throwing something up in the air for him to catch, he may catch it, or he may not.

Chili's the same with catching...if I "prepare" her for a catch, she's much better at it, but if I just toss something at her it's more likely to be caught with her paws or bounce off her than be caught in her mouth.

Since Baxter is willing to charge after "prey", maybe the return has more to do with pack drive than prey drive.

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

I was thinking of the breed as a whole though...since I board mostly Golden Retrievers and Labs...now those are breeds that will jump in the air to catch things and retrieve for hours if you let them. They don't seem to have the prey drive though (and that is what makes them such easy, and good family members).

I'd think the difference is the balance between pack and prey drives, and nerve endings, LOL. The dogs that will do it for hours on end seem a bit mindless to me....I love Rottweilers because they think! I don't ask Chili to retrieve more than 4 or 5 times because I want it to remain fresh, and she would lose interest with too many repetitions of anything. "I GET it already, now what's next?"

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

Chili's got the retrieve all figured out. Baxter thinks tracking is more fun.

She does! Does Baxter air scent as well? Chili will air scent when a dog has just passed by (but is out of sight) in the neighborhood, and tends to scent with her nose to the ground when no one else has been around for awhile. I wish there were more hours in the day (being independently wealthy would be nice ) because tracking would be fun, too!

[stale]

it took Ozzy till last week to learn to catch (this makes him approx 15months old, maybe as young as 11 - hard to tell with a lanky rescue....)

until then, we'd been bouncing training snacks of his skull... well, and the one that got stuck in his nose....

what finally did it i think, was that he catches snowballs. one day a little light went on in his head... "maybe if i catch the food, i'd be able to eat it!"

[moondog]

Snowballs are light, similar to popcorn, so it travels slower through the air....that makes it easier for the dog to follow it with their eye and time the "catch". Heavier items come at them faster and it's hard for them to react fast enough to catch it when first learning. My previous girlie, Luna, was a really good catcher...she could catch a fast ball every time, no matter how hard you threw it. She was a great goalie, too....my teenage son couldn't score when Luna was goalie....she'd block the shot with her chest and send it right back to the field!