Teach Your Dog to Fetch for Fun, Friendship and Fitness

By: Andrea Arden on 03/10/2010

The inclination to retrieve is highly prized in dogs and has been encouraged through breeding and training over the course of hundreds of years so that dogs can assist people in a myriad of tasks. Retrieving can be most useful in the work of service dogs who can be taught to fetch objects for individuals with disabilities. But, retrieving can also be of immense benefit to the daily and long term quality of life for pet dogs and their people.

Teaching your dog to fetch is a superb outlet for mental and physical energy and as part of an overall health and well-being program. After all, a dog who gets to fetch toys for at least a few vigorous 3-5 minute sessions a day is less likely to suffer from obesity. But, these play/training sessions can also help to cement the canine/human bond and to develop a more cooperative relationship between the dog and it's people. A dog who is having a blast running to get it's favorite toy, who then brings it back to it's person to offer it back to them on request, and then sits or lies down to say "please" for another toss, is getting numerous opportunities to practice the give and take of a healthy relationship.

Many dogs have a natural desire to chase fast moving things (in this case a ball or toy). Others seem to have an aptitude to bring the toy back to their person with just a bit of prompting. However, most dogs require guidance on how to play the game of fetch. Helping your dog learn the rules of the game ensures that one of the most important benefits of playing fetch will be achieved. That is, both you and your dog will have the most fun.

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Dog Growling

By: Andrea Arden on 03/04/2010

When a dog growls most people react by moving away. This is a good thing. Growling indicates the dog is trying to create distance, either to protect itself or something it is guarding (a toy, food, a location). While nobody wants their or any dog to growl at them, the growl is in some ways to be appreciated as it is essentially the dog's way of giving a warning to back off. As aggression goes, this is far better than the dog making a sudden and quiet attack to bite. As with all dog vocalizations, there are a range of types of growls. However, most have one thing in common. The tone is low and clearly menacing.

By moving away when a dog growls you are greatly decreasing the odds that the dog will feel it needs to escalate the aggressive display to make it's point. So, this is always a wise first step. While there are situations where growling may be slightly more tolerated than others (i.e. when a bitch is protecting her litter of newborns), in most cases growling should be seen as a loud and clear alarm bell that the dog needs help learning how to interact with people. Regardless of the dog's size, aggression can develop into a very dangerous and serious situation. So, at the first sign it is wise to contact a trainer or behaviorist to work with you one-on-one.

Far too many people excuse or ignore growling until the problem has escalated and life with the dog becomes very stressful. Unfortunately, even more people react to growling by attempting to fight fire with fire. Verbally, or worse yet, physically correcting a dog when they growl is a sure fire way to get you or someone else bitten. In some cases, the dog may be temporarily blunted. That is, they stop growling and essentially shut down due to the punishments. However, this does not mean the issue has been dealt with. The dog may learn to stop growling (with some people), but he is most probably still experiencing the same thought process that caused the warning growl in the first place.

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Does Your Dog Think It's Name is No?

By: Andrea Arden on 03/03/2010

I usually begin classes and private lessons with an introduction to the many benefits of taking a positive, dog friendly approach to teaching. I am always pleased to see nods of approval from students as I explain how punishments more often than not result in a dog engaging in owner absent behavior problems (i.e. I'll wait until my family of big, bad punishers is gone to engage in chewing everything I can find and eliminating behind the couch, where it hopefully won't be found). While explaining how a punitive approach can also seriously damage the canine/human bond, I see plenty of people look lovingly at their dogs and imagine they are thinking that is the last thing they would want to have happen. At moments like this I am confident that people understand their role as their dog's guide. That they will move forward with a plan for management and teaching that will set their dog's up for a lifetime of success, safety, fun and happiness with their family.

However, even some of those students who begin the first lesson or class nodding in vigorous dog friendly agreement fall prey to the big, bad "No Syndrome." Saying "no" seems to be people's default verbal response to just about anything their dog does, other than sleeping. And from my experience it is about as hard to fully extinguish this behavior from people's behavioral repertoire as it is to get people to stop petting an adorable puppy who is jumping all over them. In the case of the puppy, I try to explain that each time the pup is rewarded for jumping (with giggles, petting, and eye contact) that behavior is becoming stronger. When the pup is an adult, jumping is not likely to be tolerated. So, why encourage it in a puppy and then confuse them later by changing the rules of polite greeting?

In the case of saying "no," the first few times your dog hears this, they are likely to respond by stopping whatever they are engaged in doing because they are probably startlet. This may be why people keep using the word, because they are reinforced by the dog stopping, which was the whole point of saying "no" in the first place. However, it doesn't take most dogs long to tune out what has surely become a constant stream of no's. After all, there are so very many things a dog can do in a home that most people consider inappropriate. Essentially, the dog learns to ignore being nagged.

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