Does your dog love to play fetch? Yet, never drops the ball? If you are like a lot of my customers you like to throw the ball for your dog. It is a good way to tire your pup out and you enjoy building a stronger bond with your dog. However, there is probably one annoying part… Fluffy (insert your dog’s name here) loves to retrieve the ball but then right as you go to grab the ball from his mouth, he runs away! This then turns into a game of keep-away, right? If your dog does this continue reading and I will explain to you how I train a dog to “drop” the ball!
Teaching Your Dog To Come Back And Drop The Ball While Playing Fetch…
First off, diving into how I train dogs. Everything I do is done via praise. NO TREATS NEEDED here! If you have read some of my prior posts you may know this. If not, well now you do!
When I praise a dog I either do it verbally by saying, “Good Boy/Girl” and or by petting the dog. I say that when I praise a dog it is like me paying the dog $100. I needed to plant that in your mind before moving forward…
How To Teach Your Dog To Drop The Ball…
So, I am going to break down for you step by step how I get dogs i train to drop the ball on command. I recommend starting this on a leash so your dog can not run away and start the oh so popular game, keep away!
Step 1: Assuming you do it how I do it you are holding onto the leash so your dog can not run away.
Step 2: I make my dog sit personally but you don’t necessarily have to.
Step 4: Say “DROP” as you take the ball out of your dog’s mouth. Once you get the ball verbally praise your dog by saying, “good boy/girl” and make it known you are proud of them.
Step 5: Throw the ball again for your dog. Once your dog comes back repeat “step 4” until your dog responds to the new command. I personally do this on a leash so I can make sure my dog comes back to me.
Remember, your dog wants to play the game of fetch so the more you practice this the quicker you can enjoy a dog that brings the ball back to you and drops it on your command.
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