Retriever won’t retrieve

I have a 4 month old yellow lab pup that has a good temperament, is doing well in her obedience training and is a super family dog. The trouble is, I’m really struggling to get her to retrieve.

I throw dummies, dummies with pheasant wings attached, balls, whatever…she chases them, but rarely brings them back.

I throw them when she is on a check cord, when she is free, on cut grass, in brush, anything to try to make it fun for her. She runs after them, sniffs, sometimes picks them up and brings them part way back or not at all. Sometimes the runs toward them and then gets distracted by other things.
When she does make the occassional successful retrieve, I praise her, reward her with a treat, etc…but I can’t seem to get her to successfully retrieve on a regular basis.

I don’t have a ton of cash, so sending her to a kennel for professional training isn’t really an option, although if I have to I would consider it.

This is my first hunting dog, but I’ve been reading the 10 minute retriever and other books to get smart, but it’s hard to progress when basic retrieving isn’t happening. I work with her every day on obedience, etc, but the retrieving just ain’t happening. Is she a dud or am I?

Any suggestions?

First off, Does she carry around things in her mouth.

Find a toy/ball/sock/ anything that gets her excited. Then bring her in the house with the toy. Find a quite distraction free hallway, play with her to get her pumped up. throw the toy down the hallway when she brings it back DO NOT take it away, let her hold it as you pet/praise her. After a few minutes than grab the toy, say drop and if she would, grab the toy and push it back into her mouth, that should make her open her mouth. Never try to pull as they think that it is like a tug-a-war game than. A few training sessions should all it takes.

Ron

This might seem like an overly simple solution, but it kinda worked with my lab. When she runs out to retrieve, picks it up, and turns around, start backing up clapping your hands and encouraging her to come to you. For a young dog it will be more like a game, then work. By no means am I a dog trainer, but it worked with my meathead.

Your not a dud; it is clearly the dog’s problem. My son purchased a yellow lab that is now about 1 1/2 years old and all that dog did from day one was retrieve and swim.

The one question I have is does your dog enjoy swimming. If he does that is possibly a start.

My one suggestion is search for some advice on the Internet. For example, in addition to retrieving, a lot of folks have their labs entered in Dock Diving contests. You might want to find those boards and ask the same questions of the folks that have yellow labs.

Good luck!

Something I found that works well for a situatuion like this is Racquette balls. You really have to make this fun for the pup and get her excited about it. Throwing the racquete ball at a pretty good arc, almost straight up, so it bounces” 30′” in the air. When you first throw it she will more than likely “lose” it, until it bounces, the noise and finding it boucing up and down should be enough to get her going. You want that ball boucing around like a super ball. You want to do this in short grass. Also, Throwing the ball against a wall so that when she’s going for it in one direction and all the sudden it’s coming back at her and passing her should get her charged up and chasing. Don’t say anything to her until the ball is in her mouth…no distractions. When she does have it in her mouth do as Dan said, clapp, back up and get excited, at that point let her know she’s done the right thing. The times she does bring it back you need to shower her with excitement. She is only 4 months, don’t make this a training session, rush her, get madd at her, etc… I Broke my cousins Brittney of this same situation using racquette balls. After 2-3 days that dog couldn’t wait to play with tha racquette ball, she loved the game!!

BIRDDOG

if you are training it to hunt, you should defnitally force-fetch train it. i would explain but there are plenty of places on the internet if you just searched for it

A four month old lab is a very young dog. It sounds like she will be ok by just working with her. I’ve found that the more you work with her the better she’ll become but it takes regular to constant time with a dog to get them to train right. Go for walks with her and throw the things she likes plus other things, you might find something that she really likes to retreive. Her attention span is short now and theres alot of other things that shes going to have her eyes on and want to check out because its all new to her so just give it time, she’ll come around, my lab did.

don’t worry yet my lab did the same thing, the way i fixed it was once she picks up to retrieve kinda run backwards and usually the pup will want to chase you and won’t even think about dropping what is in its mouth. it didn’t take to long when i was doing it with my dog.

When I saw the title of your post I was thinking “force fetch” immediately. But 4 months is way too young. I like the advice here about making it as fun/as much of a game as possible. If she’s not retrieving by 8 months or so you should start on a force fetch program (you probably should even if she is retrieving). Just my thoughts.

RUN AWAY!!! when your dog picks something up and turns to come back to you runaway clapping and calling your hound. Fido will think where the heck are you going and come bolting after you with the dummy that way you get numbers of retrieves back to you and Fido will eventually pick it up. 4 mos is pretty young so take it easy and be patient. labs retireve, they cant help it. some just dont figure it out as soon as others

It’s also important not to continue to throw dummies after the dog has come back half way or not at all. If the dog knows you’ll come over and pick up the dummy and throw it again, then the message to the dog is that the game will continue whether or not I bring this thing back. For example, if the dog retrieves once, but on the next throw does not retrieve – game over. No scolding. Put him/her back in the house. Fun’s over. Do this consistently and the dog will learn that as long as they are retrieving, they get to play!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I’m certainly not giving up on her, I just wanted to figure out the best way to get her doing the right thing on a regular basis.

I appreciate all the info.

4 months is young yet, I would not worry too much. One thing to remember is keep it fun for the pup and end the game on a high note. At this age one or two throws a session is enough. Also at this age let the pup be a pup, many pro trainers will not start formal training until around 6 months.

Don’t make it training. Even if she is in the house and brings you a ball, praise her like the world is going to end. Make sure that she realizes that you want her to bring you things.

I agree with the force fetching thing, but not until she is older and has her basics down. Make sure you do not do this if you are not fully ready for it. It is a tough thing to do, and I personally did not like “hurting” my dog that way.

Good luck. A dog is only as good as the training you have in it. And I would rather hunt alone then with a bad dog.