Chocolate Lab retrieving problems

I have a 5 month old Chocolate Lab. I’ve been working on retrieving with her for about the last 3-4 weeks. She understands the concept of going to get the ball or bumper, but when she brings the ball or bumper back she usually drops it about 5-10 feet before she gets to me. I reward her with a treat IF she brings it all the way back to me and sits. After several throws, she is more concerned about getting back to me and sitting without the ball, just so she can get a treat. Any suggestions on how to keep the ball in her mouth until she gets to me would be appreciated.

Ryan

Ryan I know of 2 things that might help. first, when your dog coming to that point where she might drop the bumper start backing away from her while really pumping her up and encouraging her to come to you try to keep your profile low and not look directly in her eyes as to be less intimidating. Also since your in a warm area do lots of water retrieves and meet your dog at the edge of the water or even in it a little bit she will be less likely to drop the bumper. Ultimately the dog should go through the force fetch process but you need to know what you are doing or get help from someone who does. hope this helps

By the way, I would lay off of the treats. It seems like they are causing her to anticipate the reward and not concentrate on the task at hand. For a lab the thrill of the retrieve and pleasing the trainer should be incentive enough.

Just gonna bust in with one observation Then I’ll shut up.
If my memory serves me correctly there is very little water (besides the Rio Grande) to be found in McAllen
I used to haul pickles(baby cukes),and melons out of there every week….What a town!!!

Oops, that does make water retrieves a little tough doesn’t it. Hopefully there’s a stock pond or irrigation canal or something tha will work.

yellowdog – I will try your suggestions tonight. Thanks.

mudshark – you are correct. Not much water down here, except for the ocean about 60 miles away. I do have a swimming pool in my backyard, although the VET advised against a daily swim as the chemicals might cause problems with her skin.

Use a Bunker for training, a ball for “play time”. If she is falling short of a retreive, walk backwards as she is coming to you. The other option is to start at the basics, by the fetch and hold command. She should hold the dummy until the command to drop is made.

Craig, your sugestion is the basic premise for force fetch that I mentioned in my post but I still think you need to have a total understanding of the process to do it safely and well. Renedy are you out there? what say you?

I got to agree with Craig. Hopefully the walking bacwards while encouraging the dog will do it, but you may have to force break or do a portion of force breaking the retrieve. The dog definitely needs to learn hold and be corrected when she does not. I have found putting the dog on the table is the best way to teach hold.

What I have said about for breaking or force fetching I believe to be true. I believe very strongly in this method, but keep in mind this is a puppy. Many trainers won’t even start to force fetch until a dog is a year old. It is a great method (I feel the best) for training a dog to reliably retrieve, but it takes patience and a lot of time. Many 6 month old dogs can not handle this at that age.

Give the pup another month or so. My son has two yellow labs. The older is sponsored by Fleet Farm and has become a great jumper and retriver. He learned quickly and was probably good at even five months.

The newest pup, Dozer, seems to have a different attitude and at five months was tough to train. Now Dozer is seven months old and the changes in his ability to retrieve and do other stuff as requesting is remarkable.

Keep working with the dog, but don’t expect perfection at five months.

I would suggest putting the dog on a check cord at this point to make sure the pup is coming back to you. At least that way when the pup does hold on to the bumper they will be coming to you. I just went through all of this with my now 10 month old. I began the force fetch process at 7 months and it went well. Also, with the dog on a check cord you can start early on the pups finishing skills and have that down pat when you put the whole retrieve together. It will all come together. It’s hard to believe how far my little guy has come along since september. Oh, have fun!

I have to agree with Neverhome. There also is a manual or guide on “Total Retriever Training” with Mike Lardy – maybe this will help, too. There also are some intro to basic retriever training video’s at Fleet Farm and Gander Mountain Stores – I used them after my yellow lab came back from Elk River Kennels. These videos show you how to apply those principals for training your dog.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will start putting them to use. I can’t wait to see it all come together…something that will be very rewarding experience.

Backing away from the pup while calling it and clapping your hands usually works for this. I noticed in your post you said after several throws. You may want to limit the number of throws per session, say two or three. Quit when the pup is still going strong. let it be a pup too! It is normal for pups to seem to lose interest for awhile. In a short time it will be picking up bumpers and balls for you to throw.

I totally agree with Mr. Hanson on this. A young lab has a very short attention span, shorten the session but do it daily and before long “this game” will sink in and all will be good.