how to make my dog fetch

samnc001.DeleteThis@aol.com (SamNC001) wrote in message news:<20031003185118.06857.00000220.DeleteThis@mb-m20.aol.com>...
> i got a dog from the shelter and she's not a fetcher..how can i get my GSD
> whose 4 to fetch

It's a several step process that you need to do to make them fetch.
First, is your GSD chasing whatever you throw, at all? Most dogs
will, if only for prey drive. You really need to teach them, first,
to "hold", and that is to put something in their mouth, gently hold
their mouth closed, and say hold. Let go, and if they don't drop it
immediately, reward them, even if it is for one second that they held
it. Do this for successively longer time periods. You also need to
teach "pick up", so that they pick up something off the floor. Food
works well as a motivator for this, put a piece of dog treat or dog
food on the floor, tell them to pick it up, and gradually switch to
whatever you are going to use to throw. Then, of course, you have to
teach them to return to you after running to what is thrown. So, you
teach pick up, hold, and return, and eventually after giving the
commands in succession you slowly add the "fetch" word in, so that you
can eventually just say fetch and they will go do it. If your dog
won't chase the toy that is thrown, then you'll need to teach her to
run to the toy.

Good luck. Teaching fetch to a dog who doesn't naturally do it is not
for the fainthearted. It isn't necessarily HARD, just time consuming.
And, if it matters to you, your dog is doing it to please you, not
necessarily because they actually enjoy bringing something back to
you, though some might once they are taught.

natalie, who was explained how to do this for her brother's dog.