Cheap Pet Insurance

August 6th, 2009 by Ray Baker

If you own a dog and you love him very much, you may want to take some time to strengthen the relationship between you two. Playing is a great way of doing this. Especially playing fetch.

Some dogs know instinctively how to play fetch. Other dogs need to be taught. Luckily, dog training for playing fetch is a fairly simple process. You need to stick to a few simple guidelines for a couple of weeks. The three simple guidelines are listed below.

1. To start with, your dog needs to show interest in the ball. If he has no interest in the ball, the game of fetch will go absolutely nowhere unless you teach him this first. You can do this by waving the ball around in front of your dog’s face. Eventually, your dog will sniff the ball. Once he does this, praise him a little and repeat this a few more times. This way, your dog will learn to show interest in the ball.

2. Once your dog has learned to pay attention to the ball, he must learn to pick it up in his mouth. It’s possible that he will do this all by himself. In this case, you simple need to praise him and feed him a dog treat. If he doesn’t pick up the ball on his own initiative, you can make the ball more enticing by smearing some peanut butter on it. Keep this up long enough and your dog will eventually learn to pick up the ball.

3. Now that your dog has learned to chase and pick up the ball, he needs to bring it back and then let it go. Throw the ball away until your dog follows it and then picks it up. Now you can lure him back to you by waving a dog treat around. Once he comes back to you, he will likely drop the ball so he can have his treat.

After about a week of repeating these simple steps, you can try a few fetches out in the field. Take your dog into the yard or any other area with enough open space, and throw the ball a short distance away. If your dog has understood his fetch training, he will eventually chase the ball, pick it up and take it back to you. Every time he gets it right, praise him and give him a dog treat. Then, throw the ball a little further.

If you stick to these simple training steps, your doggy should learn to play fetch in a matter of days or weeks. In time, your doggy will likely gain a better understanding of what playing fetch is all about. The game then becomes its own reward and you won’t have to stock up on dog treats anymore.

Dog owners all over the world know how fantastic it is to have a dog around the house. Dogs are very loyal creatures that are good company. If you love your dog, chances are you are always looking for ways to get closer to him. A good way of doing this is to play fetch with him. So follow these guidelines and teach your dog how to play with you!