[K & G]

I'd like to teach Gage to catch things we throw to him, like a ball, or frisbee. We've got a soft ball filled with foam to start out with, but he'll just stand and watch it come toward him. If your dog can do this, how'd you teach him/her?

 

[MakoCSH]

Franny didn't have much interest in toys, but by gosh if you threw her a treat she caught it every time! She rarely missed. Molly on the other hand watches what you throw until it hits her in the head :smack:

 

[bpeery]

To teach my pups, i would get one of their small soft toys, roudy them up so they want it real bad and toss it at their heads, some times they will grab at it, then i just say catch, sometimes they catch it sometimes it falls to the ground!
I also do it with food or treats too!!!
It might take a while, but they will learn!

 

[fuchsh]

Another method is to get the dog catching treats (which is only possible after a certain age, I'm not sure how old your dog is), and then introduce a command for the treat catching. Once the dog has understood what the command means, you can start generalizing it onto toys etc.

 

[BeagleBabe]

The only thing Abby catches is flying bacon /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif everything else she lets hit the ground and then gets it.

She does love to play fetch though :thumbup: I taught her to do that all by myself...one time she "accidently" brought the stuffed animal right back to me and I got all excited and everytime after that she brought it back I rewarded her with more positive reinforcement. Now "fetch" is one of her favorite games.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Jersey doesn't catch, but she will fetch. We've been working on catching treats, but so far the only sure thing is ham. Everything else she'll watch fall and then go get it. Amber would just close her eyes and duck when we tried to teach her to catch.

 

[K & G]

Good ideas everyone. I don't know why I didn't think to start with tossing food. That should be easy for him to pick up. Gage is almost 1 1/2 Monty and Spencer, so he should be old enough to learn.

 

[amylou57]

My husband has got Wyatt catching a few things, mostly treats after about a year, and he's almost 3 now. He started by getting the sit command and then holding the treat in front of him. He'd ask "are you ready," (Wyatt sometimes barks softly back at him as if to say, "come on Dad, you know I am!") and then toss the treat with a high arc so it would almost hit Wyatt in the nose. It took a little while, but he gets it now, and tries his hardest to catch anything that comes his way. He's most succesful with treats of course, but he's caught balls and toys as well.

Funny thing though, Wyatt will not often play fetch. He'll run after whatever you throw, but takes a long time to bring it back, if at all. we've tried treats, positive reinforcement (i.e. getting excited), but nothing seems to work. I guess he's just not a "fetcher."

Good luck with your training!

 

[LuckyBeagle]

Lucky refuses to catch. But boy can he fetch! I never even taught him to fetch. I threw a ball for him and he kept bringing it back. He just naturally knew how to fetch. He refuses to catch anything though. He will just wait until it falls and get it.

 

[Jennifer]

Rosa is very good at playing fetch, she does it like she's a labrador retriever but she will only catch food in her mouth.

Lilly used to catch flies :freak:

 

[janna]

Hunter will catch anything you throw in the air as long as it's food /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif She can catch a piece of popcorn from halfway across the room. Casey has yet to learn this but can jump for anything as long as it's food.

 

[ricksconnected]

ok bernie sucks at fetch. "you threw it, you go get it" is his attitude. now throw a treat and hes on it like white on rice. he can catch a treat thrown from across the room too.
he has no real interest in toys. rawhide yes, but nothing else.

 

[PFR]

No they catch nothing! It just hits them in the head and lands on the floor. Even food!

They will fetch if in the mood, but more often the watch :hi:

 

[Karebru]

Sadie (19 months old) will catch treats. She automatically goes into “sit” if you even get near the pantry , but if you say “catch” her butt pops up and she bounces around like a tennis player waiting for a serve.
Her stomach definitely understands the command, “Sadie, catch!”