Teaching Your Dog How To Play Fetch

When you’ve successfully taught your dog how to hold and pick up an object, you’re ready to teach him to bring it back to you.

For more advice on teaching your dog to hold objects, click the “hold object” link on the menu above.

If you’re training a puppy, it’s a good idea to use a squeaky toy at first, and let him play with it for awhile before you start this training session.

Here’s a way to train your dog to play fetch.

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Hold your dog by his collar, and throw the object a short distance.

Give the command “Fetch” as you let go of your dog’s collar. Since you should have already trained him to pick up and hold the object, he will chase it. If he doesn’t, you need to go back to the earlier training sessions.

When your dog has picked up the object, give the command “Come”. When he does, crouch down lower to welcome him. Reward him with physical and verbal praise for doing what you wanted him to do correctly.

Remember to put your hand under your dog’s jaw to stop him from dropping the object.

Say “Give” and take the object out of your dog’s mouth. As soon as he let’s go of the object, reward him with the words “Good dog”.