playing fetch, he gets bored

[Stevensondrive]

Brutus just turned 5 months old. Took him to the park to play fetch with the ball. I got him excited and he retrieved it 3 times. Each time I rewarded him and lauded all over him. but the 4th time just looked at it. as I walked towards it he ran over and got it.

How do I keep him excited enough to keep retrieving it?? is it an age thing? he is still puppy. He is EXTREMELY laid back.



I have learned so much searching thru previous posts. This site RAWKS!!

[Miss Molly May]

When Molly was younger she lost total interest in playing fetch until we bought her a "Cuz" (a rubber ball with feet and she loves it. Have you ever tried a flirt pole Molly goes super crazy for it?

[Castlemaid]

If he is very laid back, that just might be his energy level. Also, some pups are just slow to develop. So he may be just lukewarm for now, but develop more drive and energy as he gets older.

A few things you can do for now:

- Find a special toy he just goes gaga over, and save it for retrieving games. He never gets this toy otherwise.
- Build his drive, let him really get worked up and excited for the toy. A tug or a ball on a string works well for this. Tease him with it, just have it out of reach, don't let him get it unless he is really over-the-top hyped up, then reward him by letting him "win" the toy.
- Stop before he gets bored, keep him always wanting more.

Maybe the park was new to him, and after burning off some energy with a few retrieves, he was more interested in exploring. See if he gets more into playing with you once the novelty of the place wears off.

[doggiedad]

3 times might be his limit for now.
cut it back to 2 times but several times a day.
5 months old and retrieving that's impressive.

[Stevensondrive]

he is still teething, so I haven't done any tugging yet. He just lost one of his K9's yesterday. He loves playing with the wife's Soft Coat Wheaten Terrier. she panicked the first time she saw her dog covered in blood from his teething. She thought her dog was bleeding. you probably had to be there. lol

[Stevensondrive]

Originally Posted by doggiedad

3 times might be his limit for now.
cut it back to 2 times but several times a day.
5 months old and retrieving that's impressive.

thanks for the kind words

[kidkhmer]

Last night I went and bought some new tennis balls. Karma is already retrieving well @ 11 weeks but I have been using small stuffed toys that do not have any bounce or WOW factor. She will bring them back and play around with them a bit and eventually come to me and hand it over - probably about 6-8 times before she loses interest.

The tennis balls were a different story altogether ! I sat down in the living room
( tiled) , tossed the ball with a bit of a bounce the entire 20m length back into the house and she was onto them like lightning and then bought them straight back into my hand. I then switched ends and tossed it out the front door and into the front garden and she went out,grabbed the ball and brought it back up the 3 stairs and inside. Karma was good for about 15 throws and then switched off.

[Stevensondrive]

sounds like Karma was in a mood to play!! I think I'll head to petsmart and see what we can get. I wanna get him into playing fetch so when he gets a little older we can transition to frisbees. I am amazed how smart he is!!

[Veronica]

We hold a tennis ball in one hand and throw a 2nd ball. When Panzer brings back the first one, he drops it so we throw the 2nd one. We do this with assorted toys - he has a couple of bouncing squeaking cows that we squeak & toss - the squeaking might get your pup interested for a change of pace.

[crisp]

Lots of good advice already. I'll just add to have fun with him. Get really goofy and excited yourself. Chase him, run away, etc. My dog doesn't have great ball drive at all, but she plays fetch because I get her really amped up before.