wont fetch

[dustinconard]

i have a 9 month old german shepherd. she picked up fetching about 3 months ago and here in the las couple of weeks she has completely lost intrest and absolutely will not play, and she has quit listening as well. ive never had a pup so any pointers would be greatly appreciated. if anyone has any idea what may cause this or has had this problem and knows how to fix it please let me know.

[KAE]

Can't give you many pointers on either, but in my experiences teaching my dog fetch, he lost interest in the toy sometimes. I had to switch it up a few times until he got a bit older and he started to get that drive back.

As for the listening thing, how often do you train? At one point I got lazy training/reinforcing Rocky, so he was doing the same thing, not listening, so I started training fairly often again.

[crisp]

Could be just a puppy phase. Don't force anything and keep all activities as fun as possible, that includes training.

[dustinconard]

i was trying to train frequently but i kinda go out of the habbit of playing with her everyday. i will trying mixing up the toy too. thank you. i really appreciate it.

[Stosh]

When you throw a toy and she picks up it, turn around and run- she should follow and might catch on to fetching. Have you tried frisbees?

[dustinconard]

she won't even chase after it anymore. its frustrating because it went from where she would fetch all day then the next day she just looks at me like im an idiot. no i havn't tried a frisbee.

[PaddyD]

Originally Posted by dustinconard

she won't even chase after it anymore. its frustrating because it went from where she would fetch all day then the next day she just looks at me like im an idiot. no i havn't tried a frisbee.

For one thing your dog is young and going through an independent phase. So he may not listen to you as before. Be patient, that will come back in a few months. As for fetching, my dog will fetch like a maniac one day then be disinterested the next. Has a lot to do with energy level and distractions. If there are distractions, forget it. A lot of times she will fetch a few times then let me know she's had enough. I don't push it because it is her play time, I am not training her to be a competitive frisbee catcher. Some dogs have low fetch drive and you just have to accept it..... some are maniacs and will fetch until they drop. Mine is middle of the road, which is fine with me.

[dustinconard]

this may be a dumb question..but would the weather change make much difference? it started around the time that it really heated up. i don't know where you are from but we had a huge jump in temperature here the last few weeks. about 10 degrees or so hotter.

[crisp]

Originally Posted by dustinconard

this may be a dumb question..but would the weather change make much difference? it started around the time that it really heated up. i don't know where you are from but we had a huge jump in temperature here the last few weeks. about 10 degrees or so hotter.

Yup. Remember GSDs are running around in a fur coat. When the temps get up real high they overheat very quickly. Play more indoors and keep outside sessions short.

[dustinconard]

ive seen a lot about the clickers...do they really work?