he won’t fetch anything. sticks, balls, the toys he owns but ignores.

can he be repaired?

Nope. He is obviously a cat.

Stop throwing stuff?

I’m thinking the dog has the upper hand here. He thinks fetching is stupid!

😉

you got the basic model, you need to upgrade all his components to at least XTR or he’ll never work.

Upgrade to a 6″ travel dog and then it will all work fine. Its never you always equipment.

How old is he iDave?

he openly displays affection for his owner, therefore clearly he’s not a cat.

he’s vaguely 12-18 months old

Sounds wrong to me.
What does he think his job is?

My mum’s dog is the same.

You throw something for him he just turns around and looks at it like he’s saying “I thought you were going to give that to me…now you’ve thrown it over there”.

My family dog growing up was a springer…he’d chase after anything, stones, sticks, balls, air (generally moving your arm in a throwing motion would make him charge off). Once he realised he couldn’t find whatever you’d thrown, simply saying “Where is it?” would make him excitedly go back in the hedge and look for it.

I think some dogs just aren’t interested in running after stuff.

I once got my Mum’s dog to run after an old tennis ball, but I’d lob it in the distance, he’d run off, look at it and then come running back without it.

Shame that. Cos the most fun you can have is throwing stuff for your dog when it’s knackered. And it can’t stop itself. So it brings it back and flops down. So you throw it again. And it can’t stop itself.. ad infinitum.
Cats are boring cos they’re just not that stupid.

There’s definitely a fault somewhere.

Try turning it off and on again.

Send him to Jedi for training, the man is a genius. He seriously is.

he openly displays affection for his owner

Apart from contemptuously ignoring your efforts to play silly games.

Face it, the hound wears the trousers in this partnership.

Intelligent animal you’ve got there, he has sussed that you like to throw and fetch and doesn’t want to spoil your fun.

My bitch is bright as a button and won’t fetch either, her brother on the other hand will fetch anything and if there is nothing thrown he will find sticks and drag them for miles………….go figure!

I rebooted and upgraded the software after he chewed that to bytes.

He likes playing with other dogs – maybe I should throw other dogs for him to fetch.

You need to start very slowly. Like just getting him to bring you something from a yard away. Use treats to get him to drop. And get him used to you opening his mouth to take something out (this may save his life one day). If he has a favourite toy, it might be good to start with that. Treat each time he gives you something.

It’ll take time. But stay calm and positive. Reward good things. Ignore bad. Get him used to “no”.

You can teach an old dog new tricks. It just takes longer. I trust you’re training him to see you as the boss. (the picture of him leaning over your shoulder while you’re driving is not such a good start 🙂 )

EDIT: Molly is already fetching, dropping and sitting. 8)

Is it an old dog as they’re notoriously difficult to teach new things to?

Funny enough, my cat likes playing fetch, with lumps of foil in particular. It’d be fine, but he then drops it on your feet, sees a small moving thing, briefly remembers his species and pounces, turning your feet into collateral damage.

I don’t think the parts are inter-changeable though, sorry.

I think people are right…your dog is too intelligent.

Stupid dogs are way more fun.

Woody…our Springer did the same…when you say he’ll drag sticks for miles, you mean enormous branches dont you, pretty much an entire tree.

A cat I had once loved playing fetch, folded crisp packets and jingly cat toys mostly, never tried a stick but she’d probably have gone for that too. She was properly mental, though.

My mum’s dog won’t fetch, but that’s because he’s a fat, spoiled, lazy lump of a lapdog. There’s no point saying ‘lie down’ or ‘stay’ to that dog, I can tell you.

molly does this, molly does that….. 😉

he knows I’m the boss and apart from non-fetching he’s really sound

he’s even developing half decent recall for a terrier!

my collie won’t fetch. or at least he won’t bring anything back. he’ll chase after it and then make sure it doesn’t move from where it stops…

One of my ex’s had a rescue greyhound. Playing fetch was hysterial with it, you would throw something it would pick it up, go over to its bed and create a pile of things on its bed. Try and get it back and it would be really protective!!

Nigel likes to fetch but doesn’t give the thing back.

Probably knows i’m going to throw it again.

jam bo – Member

my collie won’t fetch. or at least he won’t bring anything back. he’ll chase after it and then make sure it doesn’t move from where it stops…

I have seen that with a couple of collies. It makes playing fetch rather long-winded game

When you throw the ball, and he doesn’t fetch it, does that mean you have to go and get it back?

If so, I think you’ve been outsmarted by a dog 😀

futile. I just get him to chase runners and cyclists instead.

mine is faulty too, will chase but wont necessarily (ever) return them.

games of throw are rubbish.

you mean enormous branches dont you

Yup. I once had to drag him out of the river nearby as he refused to let go of a branch sticking out of the water which was attached to a whole tree! He also has a thing about plastic balls, particularly golf balls as I used to live near a golf course and he would find at least one every outing – I’ve got hundreds and don’t even play!

i get bored of the fetch game way before our springer does. she starts barking at me when i stop throwing the ball. doesnt matter where you throw it either. rivers, lakes, bushes she will not stop until it is found and back at my feet. if she loses it, you have to move her away from where it was last spotted otherwise she’d be there all day. always releases it too. i never taught her any of this. one day when she was a pup i threw a ball for her. she chased it and came straight back with it. has been the same ever since.
defo sounds like your dogs broken, although i dont know many terriers who like to fetch and retrieve. labs, collies, springers cockers yes, but terriers not so much.

Our springer is mental, will chase anything and occasionally brings it back. Even less occasionally actually drops it.

I suspect your dog is actually quite smart.
He’s obviously realised that you don’t want any of the toys he gives you as you just throw them away……. so he doesn’t bother any more.

He’s training you not to throw things.

Ah, you need to read these:

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/07/dog.html

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/11/dogs-dont-understand-basic-concepts.html

My dog has no interest in toys or sticks

He only chases real furry things, ie cats, rabbits, squirrels, foxes etc!!
He is a rescue and grew up semi-wild on a welsh hill farm (and had to fend/feed for himself) so never had the whole puppy thing and learnt how to play/

I have two labradoodles and one really has the lab instinct of chasing anything I throw and bringing it back until she is ready to drop. The other seems to have taken on more of the poodle mentality as she will chase and pick up whatever is thrown, then spend an hour making sure I and/or the other dog can’t have it.

Cross bred dogs are much better for this. I had a Cross Labrador / Curly coated Retriever when I used to work in a Chemistry department. He was fantastically useful. A Proper working dog, in the modern sense.

My dog is of the same ilk. She works along the lines of ‘You threw it, you fetch it.’

Brian,

Likes to play fetch so much that he has taken to dropping the ball down the stairs just so he can chase it..

^^^ +1 we had to stop giving her anything that even resembles a ball in the house. can’t give my little boy (11 months old) any small ball shaped toys either. daisy assumes that weve mistakenly given them to him by mistake and infact they are meant for her and shes off chasing it round the house. moron. (or genius, you decide!! )

Our Lab, Ronnie, came from the RSPCA a couple of years ago, very very fat but a lovely (quiet) nature aged 5.

He wouldn’t fetch either until one day it just clicked, he fetched, brought back and dropped the ball at my feet.

WOW, no wrestling the ball off him.

It appeared he’d been well trained, well looked after until his owner no longer had time for him, which is why he was fat, why his feet were delicate and why he’d forgotten how to fetch.

He still won’t fetch sticks though, it has to be a ball but he will fetch brilliantly.

He’s a lot thinner now too 😀