In this week’s post about Winnie’s training, I’m going to talk about playing fetch and bringing the ball back. This may seem like a simple task to some of you, but not all dogs like/want to play fetch and it was my mom’s wish to have a dog that she could play fetch with!

At the beginning, Winnie wasn’t that interested in even chasing a ball, so we started to throw the ball up in the air so that it would bounce. She was very attracted to this and loved trying to jump in the air to catch the ball. 

Side note: I don’t have any training resources for this week since I wasn’t planning on teaching this to her. It just came naturally one afternoon and we did what worked for Winnie! 

Once she started to run and chase after the ball, we would say “bring it back” and motion our arms towards us. At first she had no interest and would just lay down and chew on her ball. But the more we did it and encouraged her, she eventually brought the ball back and we would give her a treat. Now in order for her to eat the treat, she had to drop the ball and “leave it,” so that’s initially how she started to actually leave the ball for us so that we could throw it again. 

She’s getting better each day at playing fetch with us, but her interest in it only lasts so long. Normally she will do about 5 and then give up. But it’s coming along! 

The video I have included is from yesterday with my dad practicing with her in the backyard!Â