Force Fetch Question

[Kent S]

I have force fetched numerous dogs but I have a dog that, although force fetch is going well he does one thing that I'm not sure how to approach. We are past "hold" and he moves well with the bumper in his mouth. Nearly never drops the bumper. He will walk at heal or even come to heal position or remote sit in front of me with the bumper in his mouth. What he does is that he will move his head down and around to try to avoid me taking the bumper from him. He won't drop the bumper. He just ducks his head a little when I go to take it from him. He will let me take the bumper but just tries to keep it away a little.

[Evan]

Kent,

What prior training has he had?

Evan

[Kent S]

He is 7 months old. He has all basic obedience dawn solid. Sit, sit to whistle, here, here to whistle, heal, heal left and right side, remote sit, heal to side from remote sit, steady to bumper throw. Release to fetch bumper on his name.

[Kent S]

He has been exposed to birds. He has hunted and retrieved 10+ pheasants. Sits until released to eat from food bowl.

[steve schreiner]

It is just avoidance behavior...He doesn't want to give it up ...the question is why he doesn't want to give it up ...Pressure is the most common ...Remember pressure doesn't mean a lot of force ...the dog may just be assuming , if I don't give it up ,I will not have to pick it up again....Make it fun for the dog to raise his head and want to give it up ....more praise ...You may need to loosen up too....Steve S

[BuddyJ]

I've had two dogs that enjoyed doing this. When they retrieved to heel, not knowing what else to do, instead of trying to take the bumper, or bird, I would just start scratching his head and ears and rubbing him on the head. After 30 seconds to a minute of this he would forget the avoidance issue and I could take the bird. After about two days on one and a week on the other the avoidance issue was gone. Don't know if this is used by trainers but it worked for me.

[DarrinGreene]

you might consider having another bumper in your hand, showing it to him so he's focused on something else, then immediately tossing it for him when he releases

[Kent S]

Thank you for your advise. I agree it is an avoidance issue. I did start light ear pinch this morning and with me holding the collar he didn't even struggle to avoid me. He was awesome with ear pinch. Evan, I use your Smart Fetch program so I'm really interested in your advise.

[Evan]

Thank you for your advise. I agree it is an avoidance issue. I did start light ear pinch this morning and with me holding the collar he didn't even struggle to avoid me. He was awesome with ear pinch. Evan, I use your Smart Fetch program so I'm really interested in your advise.

Kent,

The dog in my Avatar was the same way. He had a very strong persistent tendency to do it. I did some of the enticement techniques mentioned here, but he did not respond to it at all. I therefore determined that it wasn't bugging, but rather possiveness. The instant he began to turn his head away I commanded "Here" (calmly, but firmly). On 2 or 3 occasions I nicked him lightly with the command. It took about 4 days to resolve for him, which is longer than any dog I've trained before. By "resolve" I mean gone completely.

Still, not too big an issue because it was dealt with instantly and consistently. Hope that helps. But each dog is different, and yours may only be bugging. How do you read him?

Evan

[Brad B]

I have one that does the same thing and I read him as being possessive as well. Pointing my finger at the problem doesn't help nor does applying pressure. I'm trying to use consistent praise when he does deliver it to me as I want and I use SIT and reinforce that to sort of get his mind off it. Hasn't worked real great yet but then again it's not a big issue for me and this dog just something I'm trying to clean up so he looks better.

How is your dog on real birds?