Never Believe Your Dogs Can't Fetch Just Because They Are Not Retriever!

Hey, lets do something fun today.

Lets teach your doggy friends to Fetch. :o)

Having a dog around the house is great fun and is very fulfilling. Puppies are fun to play with and petting a dog always makes me feel good.
I love just being around dogs, taking them on walks and I like when they cuddle up and sleep at the foot of my bed.

But I have always wanted to have a dog that could fetch, that would engage in more structured play. I wanted to teach Tymmie how to fetch, but was not too sure how.

As a young puppy, he always enjoyed running around with toys, sticks and balls in his mouth. My friend told me that this would make it easier to teach him how to fetch, but I still had no idea how to go about it.

I decided to do some reading and some research to figure out how to train Tymmie to fetch.
He would be my little guinea pig, but aren’t they all? I found one method that I thought was fairly simple and straightforward, and I decided to get started with Tymmie right away.

Since there were many days of rain during the first year of Tymmie’s life, I did a lot of playing inside with him. First it started with a flying disc called “Chuck-a-Duck.” Till this day Tymmie stills loves his chuck-a-duck!

· I would have Tymmie sit next to me on the floor.
· Then I would throw it down the hallway and tell him to go get it.
· When he wouldn’t move, I ran to get it and Tymmie would follow.

By following me back and forth, Tymmie eventually figured out that if he brought back the toy, I would throw it.

Inside the house, Tymmie was great at fetch! Then we went to the park where other dogs and people were playing.

I brought Tymmie’s chuck-a-duck and a tennis ball. I threw the toy and Tymmie ran after it, would pick it up, and on his run back, drop it!
Another dog owner made a comment, “Tymmie is a Maltiese, he’s not a retriever!” I did not respond since I felt the other owner didn’t know my Tymmie and how smart he was.

We tried again and this time Tymmie brought his toy back! Then of course I had to say something to the other owner. “Any dog can retrieve and play fetch!”
I was so proud of Tymmie and we played for another half hour of fetch and the other dog owner left.

Never believe a dog can’t fetch just because they are not a Retriever.
· Be patient.
· Get excited.
· And PLAY with your puppy!