Teach an old dog new tricks – like find and retrieve!
We all like to think that our dogs are special in some way – you’ve bought the tee shirt, got the pet portrait, all you need now is an award for the mantle! Consider then the possibilities of training your dog to track? You could soon have them finding your lost car keys, all it takes is a willing dog and a bit of patience.
Lesson 1.
Start by buying a KONG toy or something similar, this type of toy is made of natural rubber and is irresistible to dogs, it enables you to fill it with treats if required. Lock away all your pets the other toys so they cannot be distracted. At this point you need two people, one to hold the dog while you roll the toy across the floor and shout a command like “go seek!”. Allow the dog to fetch the toy and praise them when they release it. Keep repeating this for around ten minutes. Little and often is the thing here, so you should do this for three times a day for about three days. However, if your dog is not interested in fetching the toy, try filling it with some of his or her treats and let them sniff it before you roll it across the room.
Lesson 2.
Great, we’re now up an running with the easy bit, can now ‘turn up the gas’. This time show the dog the toy and instead of just rolling it across the floor, make sure it goes out of sight (e.g. behind the sofa or chair, somewhere where it is possible for them to get it), now say your command “go seek!”. If your dog manages to find the toy, praise them, then start throwing it to increasingly harder to find places, each time praising them if they get it right. At this point your dog is actually using their nose to find the toy! They’re on their way to becoming a true tracker!
Lesson 3.
In no time at all your dog will have mastered this and you’ll want to take it a stage further! As your friend holds onto the dog, you hold the toy so that your pet can see it, as you do so take it into another room and hide it there. Go back into the room with the dog and with excitement in your voice say your command “go seek!”, follow your dog and encourage them by repeating the command. On finding the the toy, throw it across the room as in lesson 1, this can be done a few times and praise them each time it’s brought back the toy. When the game is finished, put the toy away until the next lesson.
Lesson 4.
In the following lessons, you repeat the instructions set out in lesson 3, but this time don’t follow him but wait for him to bring to toy back to you. Make sure you praise them each time and repeat. Do this a few times, but don’t go OTT, stop before your dog gets bored of the game. Once your dog gets familiar with this you can start introducing different objects. It won’t be long before your pet is in his element, doing what he does best, using his superb sense of smell to track down objects, on command!
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