Romping with Your Dog

Watching the big dogs run in a Field Trial, the handlers barely move a muscle. It seems from watching them that retrievers must prefer an austere, minimalist interaction with their partners.

I don't know, maybe they do. Or maybe the handlers feel it would be unprofessional to show the kind of enthusiasm their dogs' work could easily justify.

However, working with a young dog — that is, any dog who hasn't had a lot of training — you can accelerate the process by exhibiting enthusiasm, although it might feel uncool if you're not used to it. For many dogs, romping with people is one of the greatest reinforcers available.

Every dog has her own hot buttons. Part of working with a new dog is discovering what that dog's hot buttons are.

For example, Laddie and I were recently on a hike at a nearby meadow when we met a couple and their adult retriever along the way. They said the dog liked to chase thrown tennis balls but didn't like to bring them back.

I love a challenge.

I put Laddie in a "sit", and tossed the ball behind the dog. Sure enough, the dog ran to the ball, nosed it a bit, but then started to amble back in my direction without the ball.

I ran past the dog, called "come on, come on, pick it up, boy," and kicked the ball a few feet away. As the dog ran to the ball, I ran past him again, continuing to call to him. After a little of that, he picked the ball up, though he was ready to drop it again immediately. I placed my hands on either side of his mouth so that I could grasp the ball before he had a chance to drop it. He didn't clamp down, so I slipped the ball out and tossed it away for him to chase again. In that moment, you could see the light bulb starting to come on.

This might not have worked with some dogs. They might not have liked the physical contact, or might have been fearful of the high activity level. If I'd seen that, of course I'd have backed down. But it worked on this dog. His behavior unmistakably communicated, "What do I need to do to get this guy to do that again?"

I continued playing with the dog for a few more minutes. Sometimes I would pick the ball up and toss it a few feet, then as soon as he got near the ball, I would run away, calling out "Yipes!" and pretending to be prey. Other times I would run up to the dog the moment he had the ball in his mouth so I could take it before he had a chance to drop it, then toss it for him to chase so that he'd see the advantage of getting the ball into my hands. Some of this was about communicating the game to the dog. Some of it was about helping him get over his confusion of dealing with this weird stranger. And perhaps some of it was about building motivation in the dog, although I would discount that. I think the motivation was there, it just needed to be channeled.

Soon the dog was picking up the ball and chasing me while carrying it. I could then spin around and he'd bring it right up to me so I could place my hands around his face to take the ball and throw it again. He was a real retriever after all!

Of course you don't need a stranger to come and play with your dog. You can show him that same unrestrained joy and excitement yourself. I understand that it might be a bit uncomfortable. Well, after your dog is all trained, you can go back to being cool and austere if you like.