Dog Retrieving Training
Games & Information

Games of Looking for & Bringing back Objects
Only fit for dogs with basic training, which obey the commands <come!> and <let go!>. Start off with simple tasks the same ones you do in the house and garden (easily visible object placed in his way or at his side) and then go making them periodically harder.

Practice with a long rope to give more force to the command <come!> or <fetch!>. Give the command and give a slight pull on the rope, as soon as the dog finds the hidden object. The fact that the dog is allowed to dig in the dirt, hay or leas makes it much funner for him. Combine hard places to hide the objects with a aromatic scent he can track: his favorite toy, a piece of wood, his chewing bone or old bones. These games tend to help there initiative, their scented capacity and their obedience to calls, even though the game would be simpler if you had a 3^rd person to hold the dog while you hide the objects.

Balancing Training Games
A classic games for the ones that like going through the forest: balancing himself over a fallen tree trunk. Check the trunk before anything to make sure of its safety. Choose a tree trunk with a large diameter.

Walk by the dog (grabbing his leash) and always be there to help if he needs it (to go up or down). The dog will choose his own rhythm and speed. Then try with out the leash but stay at his side in the beginning just in case. Most dogs like playing the balance game as long as they have the technique under control, and will start choosing their own tree trunks. You don't need any special commands (maybe an <up!>). Don't let your dog do any balance games unless there is a soft ground where he land on in case he accidentally falls. Don't let him balance himself on walls or railings over cement or rock floors.

The Hiding Dog Game
The hiding game doesn't work unless you have a 3^rd person to watch and distract the dog while the owner hides.

Basic Training Exercise: the dog watches his owner go off to a hide out and (behind a tree, a haystack, a pile of rocks or bushes). As soon as the owner is out of sight he will give the command <look!> to encourage the dog into action, at the same time as the owner will call out the dogs name.

Important: approve his action with all kind of praises and petting as soon as he finds the hiding place.

Complementary Training: the dog can no longer see where or in which direction his mater is hiding (the other person will distract him), but he will still call out for him from his hide out. Later on you will find harder hiding places (under some tree branches, inside the barn, behind large obstacles on the other side of a spring or puddle) and you will only give him the command of <look!>.