For dogs that don't naturally mouth - train your dog to pick something up

[easyitsashley]

Aw, the doggie does a little dance with the clicker!

[1coris]

Hi! Thanks to this video and another one from Kikopup, I've been able to teach my BC to retrive different objects, now I want her to "present" me the object ( sit in front of me while still holding the object ) - the same way retrives are done in obedience excersises.But when she returns to me with the object, and I ask for a sit, she opens her mouth. I've tried to hold her mouth, but she starts shaking her head... Is there a way to freeshape or train this ? Thanks a lot for the videos!

[TheBlueClam]

this was really helpful, thank you so much for doing this :)

my dog usually just sniffs everything or hits it with his paw, but never picks up. helped a lot :))

plus, I love your socks :>

[BeagleDaily]

Thanks for making this video. I have been trying to teach my beagle to fetch, but she doesn't play with toys. I started by asking her to touch my hand and then touch a toy, and then dropping the toy. I was wondering how I would progress from touching with her nose to picking it up in her mouth. This will help us, thanks.

[Jagervision]

This is a great idea! I have had some dogs that were not willing to take anything in their mouth that I trained to retrieve with clicker training (as I refused to do it "oldschool") but using a chew would have defenately made it much faster! Thank you for the idea!

[strawberrycats]

I don't know if you can help but, my dog now knows "take it" but immediately drops it. (even if I don't click) I think it's because when I first trained her I was trying to train fetch, she'll go get the item but drops it the whole way back lol. Now all I want her her to do is hold the object until I ask her to drop i,t but she's real stubborn. I can't really get two seconds of holding and she's been doing it for a while now.. Just wondering if you had any tips. Nice video! Thanks

[Ixxithedog]

Ive been working on my dog's mouthing for a few years (not so active training, especially since she's afraid of the clicker) and she has finally started to hold the item for a few seconds without emmediatly drop it. yay! :)

[zsianz1]

@Ixxithedog that's great news :) shows what sticking with something can do :) if your dog is scared of the clicker then try muffling it by wrapping something round it also you can desensitize your dog to the sound of the click by playing the sound of it to your dog through your computer on a very very low volume and giving a treat after each click and then turn the volume up bit by bit. I also find the i-click a softer sound. :)

[Ixxithedog]

@zsianz1 I've tried with a i-click inside two of those gloves that protects you from the oven heat, and rewarding with meat. She puked from the stress. I've even bought a soft click clicker, but she is scared of that too. Same goes with pens. I have even tried it with a old computermouse that had a really low click but the problem was that she didnt hear it sometimes so it became inconsistent.

[zsianz1]

@Ixxithedog maybe time to try using a marker word such as "YES!" in place of the click, no point in continuing if it stresses her that much :( seems like you have tried everything!

[Ixxithedog]

@zsianz1 Yeah ive tried most things. I got one last technique left to tryout. I click the cat and give him treats and just ignore my dog eventhough she walks away to a safe distance. Maybe she'll accept the sound as safe in a while. Until then we use the more classic way of learning. Help/lure her to do the trick and reward :) Works fine eventhough I wish i could use the clicker. But she loves learning and thats better than nothing, esp for a little diva girl that does whatever trick fits her ^^

[Vikykh]

Sian, thank you very much for this video! My 12 years old dog Bonnie never did fetch or mouth anything and now, she is trying to mouth anything (when we´re shaping something) and wonderfully fetching Kong. I´m really very happy with her! :D 

[kerrkatastropheful]

This worked like a charm on my Papillon. I couldn't get it across to him that I wanted him to pick up (and bring back) toys. He will retrieve anything from anywhere I ask. Thanks so much! Fabulous videos.

[zsianz1]

@kerrkatastropheful that's wonderful news :) thanks so much for the lovely feedback :)

[MushShroom]

Thanks so much for this video! All of the "teach your dog how to fetch/retrieve" articles never teach you how to get your dog to actually pick up anything, just "throw the ball and your dog will pick it up and bring it back". I've searched forever for a video/guide like this. :D

[nataliawasilewska97]

what kind of dog is this? couse it' so cuteee xD

[azmauigirl]

You always have such great ideas and techniques! And you are so sweet to share with all the rest of us!

[14imke]

thank you :)

[14imke]

wow realy helpful! i`m trying to learn my jrt to put something in a bucket

any tips?



[zsianz1]

@14imke I editing a video at the moment on stacking bowls that may very well be of help to you, should be up in the next day or two. the idea is to start with something large and flat and then make it smaller and higher, to the height of the bucket, you could get something like a bowl and then put books under it to build it up once the dog has the idea... but do check out my next video as it will demonstrate what I'm trying to explain here :)

[uranusz8]

You are really helpful! Thnks for this video! I will try this whit my hungarian greyhound. He often pick up something but he runs away....or when he see the treat he is just drop down the floor. I hope whit this king of technique I can teach him.

[newbear95]

Great tutorial! :) This will help a lot of dog owners that met problems with teaching their dog how to fetch. :)

[TheRabbitgrace]

I tried this with my dog, she generally licked way more then we mouthed, once the chews got harder she refused to mouth them. Any suggestions?

[zsianz1]

@TheRabbitgrace you could try a stronger smelling soft chew to start? you may have to try out a couple of different ones to find the right one to start on. you want to try and get it just right, something that the dog will mouth but will still be very happy to give up for a treat. you may have to go over and over before you move on to a harder chew. the chew I used to start was her favourite kind of dog treat, the only thing she likes better is real meat.

[TheRabbitgrace]

@zsianz1 Okay thankyou, Ill be going to the petstore soon so I will grab a few different chews for her, I am thinking if none works, I might grab some beef jerkey because I know my pup goes nuts for that, I know its bad for them so that will be my last resort (not that I would really let her swallow it or anything). Thanks again!

[zsianz1]

@TheRabbitgrace let me know how you get on, I would love to hear if it works or if you get stuck then maybe I can think of something to help :)

[TheRabbitgrace]

@zsianz1 Okay thankyou :)

[claudiahoyle]

great video, thanks!!

[SilentKhayos]

Great video!

[Vikykh]

Great tutorial :D My dog don´t like mouthing, but i´ll try this and i´m sure, she will get it :D

[clickertrickdog]

Great tutorial! I've had a couple people ask me for suggestions on getting a dog to take a dumbbell and I never thought of this. I can see where the shape of the chew treat and raw hide could be the beginning of the bar of the dumbbell. Looking forward to sharing this with those dog owners.

[smortydella]

very useful tutorial! i will try this too, as i would like my greyhound to take things into his mouth on cue.

[mieke337]

This is a grat way to teach my dogs to pick up the metal apport, they are ready taking it into thre mouth but i had a problem to maken them pic it up from the ground.

Your timing is perfect, Sian!

Thanxs and keep up the good work, I love it!

[kikopup]

Simply brilliant! I teach "take it" for dogs that dont naturally mouth a different way .. .. I NEVER thought to try this way! The thing I like about you is that you are just sooo creative :) I love how picking things up becomes a strong secondary reinforcer right from the get go with this technique. Bravo!!!!

[pamelamarxsen]

Your little girl is so cute & what a smart girl too! I love your socks! Nice tutorial! You always have such great ideas! Keep up your amazing work!

[LeoxPomeranian]

Love this! Wow thank you SO much! Princess is so smart, and cute too! Love your socks by the way ;) hehe.

[AnimalLoverLizzy]

Sian this was brilliant. :) Princess is SO CUTE AAAAAAAAH

And might I add that you looked gorgeous Sian. ;)

[justjesse198]

this video was very helpful to me! this is what my dog does :) thanks so much!

[TheRabbitgrace]

I love this tutorial! I have been trying to figure out how to train my dog in picking stuff up for a long time, I never tried this before and I think this would work

[Parenchym]

nice socks ;)

[briasha765]

great video what type of dog is that?

~*briasha*~ ~*charm*!

[lablover4563]

Thank you so much. i have a toy poodle jc that does not like to mouth toys and this is really going to help a lot. thank you so much.

[Ella4Blu]

you dont know how helpful this is!! <3

[ilovejanelle]

Great Video=)

[mydestinydog]

wiw gr8 tutorial sian defo will try this !

[redcuprar13]

Excellent tutorial Sian, and lovely to see Princess as the star of the video xx

[1949pink]

Excellent! very useful! thanks!

[ettvv]

great video! thank you so much for this! i will practice that with my dogs.

[Papillonslurchers]

Great video! Great dog! Great dog trainer!!

[musicofnote1]

Excellent tutorial. Having a dog that mouths naturally, this is certainly not our problem. So it is good to see how someone actually has taught this, and done such a good job at it too! Congratulations!

[brittanyjadexo]

Thank you!!! Jackson is finally getting better at mouthing items but he used to be terrible! thanks for the tutorial. Is she a papillon? adorable dog.

[Rickyagility]

Great tutorial and Princess (is that still her name?) is learning so fast! Ricky doesn't have a good hold yet and it really keeps us from learning a lot of tricks. He will pick something up and hold it but tends to drop it the minute he starts to walk. So having him bring something all the way too me is difficult. Any advice? He needs to understand that "hold" means hold until I say drop it!

[haylz27]

This is very helpful Sian! Awesome job.

[JessieTheJack]

Great tutorial! She is definitely taking to it very well! =)