[miarosen]

My ball-obsessed black lab will grab the ball in the ChuckIt, along with the ChuckIt, and won't let go. He's about 90% with "Drop it", but 0% in this. He's very timid (loud voices send him into a corner), but absolutely nothing but time will make him let go. I don't want to make him afraid of the thrower, but nothing makes me angrier than him grabbing it. Any ideas on how to train this out of him?

I've tried keeping it out of his reach. However, this isn't always possible, and he can jump high enough to get it if he wants to (he can get over an 8-foot fence). I need the thrower since I can't throw far enough without it.

Thank you

 

[dagwall]

Make him sit from a few feet away from you before you'll throw the ball. If he really loves to chase the ball he should get it pretty quickly, no sit = no throw.

 

[juliemule]

Make him sit from a few feet away from you before you'll throw the ball. If he really loves to chase the ball he should get it pretty quickly, no sit = no throw.

Carry the chuck it with no ball for a little while. Go back to having.the ball in your hand and teach him a wait command. When he doesn't respond to the chuck it handle, throw the ball from your hand, continue using the wait command not allowing him to grab it from you, by keeping a firm hold, not releasing until he sits or backs up or whatever you choose.

When he had this down, combine the two. If he gets too close, immediately put it away and game over for a little while. Repeat the above as necessary. My dogs can be extremely pushy with toys, and very rough, so this is imperative they learn to wait and not bite when I have a tug or toy in hand.

 

[EdDTS]

Make him sit from a few feet away from you before you'll throw the ball. If he really loves to chase the ball he should get it pretty quickly, no sit = no throw.

This.

You can put a little fun spin on it and make him sit right next to you and you hold his collar, chuck the ball and let him really stay focused on it, then release the collar and tell him something like "GO GET IT!" and he'll take off after it. I do this with my dog all the time and he isn't even ball crazy and he loves it, I'm sure a ball crazy dog like yours will love being riled up a bit before being allowed to run.

 

[miarosen]

Sorry, kept meaning to reply.

Dagwall-I tried your suggestion-he gets hyper-focused on the ball if I won't throw it, going into a slight crouch almost like he's stalking something, or takes off thinking I'm about to throw it. Making him wait seems to make him MORE likely to grab for the ball.

Juliemule-He's not actually going for the thrower-he's going for the ball in it when he gets impatient. If there's no ball in it, he barely gives it a second glance. Also, I'm a little confused-are you saying keep the ball in my hand, so that I can more easily control it if he goes for it, and try to wait him out? (If so, see my above comment-he's obsessive). He's not nippy, doesn't grab things out of my hands, in fact he has to be encouraged to take food from my hand. To add to my 'issue' I have to go to a dog park to have space to throw the ball-if I don't throw it, he'll find another one and another human.

EdDTS-The last thing he needs is to get MORE riled up . I've worked on using "Go" as a release to chase the ball, but not recently-maybe that would work? However I can't figure out how to keep him from going-as soon as a throwing motion, even the ball moving up an inch, occurs, he's off, and I don't think I can hold him and throw at the same time (I've got no one to help, either).


Thanks guys.

 

[zeronightfarm]

Sorry, kept meaning to reply.

Dagwall-I tried your suggestion-he gets hyper-focused on the ball if I won't throw it, going into a slight crouch almost like he's stalking something, or takes off thinking I'm about to throw it. Making him wait seems to make him MORE likely to grab for the ball.

Juliemule-He's not actually going for the thrower-he's going for the ball in it when he gets impatient. If there's no ball in it, he barely gives it a second glance. Also, I'm a little confused-are you saying keep the ball in my hand, so that I can more easily control it if he goes for it, and try to wait him out? (If so, see my above comment-he's obsessive). He's not nippy, doesn't grab things out of my hands, in fact he has to be encouraged to take food from my hand. To add to my 'issue' I have to go to a dog park to have space to throw the ball-if I don't throw it, he'll find another one and another human.

EdDTS-The last thing he needs is to get MORE riled up . I've worked on using "Go" as a release to chase the ball, but not recently-maybe that would work? However I can't figure out how to keep him from going-as soon as a throwing motion, even the ball moving up an inch, occurs, he's off, and I don't think I can hold him and throw at the same time (I've got no one to help, either).


Thanks guys.

Every one gave you great advice.

If the ball is what he wants, then he has to do what you want him to. No manners = no ball it's as simple as that.

Have some one hold him with a really long leash, and only use the chuck it with out the ball. If he can sit then have the person with the leash give him a ball that was hidden in their pocket.

It's not going to happen over night, and it's not going to be easy, but you have to do it. Leting a dog be that focused on some thing is dangerous, because some day it could be your hand with a ball in it, or God forbid a child.

 

[KBLover]

Out of the box thinking:

Once you have this under control - teach him to take it on cue and have him throw the ball with the ChuckIt and then go get it, put it in the ChuckIt, and throw it again.

He can play with himself and you can just watch, take vids, put it on YouTube, and show off for everyone. Just a thought on how to use this behavior eventually!

 

[Allington]

Besides this, there may be some psychological problem with you dog. Whats the breed? I got, its labradoodle perhaps.
Well, if he is not agreed to act as per your expectation, just call a dog trainer.
Take care of diet and a proper training will definitely polish the attitude.
Hope you got.buy dog diet

 

[juliemule]

Keep your hand over the ball, blocking it. When he sits a few feet away, raise it, if he lunged for it, block it again. He has to see that the only way he can get the ball is to sit and wait. Since he won't grab it from your hand, make him believe the chuckit is an extension of your arm.
If he returns the ball and won't release, have another ball to place in the chuckit, get his attention, when he releases the first, and sits throw the next.

 

[Amaryllis]

Keep your hand over the ball, blocking it. When he sits a few feet away, raise it, if he lunged for it, block it again. He has to see that the only way he can get the ball is to sit and wait.

This is how I got a hyperfood motivated dog to wait nicely while I eat. He figured out pretty quickly that sitting nicely meant getting food from my plate, but pestering me meant waiting longer. You do have to put up with a few days of really obnoxious behavior to make this work, though. And right before he gets it, the bad behavior will really skyrocket. (That's called "extinction".) Just keep it up, keep your cool and this will work.

Unless he's actually got OCD. Dogs do get that. OCD is treatable, but I'd recommend a vet visit and a certified behaviorist.

 

[SassyCat]

I will just say that if he doesn't know rules of the game than tools such as chuckit won't help any at all and will make training a hassle. I would take a step back in training and just throw the ball few meters ahead so he learns how to FETCH it which involves returning the ball to you. There's no reason to involve chuckit in this game at all, you could use it once dog is well trained which takes at least a month of daily fetches.

This link here is a good guide on training the fetch. Some dogs really like the game and will steal the ball but they don't run off with it, they drop it in front of you for more fetch.

If your dog runs away from you, you should call him back or walk away. When you walk away and he chews on it then use a different ball - when you walk away and he still doesn't follow then take a step back and have shorter sessions. Basically a high driven dog like yours will either chew on the ball or come back wanting more fetch. Don't ever chase him around if he runs off with the ball or let him play with the ball on his own....

 

[hanksimon]

He is a Lab... therefore he is OCD... the ball is like crack cocaine. I imagine that he gets very insistent after you throw the ball ... pushing you to throw it again. dagwall has one part of the solution and Sassycat has the other. Go back and take a look. Let us know.

Some little tweaks:
1. Hold the ball, with the chuckit, and ask him to Sit! [I assume that he has been trained to Sit. If not, time to teach him].
2. Immediately, when he does not sit [b/c he won't this time], say a loud Oops!, turn your back, and walk back into the house, completely ending the game. He won't understand... but he will.
3. In the afternoon, or the next day, repeat steps #1 & #2, giving him 2 sec. to respond.
4. No more tossing the ball, until he Sits! If he Sits! then gets up, repeat Sit! again... go to Step #2.

You want to tell him what you want him to do, give him a few seconds to respond, make sure he responds at the level that you want, then either throw the ball, or go back into the house. Getting the ball back is a different story