Dog Community

How come he doesnt learn to fetch?

Posted : 6/16/2006 3:13:37 PM

I got an Alaskin Huskey about 3 days ago, and he has been a sled dog all his life. He is very fast, and can go 4 miles strait at 25mph. Now that we have him, he cant exercise (exept for when I walk him), and im worried he isnt getting enough of it. I tried to teach him to play fetch, and when i throw the ball he sits and looks at me like wtf... He has been an outside dog his entire life, now he is coming inside. I turned on the TV and he was FREAKED OUT by it. He is getting used to everythingnow though, but I need to teach him how to play fetch. I had some advice to start off to play fetch, put the ball into his mouth, but when i try he keeps his toung at the end of his mouth so i cant put the ball there. I tried, and he like kind of gags a little, and it falls out of his mouth right when I let go. What should I do, please hurry, he is getting more and more bored by the second.

Xerxes

Posted : 6/16/2006 3:28:19 PM

First off you got the dog 3 days ago. The dog needs time to adjust. He's away from his pack, he's unsure of his surroundings, and even if you don't notice it...he's probably "freaked out" as you put it, at almost everything.

How old is the husky? I'm sure that he will learn how to play "fetch" to a certain extent, but you've got to bond with him, and he's got to learn to trust you. This isn't something that happens overnight. It's going to take a few weeks or months of patient work to accomplish some basic command behaviors.

Vic Zurbano

Posted : 6/16/2006 3:59:10 PM

He is about 5 years old, he has been a sled dog all of his life.

griffinej5

Posted : 6/16/2006 6:04:20 PM

First, give the poor guy some time to get used to his new surroundings. Then, try this method
[linkhttp://dogscouts.com/retrieve.shtml]http://dogscouts.com/retrieve.shtml[/link]

spiritdogs

Posted : 6/16/2006 6:14:07 PM

it falls out of his mouth right when I let go

You might not be able to get him to fetch right away, but maybe you can get him to retrieve. If he gets a treat for spitting the ball out, you can build on that and maybe eventually convince him to go and get the ball and then spit it into your hand :-)

)
Lonnie Olson has a neat little protocol for doing it on her dogscouts web page.

Vic Zurbano

Posted : 6/16/2006 8:21:14 PM

It's wierd with him, because when I try to give him the treat he will eat it - it just looks like he is eating it because I want him to... like he doesn't like the or somthing. What should I feed him for treats, any suggestions? (I give him MilkBones right now.)

cyclefiend2000

Posted : 6/16/2006 9:56:21 PM

we have these soft liver treats, i believe they are called "amazing dog treats". they also get some homemade tuna treats as an extra special treat.

PurplePets22

Posted : 6/29/2006 11:26:55 PM

I agree that he needs time to adjust. Moving indoors and not running miles at a time is a huge adjustment. As or excersize...do you have a bicycle? I have a contraption mounted to my bike that uses a short lead attached to my dog's harness. He jogs along side of me nice as pie. I bet your husky would run a lot faster than Baily too! As for "fetch"...try just playing with the ball. Get him excited about it so that he sees it as a source of stimulation and interaction, then move on to more organized play. Hot dogs make yummy and cheap treats.