Does your cocker do "fetch"?

[Jan/Billy]

Each day we have to exercise Billy's brain as well as his paws otherwise he becomes a real pain and will not leave us alone for 5 minutes. He adores finding hidden treats but the problem is that if we play it every day he starts to put on weight and now finds things so quickly that the game only lasts 20 seconds. i have tried toplay the game hiding a toy instead of a treat but if its not food it doesnt interest him.

He absolutley  loves playing "chase". This is his favourite game.However that is the only game he will play. We live opposite an big park where we take him twice a day. He has lots of balls but when we throw them he gets it in his mouth then runs away wanting us to chase him! He just is not interested in fetch. If he is not being chased he is not interested. Although sometimes i will chase him its not something i really like doing, apart from the fact i look a bit silly  :?  :?   there are other cockers andspringers in the park who always play fetch but billy just refuses to do it.
I have tried everything to teach him to fetch but he just wont,ive bought books etc on how to do it but he just wont.

Is it something that comes naturally?
I really need to find another game. Billy has started to steal items from the house in order to get us to chase him.last night he was running round the garden with a cushion from the sofa and the remote control in his mouth. It is started to become a real problem. He will do anything to be chased!!! :cry:                    

[picklesmum]

Hi Jan. Pickle doesn't really do 'fetch', but I have taught him the names of a couple of his toys, and I hide them around the house (quite easy places) and he'll go and get them for me.
E.g. Paddy (his green cow) I'll put in the sitting room, and Funky (his monkey) I'll put under the dining table. I'll then get him all revved up, holding on to his collar going 'where's Paddy?' lots of times, then say 'go and get Paddy', let him go, and he'll charge off and look for him. When he brings him back, we repeat this with Funky. I give him a treat sporadically when he gets it right, so he remains enthusiastic, as he's always hopeful he'll get a treat
I tend to do this in the house, but have done it outside - get very funny looks, but am getting used to that!!!!
Might be worth a shot?
I also race Pickle outside sometimes - I let him go, and shout 'race you' and run away from him - he loves chasing after me!!! Just short runs - very good for the thighs!
I'll try to think of some other games...
Emma and Pickle xx                    

[Dessie]

My three all retrieve                      

[Mike]

My two both retrieve too - but I have no real idea how they learnt it other than calling them back once they'd got to the ball, and if they ran away with it then not running after them, waiting until they dropped it, then throw it again. My springer is the clever one and caught on easily enough, my cocker is a bit dim and I dont think I can take the credit - she just learned by copying Jazz                      

[Gilly]

In answer to your question "Does your Cockers Fetch"

NO    

Butty loves playing catch as long as she doesn't have to give the frisbee/ball back  :roll: if we're in the back garden I have a selection of balls/frisbee's etc and just keep throwing each different one because she'd much rather I chased her...."AS IF"                      

[taliska]

Tali is fetching but only in the past few months, and he'll only do it with one partic ball.  AND (its a big and) this is usally related to whether I have a nice piece of sausage or cheese waiting...  

I have to say he is getting quite good at it, and will also find the ball when he lost as well.  Hes not so keen on fetching when no treat tho.  Its just something we managed to get him to do a couple of months ago, using small pieces of cheese and sausage, before then all previous attempts had failed.

have fun                    

[*-Nikki-*]

Well...our lot tend to run after the ball...then go and hog it! (They usually go and hide in the long grass with it) or Tina tends to hide the Ball!   Our ickle game hide n seek - she hides we have 2 go find it!  :twisted:
However Becky is the middle of training Harvey for the scurry @ the champ show this year :wink: …Jane is it on this year? We had a go last year – what a disaster! :evil:                    

[Pipers Mummy]

Piper will complete a text book fetch in the house or in the garden

She will not however fetch a single thing on a walk  I take her favourite 'fetch' toys on walks with me all to no avail...

The only thing she does like is to have one stick after another thrown for her so that she can run after it and then try to 'kill it' by tearing it to shreds

For obvious reasons we do not like her chewing up sticks and neither of us has any idea where this little habit of her's came from  :roll:                    

[*Jay*]

Vegas LOVES to fetch    Its what he lives for. He knows the names of lots of his toys and I hide them round the house telling him to go and find them. He gets it spot on every time. I even hide things in the mop bucket to make it more difficult :wink:  Dallas on the other hand, likes to chase things but won't pick them up :roll:  At training, retrieve is a bit of a disaster. if by a miracle, he actually picks his toy up, and I call on him to come, he drops the toy and comes running :roll:  More work needed on that i think :wink:                    

[Anita]

Phoebe's good at fetch. She knows the names of her toys too and gets the right one. In the garden she does tend to run off with her football though as we have a kick about and a chase.

When she was a pup on her walks we always used to get her to bring her ball back by having another squeaky one so we'd throw one and use the other to bring her back by making loads of noise.

Now she just does it cos she knows we'll throw the ball for her.

Practice helps though. I've noticed that she loses it a bit over winter as we don't have as much time to reinforce things                    

[cbabe]

Willow does - what ball? ooooooo bunnies!!!!

Fern does - Here it is, what do you mean bring it back? you threw it you get it!!! Stupid human! chew chomp chomp.


So sorry - mine don't fetch!                    

[Jane S]

However Becky is the middle of training Harvey for the scurry @ the champ show this year :wink: …Jane is it on this year? We had a go last year – what a disaster! :evil:

Yep it's on again this year as far as I know :wink: It's always good fun to watch

Jane                    

[Shirley]

Morgan has been a bit of a naughty boy on his walks lately - not coming as he realises we're getting near the car :x .  A couple of weeks ago while leaving the beach he went into a loch nearby and wouldn't come out.  He just sat there shivering  :roll:  He'd come to the edge but if I went to grab him he'd back further into the water  :x .  I was there for about 20 minutes shouting whistling, walking/running in the opposite direction.  This man must have been watching from his house and came out to help.  He got a stick and asked me if Morgan would retrieve it..............I told him if he meant would he go and get it, then yes, he'd retrieve...........if he meant would he take it back.....the answer is no  :oops:  :wink:  He threw the stick and Morgan (true to form :twisted: ) swam out, got the stick and stayed in the water  :x   In the end the very nice gentleman that he was, waded in, soaking his expensive walking boots  :shock:  and dragged Morgan out  by the collar     I made a mental note then to teach him to retrieve, everyone seems to expect it of spaniels  :oops:

If he has any toy, he just runs around with it - but we've been working on it, throwing toy, calling him back, making him sit and drop the toy, before giving a treat and he's getting better....slowly!                    

[bluesmum]

Thats exactly how I improved Blues recall Shirley by using a retrieving game, Blue loves it! :wink:                    

[bluegirl]

Hi,
Penny doesn't fetch anything from anywhere and she won't retrieve anything either, but she is a cocker spaniel honestly!
From Karen