by Diane McCann » Fri 08 May 2015 7:26 pm
Hi Heather, welcome to the group. There is a training forum separate from this general one, but that is OK. I must admit that for some reason no matter where they are posted the training questions do not get as many replies as they should. You need to teach your dog to 'hold' as a separate exercise to retrieving. The fact that your dog is keen to bring the article back to you and hand it over is great, it shouldn't be too difficult to teach her to hang onto it until you take it from her. Teaching hold can be done in the house or anywhere comfortable, I usually sit on a chair with the dog facing me between my legs to begin with. Just place the article in the dogs mouth with the command 'hold' (or whatever you want to use) and at the same time cup under her jaw and if necessary also hold above her nose so that you are physically stopping her from spitting the item out. Only make her hold for a very short period of time and then give the release word (give) and take the item from her and praise. Expect your dog to put up a struggle, this is something very new, but you should find that she picks it up quickly. Gradually move your hand a little way below her under jaw so that it is right there but not touching, if she goes to spit out say no and tap under the jaw quickly to prevent her from doing so. If she succeeds just quietly put the item back in her mouth, tap under her jaw and repeat hold. As she improves you remove your hands further away and increase the time that you expect her to hold before releasing on command. Then move a step back from her and step forward to take delivery with increasing distance. Next step is to do a short recall with the dog holding and being expected to sit holding when she reaches you. Once that is down pat increase the distance of the recall and finally expect her to hold at the end of a retrieve. Generally takes about 10 sessions. Good luck
Diane