Posted on April 18, 2009 - by Guro

Dog Training - The Dumbbell Retrieve (Apport)

When we started to practice the Retrieve it seemed to be impossible for us to learn this command. Aurora did not show any interest in the dumbbell, she would not pick it up from the ground and when handing it to her she would drop it immediately. I was encouraged not to give up, just be patient and reward her every time she showed a little interest or tried to pick it up. Somehow I managed to keep on practicing and slowly we started to have a little progress. After about 5 months of work Aurora would actually pick it up and move 2 or 3 steps before dropping the dumbbell!

From this point in time it was much easier to get her to walk further and further with the dumbbell, and to get her to come to me with it. Right now we’re practicing to get her to sit down before dropping the dumbbell, I’m pretty sure she will do it soon!