[Tabitha123]

We have a 7 year old corgi/terrier mix that was abused by a previous owner. We've had her 5 years and she's just now at a place where she's generally happy and not as high-strung as she used to be. With much, much work we were able to train her to SIT. But we can't get her to do anything else.

Now that she's better, I would love to teach her to fetch. She has a beloved rope toy that she's willing to fetch, but she drops it several feet away. She won't bring it to my hand. I've tried using treats, but she gets distracted by the treat - or a noise outside - and forgets about the rope toy. Is there any way a distracted, high strung, formerly abused dog can learn to fetch? Any tips?

 

[Chas]

I really like z dog blog for their explanations on using shaping on dogs with a checkered past. https://zdogsblog.com/2013/11/14/two-brave-learners/

 

[Tabitha123]

Thanks so much!

 

[Artdog]

I put treats in a bag, show my dog the bag and contents, give treat from bag, toss the bag. He can't get at the treats so he brings it back, or I go and help him, then let him have something from the bag. This was the fastest way for him.
Cleanrun.com has a section for food-stuffable toys. My bag is just a cloth bag but I have food-stuffable frisbees on order.

If he likes the rope, try two ropes. He gets rope #2 after he brings #1 back. You may need to accepts "almosts" and "near misses" at first. That's another one that dogs sometimes "get" pretty quick.

I'm also "shaping" fetch with a clicker, useful training (I'm planning to do agility or parkour someday) but not the fastest route for me. He hasn't had enough experience for this kind of training, so that probably has something to do with it. Very typical for rescues.

 

[Chas]

@Tabitha123 How's it going?