Drop it! And retrieving the ball.

Can your dog do it? If so, how long did it take to teach it?

R can do it provided there are two balls involved (not one).

Does anyone's dog do that gun dog thing of retrieving the ball, dropping it at your feet etc?

That is my dream.

Harry is 6 and no way can I get him to give me the ball, so I have to
use 2 tennis balls same as you.  Trouble is the little b****er can carry
2 tennis balls in his mouth!!!  

Biscuit will drop and leave on command, but I've never been able to teach her to bring it back! She did for my OH twice and I was so jealous but then she got bored. She's not very toy focused at all so I'm just happy to be able to get her to play and use toys in training. Don't want to push it now lol!!

Bane is just about getting "Drop" and "Leave". Have to say it a couple of times or give him a minute to process what you have asked him to do Outside takes him longer as he often has the space to run away from you with whatever he has got
Inside we play fetch with his toys and he brings them back, but I don't think he does it in a retrieving kind of way.

My parents Staff can also fit 2 balls in his mouth at once! Have to take 3 out! haha

Suki will fetch but not drop. She will do it if it isn't a toy but with a toy she wants to start a game of tug of war

Pixee will fetch then run off with you chasing her. However I can get her to leave on command. Balls dont last many seconds with Pixee, have to use a hard rubber ball.

Not a chance!!   Daisy runs after it, sometimes will bring it back but I have to take it off her, sometimes she'll just lie down and start chewing it!!

Millie will fetch the ball and drop it at my feet and if its a bit far away i tell her " bit closer" and she will go and get it and bring it closer lol, i used a treat to teach her to drop the ball. She is 5 months old but it didnt take me to long she picked it up very quickly its just about practise every day.

I started with 2 tennis balls since Frosty always drops it for the “new” ball, then I began picking up the dropped ball instead of giving the new one, finally I hid the “new” ball in my pocket until Frosty would simply bring it back and drop it. He doesn’t do it every single time but more then 90% of the time. I gauge how tired he is by how eagerly he does it.

Rocky now has a pretty good Leave command, it has taken a while to get there though. Think it just comes down to consistency (using the same command words) and patience, patience, patience.

Maggie is good. She fetches her toys and will hand it back to you or drop it on the floor for you. She'd to be a nightmare when we first got her.

Lula will drop it if you have the clicker and she knows she getting a treat   

Flo will if you keep asking for the stick but never a ball, they last milliseconds  

Two out of three of my previous Staffords retrieved and dropped perfectly, The other one never showed any interest, purely a stroller and sniffer/socialiser.

Barney is too young yet but already retrieves at home, now for the hard bit, "Drop, Leave, Drop, Drop, Leave".

Not a chance



Lol seriously with the chuck it balls two are required but it is a work in progress as we do flyball and he is now brining the tennis ball back and spitting it at my feet for a tuggy/chuck it on a rope but again sometimes I need garlic sausage to exchange for the tuggy

Fetch? Retrieve? Drop it? what's that? LOL

Our game of fetch goes like this. Throw ball, Axl races off to get it, I wait patiently calling him to come back... he keeps running doing little circles with said ball in his mouth... I give in and chase after him.. he thinks "oh wow I can have hours of fun with this", I give up! lol

Love that picture Jules btw

This all makes me feel better. I wasn't sure if reluctance to "drop" was a Staffy thing, though I suspected it was.

I would really like R to learn to drop balls instantly. He sometimes steals other dogs' balls and it is embarrassing running after him trying to coax a Chuck-It out of his mouth. I do think we are making progress though.

Ben - yes, I have tried this strategy - throwing the dropped ball rather than the new ball - and it seems, slowly, to be working. Any other tips?

Kattie - "a bit closer" is a good command idea.

Jshrew - that picture could be Rupert. They only trade up: tennis ball for a Chuck-It, Chuck-it for a live squirrel somewhere in the distance. Treats do not feature for Rupert in this barter economy.


Anyone with any other tips as to how to turn my Staffy into a Staffordshire Bull Terrier Retriever?

calvin loves to play fetch he just doesn't like to give the ball back. He proudly sprints back to me with the ball and drops it on the floor, but if I try to get it he will snatch it back up, sometimes he prefers to go alittle distance away from me and tear the ball into bits. I find I either need to have two balls and throw the second as soon as he drops the first or I need to give the drop command and give a treat whilst simultaneously picking up the ball, if Im too slow with method 2 he will eat the treat and snatch the ball back. I have given up on tennis balls as they only last minutes and use kong balls. I have been told these training cricket balls are good for dogs so may get a few in the future
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hells85 wrote:I find I either need to have two balls and throw the second as soon as he drops the first or I need to give the drop command and give a treat whilst simultaneously picking up the ball, if Im too slow with method 2 he will eat the treat and snatch the ball back.

Ah treats, I did start with them but Ledger soon learnt to Hoover a biscuit off the grass through the corner of his mouth without dropping the ball

Have to have 2 balls for him to drop one so he run after the other one. He will also run around with 2 in his mouth though!

Tedster can/does do it.

I never had to teach him.

Throw a ball with the thrower (The higher the better) and he runs after it, catches in mid air and brings it back then kind of spits it at you ready to go again.

Also when playing ball or frisbee he has no interest in anything else including other dogs

Simon & The Tedster

Darcy does it when Ashe feels like

For me a flirt pole worked wonders. Both dogs are the envy of the park pac for there leave it responses especially now all the people are coming out leaving crp everywhere. It trains them that no leave equals no fun which helps no end in the real world. Keep it light work in the begining and you can even do it in the house. It gives a good outlet for preydrive and teaches them restraint in the process. Same thing as those toys you get for cats