• Home
• Dog Culture
• Object Retrieval Dog Training For Puppies And Older Dogs

Object Retrieval Dog Training for Puppies and Older Dogs

Fun and games are always an important part of living with and training dogs. They can be for the pure joy of it or for shaping useful behaviors. Teaching or just allowing your dog the opportunity to find objects is just one game that can be innately enjoyable for them.

Practically everyone has experienced that dog that can be thrown a ball to retrieve for endless amounts of time and will continue to drop a slobbery ball in your lap far beyond what seems to be reasonable. This is more obsession than tons of fun that we create, mostly because it’s also easy for people. While this kind of desire can be useful for certain types of dog training, for the average dog owner these types of behavior can be seriously annoying and really only tires the physical body while fueling the obsessive behavior.

Teaching your dog to find objects adds a challenge that adds the nose and their natural ability to ‘hunt” to find the reward. This enriches the game of fetch, can be more fulfilling for the canine senses, and breaks up the same old routine. It gives the dog a problem to solve, which not only prevents boredom, but is actually quite healthy for brain activity. The challenge can be increased as they understand and get better at the activity. This can be particularly good for those energetic dogs that seemingly can’t slow down.

All dogs can do it. It is easy on the body of old dogs and developing pups. It can be anything with a familiar or favorable scent; a ball, a favorite toy, food, whatever is motivating for your particular dog. You can go on to teach your dog to find objects for you, like a phone, keys, or wallet. Of course always be careful and avoid objects that could be a choking hazard. Some dogs naturally retrieve and that is fine, but the dog doesn’t have to actually retrieve the item for you, it can just be found and alert you to it and then rewarded for it. The other nice thing about this kind of activity is It can be added fun indoors and out, giving your dog a fun and stimulating activity inside on those days when weather isn’t so pleasant.