[nagdu] Training the Retrieve/find, I did it!

[Raven Tolliver]

Off and on, someone asks how to teach their dog how to find certain
objects or retrieve dropped objects. Fortunately, I've attempted and
been successful at this with my dog.
Before I get into details, I taught my dog how to locate dropped
objects. I do not want him retrieving things, so I did not focus on
that behavior, though if you need your dog to do that, I explain a bit
about how to do so below.
Below are 3 days of journal entries detailing how I trained the Golden
Guy to locate dropped objects in the house.

Day 1.
My mother gifted me a decorated silk or satin purse from Japan, a
souvenir from her recent trip. this is a small purse with no straps or
handle. It is about 5 by 3.5 inches.
The Golden Guy fixated on soft things, as most goldens are, was
naturally attracted to this purse. He's never retrieved socks, shoes,
slippers, clothes, or anything outside of toys and stuffed animals.
He's displayed attraction toward small pillows, but nothing else
really.
While I was holding this purse, he started sniffing it and put his
mouth on it. It was extra soft because it has a wool insert in it to
keep its shape.
Instantly, an idea popped into my head. I took the purse from his
mouth and dropped it. Just as I thought, the Golden Guy picked it up.
I could use this purse to train a retrieve! I really could.

I put several objects in the purse to make it weighted. My mom had
also given me some yin and a heavy metal key ring, and I added them to
the purse to get the Golden Guy used to grabbing something with
weight.
So the training began. I started tossing the purse a short distance
from me. And the Golden Guy went after it, putting his mouth on it.
Not the best treatment for a gift from Mom, but hey, it's productive.
I did this several times. And each time, I said "yes!" when he dove
after the purse and grabbed it in his mouth; I praised him up for
holding his position rather than leaving the purse; and I asked him to
"drop it" in my hand. The Golden Guy was very excited by this, because
at this point, he still thought the purse was a toy. He brought the
purse back to me, likely to play tug, but I asked him to "drop it"
each time before tossing it again.
After several repetitions, I gave the command "Get it!" in an excited
voice each time I tossed the purse. This put a command to what he was
already naturally inclined to do. Several repetitions of using the
command with this behavior, and I ended the training session with lots
of hugs and praise.
This training session was ideal for both of us. It only lasted 10-15
minutes. I took steps toward teaching a behavior by capitalizing on my
dog's natural inclination to play with and carry soft objects, and the
behavior is self-rewarding because by going after the object, my dog
thinks this is playtime rather than a set-up training session, which
stresses some dogs out. The Golden Guy gets a bit stressed by set-up
training sessions because he's one of those dogs who needs to know
upfront what you expect, rather than taking steps to show him, which
obviously isn't always possible.

Day 2.
Tonight, we worked for another 10-15 minutes. I took a step back in
the process first. This way, I started the session with something I
knew he was familiar with and successful at. This allows the dog to
have expectations and understanding of what is being asked of him, and
it allows you to successfully add steps and build on the behavior.
I tossed the purse a short distance from me, giving the command "Get
it!" Just as he did last night, he went after the purse. However, he
made some connections in his brain last night because rather than
grabbing the purse in his mouth, he simply dove for it and put his
paws on it. Very nice. I would rather him do this than retrieve it in
his mouth. It was clear that he understood this was a training session
rather than a pure play session.
After several repetitions of this, I told him to heel off-leash. As he
walked beside me, I tossed the purse a short distance from us. "Get
it!" I commanded. He went after it and put his paws on the purse. Yes!
Several repetitions of this.
Next, I took the heavy key ring out of the purse. Hiding the purse in
my shirt, I stood still and tossed the key ring a short distance. I
cued him "Get it!" And yes, he dove after it, just as he did with the
purse. I repeated this several times, before I added the walking in
again. So again, I had him heel, off-leash, and tossed the key ring
several times. Each time, he went for it. Great!
After this, the Golden Guy actually wanted to play and abandoned the
purse for one of his stuffed animals for a good game of tug and fetch.
Even though he likes the purse a lot, it's good that he understands it
is not a toy. But I think the purse got him excited for a real play
session.
I decided to end the training session when he grabbed his toy. That
was the Golden Guy's signal that he was done with the set-up training
session, and he wanted to play. He likes to play for 15 minutes after
he works to unwind.

If I wanted him to find and retrieve the objects, I would have done
things differently the previous day. I would have concentrated more on
him holding the object in his mouth, praising him for carrying it back
to me, and eventually matching a command like "bring it" to that
behavior. But I don't want the Golden Guy to pick things up, I just
want him to find them.
The golden Guy might go back to grabbing the purse in his mouth, which
is fine. As long as he doesn't try to play with it or chew on it, I am
okay with him grabbing softer objects. I don't expect him to grab hard
objects like keys, coins, or my credit card.

If you want your dog to retrieve the objects, I suggest training for 3
behaviors, "Get it," where they locate and grab the object, "bring
it," where they carry the object in their mouth back to you, and "drop
it" where your dog returns the object to your lap or outstretched
hand.
If your dog does not naturally grab the object in their mouth, do not
force them to. Praise them for locating the object for you. If you're
trying something metal, dogs are less likely to pick it up, so make an
attempt with something soft like a wallet or fabric coin purse.
If your dog automatically grabs the object, this is the dog you can
easily train to retrieve, as they are naturally inclined to perform
that behavior.

Day 3.
Again, I started with tossing the purse several times, giving the cue
"get it." He found it successfully for me each time, putting his paws
on it, hovering his head over it, or laying down with the purse
between his paws. He did pick it up in his mouth a couple times.
Next, I repeated the same thing with the key ring. He indicated this
object in the same ways as the purse, though he never tried to pick
the key ring up.
I walked with him heeling by my side off-leash, and dropped the key
ring while walking. When I cued "get it," he indicated the key ring.
I then tried this with my credit card. We were golden. He indicated
the credit card each time I dropped it by stepping on it or hovering
his head over it.

As a nice bonus, I actually did drop my credit card as he and I were
playing after the training session. I didn't know where it fell, so I
said "get it." He looked around for a moment, then moved forward a bit
and indicated the credit card by stepping on it. I praised him up.

So far, I've only worked on this in the basement apartment and
upstairs living room, so I will continue training this behavior in
different parts of the house. I'm sure he'll be successful.
I don't plan to work on this in public, as this behavior is more
useful at home for me personally.

If you want to use it in public though, I suggest starting from the
basics again. This immediately rings a bell in the dog's mind, and
communicates to them what is expected of them. It enables them to
generalize performing the behavior in a variety of locations. Start
somewhere with little to no distractions, and work your way up from
there.
If you choose to use treats as a reward, that's fine, too. I simply
used physical and verbal praise each time he found the objects, and
this was reinforcement enough for him to continue with the behavior.
He is a praise-motivated dog, so this worked for us perfectly.

I hope this made sense and helped someone. Even if you don't need this
behavior, it's still great to teach our dogs new things. If I was too
vague somewhere, let me know.
-- 
Raven
Founder of 1AM Editing & Research
www.1am-editing.com

You are valuable because of your potential, not because of what you
have or what you do.

Naturally-reared guide dogs
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