Most dog owners love their dogs very much. If you’re like any other dog owner, you will likely want to have as good a relationship with your dog as possible. Something that really strenghtens the bond between you and your doggy, is playing fetch.

There are dogs that play fetch without having to go through training. Other dogs don’t understand it when you’re waving a ball around in their face. For this last group of dogs, a small investment of time and energy is required. Below, I describe three steps of training your dog to play fetch with you.

1. To start with, your dog needs to learn to pay attention to the ball. If it isn’t even paying attention to it, you can forget about the rest of the fetch play. You need to hold the ball in front of your dog’s eyes and nose. Whenever he pays any attention to the ball, by sniffing it for example, you need to praise him. Keep this up long enough, and your dog will start paying more attention to the ball and follow it around.

2. Once your dog has learned to pay attention to the ball, he must learn to pick it up in his mouth. It’s possible that he will do this all by himself. In this case, you simple need to praise him and feed him a dog treat. If he doesn’t pick up the ball on his own initiative, you can make the ball more enticing by smearing some peanut butter on it. Keep this up long enough and your dog will eventually learn to pick up the ball.

3. Now that your dog chases after and then picks up the ball, you need to teach him to let go of the ball. Once your dog has picked up the ball a few feet away from you, you can lure him back with a treat. Once he arrives with the ball still in his mouth, give him the treat. He will likely drop the ball in order to make place for his dog treat. Should your dog lose his interest in dog treats throughout the training, you can use a second ball to entice him to drop one for the other.

After about a week of repeating these simple steps, you can try a few fetches out in the field. Take your dog into the yard or any other area with enough open space, and throw the ball a short distance away. If your dog has understood his fetch training, he will eventually chase the ball, pick it up and take it back to you. Every time he gets it right, praise him and give him a dog treat. Then, throw the ball a little further.

By simply sticking to these guidelines on training your dog to play fetch, he should learn the game in a matter of weeks. As time passes, your dog will start to see what this game is all about. After the game becomes its own reward, you can save yourself a lot of dog treats. You might even use those to train him to play yet another game.

Dog owners all over the world know how fantastic it is to have a dog around the house. Dogs are very loyal creatures that are good company. If you love your dog, chances are you are always looking for ways to get closer to him. A good way of doing this is to play fetch with him. So follow these guidelines and teach your dog how to play with you!