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Article: “Revisiting The Dumbbell Retrieve”
By JoAnne Brettschneider
The following article first appeared in the August 2022 issue of the Doberman Network. Many thanks to Editor Amy Tourand for allowing CRC to reprint it.
Recently I was asked how I teach the dumbbell retrieve. A few people were struggling with individual dogs and their unique temperaments. One dog was a rescue, so at two years he was starting in obedience, and his owner was having a terrible time getting the dog to take the dumbbell.
Revisiting the concept of the dumbbell is something that warranted a deeper understanding of what is going on overall with dogs and their willingness or lack of interest in this exercise.
If you are lucky enough to have your dog as a puppy, there is a lot you can do in preparation for the acceptance of objects in the dog’s mouth. I hear stories of puppies getting in trouble for grabbing anything and everything, then taking off running with their prize. People tend to correct or scold the puppy that takes a shoe, or sock or anything in his path.
The puppy grows up thinking the act of having anything in his mouth is bad, so he develops a resistance to having anything in his mouth. That doesn’t mean a puppy gets to take anything he wants, but there must be a clear understanding of what he can take, and what he can’t. What I do, is to ask my puppy, “What do you have?” I show interest that he picked up something and then offer him a toy or treat for showing me what he has.
This becomes a bit of a game, and to this day all my dogs know how to retrieve my shoes without thinking they are a chew toy. The only time you hunt your dog down should be if the puppy picks up something dangerous or something that could be ingested, like a sock or small child’s toy.
What if you are not lucky enough to have acquired your dog as a puppy? What if the dog you have wants no part of putting anything in his mouth? Some dogs don’t even want to play with toys.
One thing I will mention is never use the dumbbell as a throw toy. If you do, you will risk issues down the road when your dog doesn’t want the
dumbell, but the squeaky toy in the corner instead. Your dog may mouth or pounce on the dumbbell, which becomes a habit that takes time to correct before you can get a clean pick up and retrieve.
HERE WE GO:
1. “Hold Still”
I find it easier to follow step-by-step instructions that try to theorize the concepts of teaching, so I will try to make this as easy to understand as I can.
Years ago, people would do the “ear pinch,” which was a correction for not taking the dumbbell. While the ear pinch was not introduced to the dog until AFTER the dog had a complete and thorough understanding of holding the dumbbell while he sat still, the theory evolved into people just pinching ears before there was a real understanding of the concept. Just to confirm my own judgements, I pulled out an old training book that did use the ear pinch. I looked up the steps, and the dog was taught to sit still and hold the dumbbell a few hundred times before ever being asked to move forward to grab the dumbbell with that ear pinch.
I felt compelled to add this, just to erase my own uncertainty of the past in the steps towards the dumbbell retrieve. Don’t worry, that is not how I teach, but I wanted to throw in that those that still teach this might want to revisit and find some older training methods were not always as terrible as how they are perceived today.
I teach all of my dogs from puppyhood to “hold still.” While one hand grasps the collar, the other hands lays gently over the dog’s muzzle, and asks the dog to “hold still.” If the dog should squirm, I will NOT clamp down on his mouth, but use my hand on the collar to give a gentle tug with an “uh-oh” and a repetition of “hold still.” The instant the dog is still, perhaps one tenth of a second, reward.
I do this until the dog understands the concept of holding very still while I touch his face. He gets rewarded many times before moving on.
Cont’d on page 12
