Training Two Herding Dogs to Play Fetch

We worked with a pair of Mini Aussies named Rusty who was eight-years-old and Ajax who was one-year-old to help them learn to play fetch to get their exercise.

After I arrived I sat down to chat with the dogs’ guardians about their main dog behavior concerns. I learned that Ajax had a lot of energy and not a lot of rules in place. I suggested that the guardians increase Ajax’s exercise to help him be calmer. Training plus exercise is often the key to success. One great way to burn off a lot of energy for dogs is to play fetch. I wanted to train the drop it command while playing fetch, which you can see in the video below.

As you can see Ajax was a little hesitant to bring the ball back at times. Just remember to stick with the training exercise and he will soon learn to come running over excitably to bring the ball back. Another great dog training tip is to train tricks such as to stand up or spin, to give the dog some mental stimulation to burn off some energy as well.

By the end of the dog training session Ajax and Rusty were looking to their guardians for leadership and direction. I want to remind the guardians to continue the Petting with a Purpose technique to reward them for good behavior and use the Escalating Consequences to disagree with them. We wrapped up this dog behavior session with Rusty and Ajax’s Roadmap to Success video, which you can watch below.