Building Impulse Control During Fetch

Hi All,

My dog is 8 years old mixed breed - pointer/viszla/lurcher.

He absolutely lives for chasing the ball. As soon as he sees it he already sets off running in anticipation before it’s even thrown. He constantly barks if he has to wait, fetches it back really well but drops it and immediately sets off again barking.

I’ve made a rod for my own back by just accepting this, and I know now I have a job on my hands to try and work on years of ingrained behaviour.

In two sessions I’ve managed to get it to the point where he will bring the ball to me and instead of just launching off again in anticipation of it being thrown he will sit and (briefly) wait. It’s not perfect yet of course but it’s only two sessions and the barking and learning to sit and wait for a moment have both improved massively.

From the POV of me teaching him this it wasn’t too hard, I can obviously tell him to sit and wait and I can just hold onto the ball until he stops barking and sits, I have the control in that regard.

My question is how do I go from this to a point where I could throw the ball and him stay sat until I actually give him a release word? To successfully control that impulse and listen to me?

At the minute he sits there but he is so highly aroused that any movement with my hand and he is up again until I tell him to sit, or almost shaking in anticipation. As soon as the ball is thrown he is off.

What are some steps I can use to work on this particular aspect?

TIA!