That @#!*# little lab!

[fabsroman]

Forced fetch isn't really that hard. Me, I just hold the bumper in front of the dog's nose, say fetch, pinch the dog's ear, and release the pinch when the dog finally gets the bumper in his mouth. At first, I will try to place the bumper in the dog's mouth if he does not understand what he is supposed to do, but after a couple of times with the release of pressure after he gets it in his mouth, usually he catches on and reaches for the bumper as soon as I say fetch. Then, I take it a step further. I use a table, put the dog on it at one end and the bumper at the other end. I say fetch, pinch his ear, and stop pinching when he takes two steps and picks up the bumper. I haven't had a problem with the fetch command after doing those two exercises; however, there are additional exercises for dogs that have additional problems.

Mind you, that is my method and I believe I got it out of a book about 6 years ago, but there are a bunch of other methods too.