Vivian Bregman
Teach the Retrieve with Clicker
Here is my method of teaching fetch to a puppy using a clicker.
CRATES AND HOUSEBREAKING
Why use a crate?? I certainly wouldn't want to spend hours locked up in area barely big enough to stand up and turn around in. BUT --- I am not a dog, and neither are you. A dog is a den animal. If you look at where your dog chooses to spend his sleeping time, you will most likely find that it is behind a chair, under a table, or in a secluded corner. He wants and needs a bed of his own, a den, someplace where he can be alone.
CONTROLLED WALKING
One of the most important things for your dog to learn is to walk on a leash without pulling. This makes walking the dog much more enjoyable for both you and the dog. If the dog is pulling walking is unpleasant and he gets walked far less often -- this makes him pull all the more because he needs the exercise even more. A vicious cycle.
LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Dogs are pack animals with a highly developed sense of social structure. One reason they make such wonderful companions is be-cause they instinctively accept their human family as their pack. However, dogs are also born with the instinct to try to become the pack leader, and if you and your family do not assume a leadership position over the dog, he is likely to try to take over and rule you, his pack, by himself.
SOME BASIC TRUTHS ABOUT DOG TRAINING
Your dog is always learning, by observation, trial and error, 24 hours a day whe her you are with him or not.