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Old March 31st, 2004, 02:06 PM
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petdr petdr is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 262
Dog won't play

Hi there,

Here is something you can try. First off remove all the toys from the dog's environment. Pick them all up and put them away and keep them out of site. What you want to do is get the dog excited about 1 or 2 toys.

Try this exercise 2-3 times a day for 7 days. It should work and may well work within just a few days.

1 - Take your dog outside and tie your dog to a post, railing etc.
2 - Get a human friend and a dog toy. Use 1 toy that you can stuff food in like a Kong, an old tennis ball or any of the new pouch toys that you can stuff. Stuff it with food - something the dog loves but that won't fall out when thrown.
3 - Toss the toy back and forth to your friend while your dog is watching. Make a big production during the toss - you want your dog to witness (and smell) the fun. Do NOT give your dog the toy, just let her watch the fun.
4 - After the 5-10 minutes bring everyone back inside. Take the toy and put it on the fridge or in a place where the dog can see it but not get to it. Repeat for 1 week.

On day seven BEFORE your dog has eaten and is hungry. Take out the toy and go outside with the dog and play fetch. This should solve the problem.

Very quickly the toy should become something the dog loves to play with and you probably won't need to stuff it with food.

Remember to put the toy away after use to maintain the dog's excitement.

Good luck!

Julie Sansregret - AHT, Dog trainer
Guides Canins
1313, rue PineRidge,
St-Lazare-de-Vaudreuil, Qué.
J7T 2M7 (450) 424-1469
www.guidescanins.com
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