Tired of sitting down to watch the TV and then realize the remote control is across the room? Train your dog to get it for you and bring it to you while you relax! Rewarding for both of you. Dogs enjoy having jobs to do and some breeds actually need them to stay out of trouble, like Border Collies and Shelties.

Teaching your dog to do jobs for you is so beneficial on so many levels. Your bond and communication level increases resulting in a much happier and better behaved dog and it's fun! Teaching him to get the remote control for you (or any other object he can carry) is an easy and fun place to start. You are likely more than half way there already - you just don't know it. You will be applying behaviors your dog already knows.

Where to Begin

Get some small, chewy treats like small bits of chicken or cheese. Do your training sessions during a quiet time where there are as few distractions as possible and plan to spend 15-20 minutes for each session. More shorter training sessions actually get better and faster results than fewer long sessions. You want to keep your dog interested and having fun, not wear him out.

Get a ball or other toy your dog is used to carrying in his mouth. Sit down on the floor with him and begin by giving your dog a treat to get his full attention, making him want more. Then offer him the ball, saying "take" which he should do readily, already knowing the behavior. Praise him when he takes it, but no treat. He knows you have the treat but this time he's going to have to earn it. With the ball in his mouth, say "give" holding the treat near his face. He will drop the ball to take the treat. Give it to him and praise him.

Repeat this, making it a little more difficult as he's mastered each step by making him place the ball in your hand when you say "give" before getting his treat. Put the ball on the floor and say "take" so he stops expecting you to hand it to him and require him to hold it in his mouth until you say "give".

Start moving away from him so he has to move to "take" or "give". Change your commands to "take ball" and "give ball" so he'll learn to associate the name with the object. Increasing the complexity a little at a time and moving around will help cement the lesson in his brain as well as keep him interested in this fun new game. Remember to always praise each little step with excitement!

Take it to the Next Level

Once he's mastered these behaviors, substitute the remote control for the ball. Show him the remote control and let him sniff it to get familiar with it. (It helps if he's learned the "touch" command first, but this can be done without it.) Then hand it to him and say "take" just like you did with the ball.

He will do it almost immediately if he's mastered the behavior with the ball. Repeat the process you used with the ball, saying "take remote" and "give remote" so he learns the word for this object. This part of the training will go very fast.

Having mastered the "give" and "take" commands you can very quickly teach your dog to fetch most anything you want him to by just introducing it to him and teaching him the word for it. Make it his job to go out and get the newspaper or bring you your glasses. Your dog will love it!