Dogs are creatures jam packed with instincts and it is up to us humans to harness those natural abilities. One such ability is to retrieve an thrown ball. many dogs 'just do it', however others take a a bit more training in order to get that ball to do a boomerang and end up back in your hands.

It is important to always keep in mind the 3D's of dog training that I believe are so essential to making harnessing new beahviours easier. They are Distraction, Distance and Duration and when starting off you need to minimise all of these. So start with your dog alone in a quiet room with him close to you, get some soft toy he likes or an old shirt toed in a knot, it is important to add value to the toy and you can do this by moving it from hand to hand really fast making a fuss over it.

Once you dog seems interested in the toy and follows it with his eyes toss it less than 2 metres from where you are. Awesome if your dog grabs it in his mouth and returns it, really praise him like its the best thing ever and repeat the action several times. Then increase the distance you throw the toy and introduce tidbits (pea sized high value food) for when he retrieves the toy back to you and drops it.

However if your dog isn't so interested, it is important to keep adding value to the toy...tossing it around your hands, making fun noises, loudly whispering 'whats this, whats this!' the throw it less then two metres, if your dog goes to it you are on your way to getting your dog to retrieve...just be persistent and keep adding value to the toy, he will grab it with his mouth and when he does make a massive fuss, then repeat the game.

Only play this game for a few minutes at a time so your dog doesn't get bored. Remember the 3D's keeping them minimised and slowly increasing them as your dog learns.

If your dog starts keeping the toy in his mouth this is when you ensure that he is keen on the tidbit...in order to get the tidbit when he returns to you, he has to drop the toy...voila! he learns he drops the toy at your feet and gets a tidbit.

As time progresses you can throw the toy further, increase the time you play the game and do it in many places...in short you can increase the 3D's.

So what are some the benifits of a dog that boomerangs....

• you are harnessing a dogs abilities
• you are part of the dogs fun and excitement..in fact you are the source of it
• if you are unable or time poor to run your dog, ball retrieve and frisby are great exersize
• your dog learns to focus on you and follow your direction
• you can entertain you dog from the couch, your work bench or the computer chair

So what are you waiting for ...get your boomerang on!