# Line-training work for belgian shepherd



## Jordansaurus (Jan 7, 2013)

Sorry if this is in the wrong section. 
I have recently purchased a 50ft long line so I can progress with training my 4 year old BSD bitch. 
She has got the bronze good dog citizen award thingy, but could not progress this with my trainer because she could no longer carry on classes. 
So, we have done small bits of training with her here and there:

Sits
Downs
Down and stays
Speak
Paw
Sit and Stay 
Recall
Call to heel 
Walk to heel

She does all these thing fabulously while in her own environment, but as soon as there are distractions its like shes a different dog. I'm going to try and make the effort with a good day a week with just her, outside of the home , on the long line in a quiet area somewhere. She could work fabulously if the effort was put in (I have spent most of the last 3 years away from her while at university and my parents dont really have the time, or patience to do all the advanced things with her).

So yeah, one day a week, long line, with just her. Would like to teach her to retrieve, but dont think thats really in a shepherds nature  shes never been toy or ball mad, but very food orientated. And send aways to a marker. And good walk to heel, with turns etc. 

Any advice on how I can teach retrieve and send aways in this way? Been looking for videos , but most seem to only show off dogs that can already do this and I need to start from scratch with her. 

And just to put everyones mind at rest. She does get her good walk once/twice a day with my other two rascals and usually a massive walk up a hill once a week (which usually takes 3-4 hours) She is very calm and quiet natured when in the home, so I do not think that she isnt getting enough mental stimulation, but I just think she could progress so much further. 

I have also contacted a trainer for perhaps a one to one lesson every few weeks, just so they could help with anything I may be doing wrong with her. 

Any advice, stories would be a great help !


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

What on earth gave you the idea that BSDs can't do retrieve?

There are many, many BSDs that compete in obedience, Schutzhund and working trials and in all those disciplines they have to do retrieve.


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## nickmcmechan (Aug 1, 2009)

Can you expand a bit further on the distractions?


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## Vicki (Jul 28, 2009)

Twiggy said:


> What on earth gave you the idea that BSDs can't do retrieve?
> 
> There are many, many BSDs that compete in obedience, Schutzhund and working trials and in all those disciplines they have to do retrieve.


My thought exactly! I have a BSD (Malinois) and she loves to retrieve. Not like a retriever, though, because she throws herself on the obejct and she does NOT have a soft mouth (she chews like crazy), so I've worked on the retrieve a lot for cometitive obedience but the problem have never been lack of interest. Everything is a toy, according to my dog, and being mad about toys is a breed trait.

Here are a couple of instruction videos on how to teach a dog to fetch and hold on to objects: 
How to teach any dog to FETCH! - YouTube

Dog Training Tutorial: Holding Objects & Clean Up! - YouTube


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## malihunt (Jun 22, 2011)

My belgian shep (malinois) has forever got something in his mouth. He offers more focus at a hint of a tennis ball then any food treat.

His retrieve is spot on, getting the git to hand it over again is a different matter


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