One of the best ways to keep your boxer puppy healthy is to play fetch. Playing fetch involves the owner throwing a ball or a stick and his dog retrieving it. It’s a fun game for both, the owner and the dog.

Before you can do that, you will have to teach your boxer how to fetch the ball for you. Since boxers are smart, teaching them new tricks will not be too big of a problem. All that you will need is some treats and the item you will want your boxer puppy to go fetch. The item can be a ball or a toy or even a stick, as long as the dog can fit it in its mouth and carry it to you. You can also use a clicker as an addition or a replacement of the reward. You can learn more about clickers by reading my The Importance of the Clicker article

So now that you have everything ready, go get your boxer to begin your boxer puppy training. Go outside in your backyard preferably or at the park when there are not too many people around to eliminate all of the distractions. Boxers are curious dogs and get distracted easily by new people and new things.

Get your boxer to sit next to you and show the ball to him. Shake it a little bit to make sure it caught your boxer’s attention and then chuck it about 5 feet away from you and tell your boxer puppy to fetch it. You don’t want to throw it too far because your dog might lose interest in it.

If your boxer just sits there giving you a blank look then you will have to try again. This time make sure the ball or they toy gets your boxers complete attention. You can even start playing with it and get your boxer all excited about it and then throw it telling your boxer to fetch. Keep doing this until your boxer at least runs to the item and touches it.

Once your boxer touches the toy you give him a treat and praise him for getting a toy. This way your boxer will know that it’s rewarding to go after the toy. Don’t keep giving your dog treats all the time just for touching the toy. Remember the goal is for them to actually bring the toy to you when you say fetch. Give your dog treats just for going to the toy a few more times and if your boxer puppy still didn’t actually bring back the toy to you, then stop and ask where to toy is pointing at it. If your dog keeps coming back to you without the item send him again saying fetch and pointing to the toy until he or she gets the item.

When your dog starts finally starts getting you the toy, start throwing it farther each time. After a while you may want to ease off on the treats and try getting your boxer to fetch the toy without the treats completely.

A problem that you might run into while training your boxer puppy to fetch is when the boxer brings the toy but won’t give it to you. This is one of the ways your boxer puppy is trying to play with you. To help prevent this, just wait until he brings it to u and give him a treat. Don’t chase him after the toy because then it means you’re playing with it.

After some proper boxer training, your dog should be able to fetch the ball with no problems at all.

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