Toys for doggies - how to?

Do you teach your dog to play with toys? If you did, how did you start teaching him/her and with what toys?

My Cruiser (a golden ret) loves to play with balls. It was hard for the first few times I let him play with the ball. I had to excite and run around with him just to get him starting to like the ball. This is important if your dog is not the playful type. Also make sure to get the right size of ball/toy for your dog and play as much as possible to encourage him.

You can also initiate playing by giving the dog and asking for it. Never forget to give praises continuously. Spice it up a bit by throwing the ball a bit farther from where you're standing and teach him fetch. Always be consistent with your command and once he's used to this, you can go longer distances.

Mine are all ball chasers, BUT, Ruby learnt through watching Jakey who was already trained to fetch the ball, Roddy learnt through watching Ruby. I walk dogs for a living and believe me they learn alot just from watching each other..........

Tuggy type games are usually a big hit, and as Debra says, you need to get excited around the toy, make it out to be something really fun and exciting, play with it just for a little while to start with then put it away, bring it out another day, and again make it out to be something special, and just play with it for a short while before putting it away again. You can also use the same toy to teach a 'leave' command using lots of treats ofcourse too.

Thanks for the tips, Debra and Stephanie.

Looks like I've gotta be playing balls with the dog if I want him to learn. And bring some treats when we're out! :D

The 'watching' thing helps a lot. Oddly, though, my dogs aren't that big on toys. The youngest one loves the tug toys. Now my oldest never got into toys until last Christmas when a friend sent them gifts. For some reason, Cassie just decided those were hers, and she loves them.