Training your pack to play with the iFetch and other toys together!

Playtime in a group! 

In collaboration with iFetch we did the following post on training your pack to play together, found on their blog or below.

More dogs = more excitement = more cuddles & bellyrubs = more memories = more fun!

This equation sums up the endless cuteness of all of your dogs playing with the iFetch together. The iFetch community has so many hilarious videos like this one below. If you have one, please share it with us — the iFetch family would love to see it.

Think of your iFetch pack like an NBA team. One dog can be your Kobe Bryant, the ball-dropper-in-chief. The other dogs can be your fetchers. Or you can have every dog take a turn — if you can manage the excitement. No matter how you play it, the whole dog and human family can get involved and up the fun quotient.

If your home pack is the type who already plays together and knows how to use the iFetch, then you’re all set. But if you have a dog that’s ball/toy-possessive or play-aggressive, then you might need to adapt slowly to group play so that everyone can have some fun. You can work with each dog separately until they progress through the command sequence to learn to work the iFetch. Every dog learns at its own pace; be patient with the slower learners, reward immediately for good work, and give each dog the individual attention it needs.

My dog Maggie does a lot of commands that involve other dogs, such as hugging another dog, jumping over a dog, even humping a dog (yes, this is a requested ‘skill’ for a movie dog!). When we learn new commands, our training is always one-on-one, until Maggie is solid in her understanding of the command. This way, she’s happy and confident in her work when the time comes to work with another dog. Working one-on-one with your dog also helps strengthen your bond and will also help raise the confidence of a dog that tends to be overshadowed by their dominant, class-clown brother or sister.

When each of your dogs has mastered the iFetch, then bring them together for double (or triple) the fun. Like with kids in the schoolyard, the iFetch family recommends human supervision at first for group playtime — but you’ll be there anyway, because you don’t want to miss out on the hilarity that ensues.