Hiya Nicola , use your clicker ! Get a toy and some treats. Play with her in the house. Throw or roll the toy across the floor and encourage her to bring it back. As soon as she looks at you , click and treat. If she takes a step towards you , click and treat. As soon as she moves towards you with her toy , click and treat . Then if she takes a few more steps towards you , click and treat. Continue until she comes back to you with the toy , click and give her a jackpot. If you keep this going until you can throw the toy and she brings it back , excellent. Finish the game though before she gets bored and do the same again later. Good luck and have fun.

Great stuff ! Just remember , nothing is impossible . Missy's latest trick is wagging her tail on command ! I say " Wag" and her little Staffie tail whips wildly and she makes little growly noises at the same time , just for a click and reward .[/QUOTE]

That sounds great, Suzanne. She sounds like good fun. She's fun alright , from dawn to dusk. A nuisance sometimes though when she won't stop doing ALL of her tricks, including bringing loads of things to " swap" for my dinner .

And you're right, nothing is impossible when it comes to teaching my Westie tricks. Do I sound convincing?

This thread is so depressing makes me feel a complete failure, I've not taught my lot anything like that lol!
Becky

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First of all , does harvey play fetch at all ? If he does , it makes it easier to teach him to bring you specific things. I had to teach Missy to fetch as being a terrier , she used to just run off with her toy and shake it . I would take her out , and have 2 toys in my pocket. Throw the first toy and once she had it , show her the second one. This made her run over to me and drop the first toy. I would then throw the second toy and pick up the first one. I just kept repeating this until I could get her to drop a toy into my hand instead of on the ground. If she dropped it on the ground , I would ask her to pick it up then I would put my hand under her mouth and say " give it to me". As soon as she released it into my hand , I would throw the other toy or give her a treat and lots of praise. I followed the same routine in the house and using the same method , got her to just stand in front of me and swap one toy for another. I then moved on to just using one toy. I would put it on the floor and ask her to pick it up, then say " give it to me ". As soon as she did , she got a treat. We play "swap" regularly now where she will swap a toy for another toy or a treat. The important cue to teach is " pick it up". Once Missy learned this , I could put any object on the floor ,point to it and say the magic words " pick it up" and she would. By this point , she would automatically put the object in my hand. I use that cue for every new item I want her to pick up and give to me. It works every time. Things she has picked up for me using the above training are , her toys , my purse , TV remote , keys , mail , plastic juice bottles , my shoes , and anything else I ask her to pick up. In advance to this , she has learned to pick things up when I say " I need " , " I've dropped " ," I've lost " and " I'm hurt" (for the first aid kit). It has taken a few months for her to learn all of this , and sometimes she uses it as a form of attention seeking where she will go daft picking all sorts of things and bringing them to me . She is my first dog and the only one I have trained , bearing in mind she is a terrier not a retriever , I think she has done very well. She does have a very outgoing personality , and is extremely playful ,(and cheeky ) which help a lot when training . Just make it a game and make the reward valuable . Be patient and teach one thing at a time until your dog understands it well. Good luck and have fun !

[/B]
First of all , does harvey play fetch at all ? If he does , it makes it easier to teach him to bring you specific things. I had to teach Missy to fetch as being a terrier , she used to just run off with her toy and shake it . I would take her out , and have 2 toys in my pocket. Throw the first toy and once she had it , show her the second one. This made her run over to me and drop the first toy. I would then throw the second toy and pick up the first one. I just kept repeating this until I could get her to drop a toy into my hand instead of on the ground. If she dropped it on the ground , I would ask her to pick it up then I would put my hand under her mouth and say " give it to me". As soon as she released it into my hand , I would throw the other toy or give her a treat and lots of praise. I followed the same routine in the house and using the same method , got her to just stand in front of me and swap one toy for another. I then moved on to just using one toy. I would put it on the floor and ask her to pick it up, then say " give it to me ". As soon as she did , she got a treat. We play "swap" regularly now where she will swap a toy for another toy or a treat. The important cue to teach is " pick it up". Once Missy learned this , I could put any object on the floor ,point to it and say the magic words " pick it up" and she would. By this point , she would automatically put the object in my hand. I use that cue for every new item I want her to pick up and give to me. It works every time. Things she has picked up for me using the above training are , her toys , my purse , TV remote , keys , mail , plastic juice bottles , my shoes , and anything else I ask her to pick up. In advance to this , she has learned to pick things up when I say " I need " , " I've dropped " ," I've lost " and " I'm hurt" (for the first aid kit). It has taken a few months for her to learn all of this , and sometimes she uses it as a form of attention seeking where she will go daft picking all sorts of things and bringing them to me . She is my first dog and the only one I have trained , bearing in mind she is a terrier not a retriever , I think she has done very well. She does have a very outgoing personality , and is extremely playful ,(and cheeky ) which help a lot when training . Just make it a game and make the reward valuable . Be patient and teach one thing at a time until your dog understands it well. Good luck and have fun !

Thank you so much for the tips and advice, i just needed a wee idea on how to start this method im gonna be practising all week lol, so thanks!!! Missy sounds like a very clever dog i can't believe the things she can do, you must be so proud!