Retrieving games can provide hours of fun for you and your dog. They're great for exercise and can even be used as a training tool. Some dogs learn how to retrieve in just one session, and most dogs learn within a week. Follow these steps and you'll have Fluffy or Fido fetching in no time!

To teach Fluffy to retrieve, you first need to praise her for picking things up in her mouth, much as it might go against your instincts. We often punish our dogs for picking up and playing with "non-doggy" items.

But this can stifle or completely eliminate their retrieving instinct, and it can teach your dog to play "keep away" - which you don't want! If Fluffy picks up a forbidden object (and it's not dangerous), praise her, call her to you and then trade what she has in her mouth for another toy or treat. Make sure she believes that the traded object is just as exciting as the original - play with her, don't just hand it to her. Before long, your dog will bring you all sorts of things.

Now you can extend "carrying" to "retrieving." Start out with a tug toy like a soft Frisbee, rope toy or knotted dishrag. Play tug energetically for a few minutes and let Fluffy win the toy (a recent study showed that dogs are just like us - if they don't "win," they don't want to play!).

When your dog is fully engaged and enjoying the game, stop playing and let the tug drop to the ground. If Fluffy picks it up and offers it to you, begin to play again. You are demonstrating that, without you, the game isn't any fun.

When Fluffy starts getting the hang of this, start throwing the tug toy about two feet after she drops it or lets it go. If she gets the toy and brings it back to you for more, that's great - play tug with her again.

If Fluffy doesn't, go to the toy with her, pick it up and play again. If she lets you grab it and then wants to shake and kill it, let it go and wait until she finishes. She'll most likely give it to you and then you can start the game again.

Try using two tug toys if things aren't going right. If Fluffy runs away with one of the toys, pick up the other and start playing with that one.

When she trots toward you, entice her to play with your tug toy. Chances are good that she'll drop hers (which is no longer interesting) and play with yours.

Keep practicing. You'll eventually be able to throw the toy a bit further. After a time, start using different tug toys or a Frisbee to generalize the behavior. If you want to graduate to a ball, try getting a rope ball first and then switch to a regular ball as your dog gets more enthusiastic about the game. Throw the item further and further each time. Always end retrieving games while your dog still wants to play. Remember to run around a lot! If you're not excited, why should your dog get excited?

Trish King is the director of behavior and training at the Marin Humane Society.

Tails of Marin appears every Saturday in the Home & Garden section of the Marin Independent Journal