|  Progress to holding without support. Photo by: Author
This step may be anything from trivially easy to a prolonged ordeal. Tell the dog to "sit" in the heel position. Attempt to place the dummy in the dog’s mouth as follows: with your left hand on top of the dog’s muzzle, find the indentation in the gum behind the upper canine teeth. With the right hand place the dummy against the front of the dog’s mouth. Pull upward with your left while pressing in and downward with the dummy against the dog’s chin with your right. As the dog’s mouth begins to open, roll the dummy in over the lower canine teeth. Say, "hold" and cage the dog’s mouth with your right hand.
Most dogs respond with some degree of head movement--open their mouths wide to drop the dummy, try to push it away with their tongue, etc. If, in its efforts to resist, the dog stands up, forget the dummy and give an emphatic sit correction while saying, "Sit!" Then start over. If the dog repeatedly stands up to struggle, back up and work on obedience some more. You may find it helps to switch from a choke to a pinch collar.
As soon as the dog relaxes and accepts the situation, praise it, then take the dummy out of its mouth while saying, "Leave it!" Heel forward a few steps, sit the dog, and repeat.
An important principle of training is to avoid getting into any protracted physical struggles with a dog. If your dog is committed to fighting introduction of the dummy into its mouth, put a loop of its check cord around its muzzle before putting in the dummy (see photo sequence). Pull to tighten the check cord, and the dog is now fighting the cord instead of you. While many dogs succeed in spitting the dummy out, repetition of this procedure usually gets them to accept the dummy satisfactorily.
 Using a stick will encourage a firm hold. Praise when the dog's grip tightens. Photo by: Author
This is the step most likely to be shortcut by the inexperienced trainer eager to get to advanced work, usually with bad results. The goal is to get the dog to hold the dummy firmly and without dropping, first while sitting still and then while moving (walking, trotting, running). When John started training years ago, this constituted the whole of force-fetching, and even now we consider it more important than the ear pinch. Continuing before a dog is solid can lead to nervous snapping at the dummy or bird followed by spitting it out, or to incessant chomping and rolling, even crushing birds (hardmouth).
Once the dog is accepting the dummy without a struggle, place the dummy in the dog’s mouth, say "Hold," and support its jaw with a hand under its chin to prevent its dropping the dummy. Praise the dog--tell it, "Good!" while rubbing its ears with the other hand. After about four or five seconds, take hold of the dummy with your right hand, say "leave it!," and roll the dummy out of the dog’s mouth (never snatch the dummy away). Heel the dog forward and repeat. Holds should start out fairly brief; ultimately we want to condition the dog to like having a dummy in its mouth, so don’t prolong it to the point where it becomes distasteful.
Next we want to get the dog to take responsibility for holding the dummy. When the dog is comfortable with the five-second hold with your hand supporting its chin (often in the first session), lower your hand briefly; if the dog’s hold slackens, quickly bring your hand back up to close its mouth and repeat "Hold!" If the dog lowers its head, raise it back up when you return your hand to its chin.
 Use tension on the lead, chin support, body language, and use praise to get the dog moving. Photo by: Author
Mix up holds with correction and holds where you "rescue" the dog from its mistake by supporting its chin. If the dog gets to quickly spitting out the dummy and ducking away, you are using too much correction and not enough help. Praise the dog when the dummy is in its mouth, whether the dog is holding on its own or whether you are supporting it. Continue to heel the dog forward frequently, after doing one to three holds in one spot. As the dog learns, lengthen the duration of holds, but continue to keep the sessions short. Always try to end with success, even if you have to simplify the task in order for the dog to be successful.
Don’t be surprised if, as you progress with this stage, you find your dog clamping his mouth shut so that you need to pry it open to put the dummy in. This is common and is usually associated with a firmer grip when holding. Take it as a sign you are making headway.
As the dog gets the idea, increase its level of responsibility. Walk out front, then all the way around the dog as it sits holding the dummy. With a stick, tap and stroke the dog’s body, neck, even legs. This is to teach the dog that it must concentrate and hold on regardless of distractions. Next use the stick to tap the ends of the dummy. The dog should respond by tightening its grip (praise it!). You can also jerk the dummy cord lightly while saying "Hold." Here is where you can make some headway with a slack-mouthed dog or one that rolls and chomps the dummy. Tap the dummy when it is dangling or when the dog is rolling it. If the dog drops it, chuck it solidly under the chin, say "No! Hold!" and put the dummy back in place.
 Work until the dog will hold and heel at a run. Photo by: Author
Getting the dog to hold the dummy while moving is a challenge. If you tell the dog to "heel" while it is holding the dummy, the likely response is to spit out the dummy and trot along beside you, tail high. It appears to be thinking, "oh, what a relief. Back to plain old simple heeling and done with this stressful dummy-in-the-mouth stuff!" It works better to get the dog moving without a command. Help the dog by putting your right hand under its chin, pull forward on its lead with your left, and repeat, "Hold." The dog will probably act confused, so make sure you support its jaw and praise it as soon as it begins to move. Don’t go far--a couple of steps is plenty the first time. Have the dog sit and "Leave it."
Use the same techniques as before to get the dog holding the dummy on its own while moving, and to get it moving farther. Keep working until the dog can go over obstacles at a fast trot or lope without dropping the dummy. Have it come to heel position and sit while holding. For all this movement, use body language rather than verbal commands ("sit" usually does not cause a problem).
While none of these steps should be skipped or shortcut, it sometimes works to get the dog moving with the dummy before using the stick to create distractions. This is especially good for dogs which quickly learn to hold the dummy tightly and without chomping and rolling it. For dogs with more nervous mouths, work with them sitting until they will hold the dummy firmly and still.
In Part II, we will describe how to get the dog to grab the dummy on command, thus developing a fast, positive pick-up and laying the foundation for going when sent.
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