# Trying to play fetch but dog wants me to chase him?



## Bones (Sep 11, 2009)

Okay- I've been trying to get Bones to play fetch, however, whenever I throw the toy he runs, picks it up, and then holds it in his mouth while running around.

For example: the other day I threw his Kong Frisbee and he went after it, picked it up, and ran around the yard. He usually starts by doing loops around me. If I go after him he zooms around the yard. If i ignore him he literally runs circles around me or he'll drop the toy about 5 feet from me and when I go to get it he will pick it up and run.

I've tried to get him to drop the toy by holding out a treat, but it seems when he is outside with a toy he has no food motivation at all.

I'm at a loss- he also forgets the come command when he has a toy (or he just ignores it?) without a toy he comes to me, but with one he just runs and runs. 

Any advice?


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## RedyreRottweilers (Dec 17, 2006)

1) use a long line so you can control what happens

2) have MANY of the same toy

3) DO NOT try to take what he has! This comes WAY after the dog learns that coming back to you means fun. What YOU have to do is teach him that coming to you with the toy IS fun. This means PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE, smiles, playing tug, releasing, encouraging him to come back and play tug.

When he goes out to get the toy, as soon as he picks it up, show him another toy, and RUN AWAY FROM HIM in another direction. Encourage him to chase YOU, not the other way around.

People teach dogs NOT to come in with what they went after by reaching out to the dog, taking the object, and not making it fun for the dog when he comes back with the object.

You can check out my clips at YouTube. Here is one with me teaching a 9 week old puppy about fetching and bringing the toys back to play. Watch how she returns to me to play. A dead old toy with no one on the other end becomes much less interesting when the puppy has so much fun playing with YOU when they bring it back.






Here is an older dog who has been schooled in the same way. Watch him enjoy playing tug, and how enthusiastically he returns with the object.

PLAY TUG!!


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

What Red sed.

It is not usual--at all--for a dog to naturally return an object to hand. A gross generality is that the more drive a dog has to "fetch" the harder it is for them to give up the prize.

I start very small, like in a hallway. Use a line to guide the dog back to you. No rough stuff; all fun in the beginning. Any time the dog comes back to you, he gets lots of praise and petting, and gets to hang onto it awhile. Just touch and grab the object while petting/praising. Getting him to "drop" or "give" can wait until he's fired up to get back to you. If you use a treat or another toy, just present it and say "drop" as he spits out the one he's got.


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## hulkamaniac (Feb 11, 2009)

Marsh Muppet said:


> What Red sed.
> 
> It is not usual--at all--for a dog to naturally return an object to hand. A gross generality is that the more drive a dog has to "fetch" the harder it is for them to give up the prize.
> 
> I start very small, like in a hallway. Use a line to guide the dog back to you. No rough stuff; all fun in the beginning. Any time the dog comes back to you, he gets lots of praise and petting, and gets to hang onto it awhile. Just touch and grab the object while petting/praising. Getting him to "drop" or "give" can wait until he's fired up to get back to you. If you use a treat or another toy, just present it and say "drop" as he spits out the one he's got.


I don't necessarily agree with that, but I think a lot of it is breed specific. If I throw something, Brutus will chase it, but won't pick it up or retreive it which is probably pretty standard hound behavior. Zero, my cocker, will retrieve the item and bring it back. Sometimes he doesn't want to give it up when he gets back, but he will bring it back.


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## Labsnothers (Oct 10, 2009)

Dogs love chase. They play it with each other all the time. What you need to do is get the dog to come to you, use treats or whatever. Once it comes, ignore the toy and make a big fuss over the dog. Continue to fuss over it ignoring the toy. Eventually it will make several attempts to give it to you. You can then take it.


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## TxRider (Apr 22, 2009)

It depends on the dog.

I have 2 rescues right now, one will take a long time to get conditioned to returning an object, the other does it enthusiastically from the first time I threw something for her. Both are GSD's.

Ive had the same with previous dogs, some naturally want to bring it back, others want to play keep away or just chase, pick up and drop where they chased it to. Many of not most have at least a small instinct not to give up a toy, even if they do bring it back.

The key for me is in getting the dog to realize that giving it to me means another chase, which is the most fun part. It would seem a simple thing to get a dog to realize, but it really isn't simple for some dogs.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Bringing the object back and releasing it are two different things. One of the quickest ways to get some dogs playing "keep away" is to immediately snatch the object as soon as he returns with it.

When my guy was a pup, he'd bring the object directly back, but he's clam up and refuse to release it. It was just too good. If I sat down and ignored him, he's keep jabbing me with the object until he'd drop it in my lap. He'd then start hopping around and tossing his head--as if to say "throw it again". It's good to train your dog. Sometimes it's better to let your dog train you.


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## RedyreRottweilers (Dec 17, 2006)

My main goal with puppies and dogs in teaching the retrieve is to get them to come back with the object and PLAY WITH ME with it. Tug, chase me, etc. If the pup likes to play tug, they begin very fast to come back with the object so you can play together.

I do not worry about the releasing of the object. This can easily be trained later. If I want the pup to fetch again and he has not released, I just throw another toy.

I praise for all run-outs to the object, whether they pick it up or not, and for all running out and returning. The only part missing if the dog runs out and returns is picking up the object, and you can put that in later!

PLAY TUG! Teach your pup that YOU are the best game in town!


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## Hallie (Nov 9, 2008)

With Hallie she did the same thing Bones did. I would just ignore her and not chase but instead encourage her to come to me. When she did I played a good ol' game of tug and acted like she'd just saved the world. Now she brings it back right away  but she expects a little game of tug and then she'll give it up and she's ready to go again. 

Redrye- I love the video of Penny chasing Milton! She sure puts him in his place


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Different dogs have different motivations. My well bred retriever will endure any hardship, and offer any behavior in order to KEEP PLAYING. The main consideration is dialing down his excitement so he can actually hear my voice to take direction.

For other dogs the retrieve itself is not as inherently rewarding. My Rotty boy enjoyed playing fetch, but the game was over the minute you tried the old tuck-the-ball-in-your-armpit ploy. He was never once fooled by it, and he would register his utter disgust at the attempt. He was done right there and then if you tried it on him.

You have to work with the dog you got.


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## meandean (Aug 31, 2009)

i have a flatcoat retriever/gsd mix that loves to play fetch...only as much as 5 times then he gets bored and starts to chew whatever toy we are playing with. he is also only 10 months old so he may just have a short attention span. we also have an aussie who is 10yrs. that no matter what, we cant get her to play fetch. she will run after the toy faster than the other dog but just bite it and drop it multiple times. we have tried multiple angles to try to get her to bring it back but to no avail.


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