Halfway fetch

[sheesh]

My little girl will run for the ball or whatever I throw. But then she may just run right past it or pick it up and run elsewhere. When I tell her to come to me, she will come, but without the ball!
How to change her behavior? Have food in my pocket? But again, she has no problems coming to me, she just will abandon her toy!

[Guest Anonymous]

So, she will chase the ball then go sniff something out? Or will she go get the ball, and run away to chew on it?
The sniffing out is exactlly what Hazel does... I started playing fetch with a long lead on (this will work if she runs off WITH the toy too) her.( I use a Kong, which can be stuffed with treats, which is more likely to get the dogs attention too) Throw the ball not very far, make sure it doesn't go outside the leash's lenght, or else the dog will get jurked (and you) on the leash! Tell your pup to GO GET IT (or whatever you choose) in a high excited voice (this is quite likely the reason why humans get tired before their dogs too! :lol: ) once the dog get the toy, you tug the leash a little, and tell her to come to you, then give her the relase command, praise LOTS, and throw again. If the pup isn't picking up the ball, run over, and pick it up yourself! Act as if it's the GREATEST thing in the world, much better then whatever ur pup wants to go check out! She will most likely want this ball, because you want it! Give it a little toss onto the ground, and when she picks it up, PRAISE LOTS!

hope this helps!

[DogPaddle]

Does your puppy really enjoy playing fetch?
If she does then the simplest solution is to not throw again until she returns it to where you want. The reward for the correct behaviour is the game [i]she[/i] wants to play. Don't do the work for her, don't go get the ball or kong, you may want to start with a couple balls or kongs so she has some chances. Try starting with a long rope formed into a 10m circle on the ground if she returns the ball or kong anywhere within your circle on the ground praise/treat and throw again. You can make it smaller later.
It took Kavik about 6months to actually want to retrieve, now he won't stop. We kept trying to play fetch every once in a while, if he didn't show interest we played a different game. Once he decided he liked the game it didn't take him long to learn to return the thrown item to me.