At last, my dog can fetch a ball!

[kid]

I tried teaching him in the past to retrieve a ball as it would be better than chasing sticks which is the only thing he will chase at the moment. He will never fetch it though. I'd tried treats as he is food motivated but as soon as he realises there are treats involved, he won't leave my side.

But tonight, he decided he wanted to play with his tennis ball so he plonked it down on my lap. I threw it across the room, he bounced along to get it and returned it to me. Again, he plonked it on my lap so I continued with the game and he got the ball for me each time. He loved and I am so happy he seems to know what to do.

I can guarantee that when we take the ball to the park with us, he will let me throw it and then look at me as if to tell me to fetch it! But, its a start

Well done! Ours won't let anything go - so he wants to play, but he won't drop the damn thing. Nightmare.

He is a terrier though.

mine is a springer spaniel, they are meant to be intelligent dogs but I'm not convinced

The only way I managed to get him to drop it is to completely ignore him until he dropped it. As soon as I show an interest in the ball, he holds on to it even tighter.
He loves to squeaky tennis balls, they are great but can be so annoying when he is having a good chew on it!

You are meant to run after our terrier, wrestle him to the ground, manoeuvre the ball out of his teeth, and then chuck it again.

Great game...

kid

Right with you on this one. Mine is mostly lab, but retrieving eludes his little brain thus far.....he will run after sticks/balls, but then just drops them, sniffing around as if to say 'I'm far busier doing something really important than...ahem...doing whatever it is I'm meant to do with this ball thing'

You give me hope.

Mine is a Springer too. Just be thankful that you haven't got a ball obsessed one...you can borrow mine for a few days if you like. He never stops...all day back and forth, back and forth. He drops it onto/into whatever you are doing,

The only thing more interesting than a ball is a bitch in season feathered things, the last one, which was fairly mutilated was not well relieved when he dropped it proudly in front of me. Ewwwww

Ours did it today for the first time also and we let him off the lead on a quiet beach. He came back without too much trouble.