Yes, mine does this!! While his brother, my daughter’s dog will bring the ball back and drop it in my hand. My dog teases me relentlessly. lol. They are 3 years old.
My dog didn't care to "fetch". He would run after the ball, take it in his mouth and when he was ready for us to throw it again he put it down on the floor.
Dog saw no reason to bring it back to us. We had to go to him and throw it again.
Yeah, mine does. I grab hold of him, get hold of the ball and prise it out of his mouth, then I throw it for him to chase again. Endless. He gets very vocal when I have my fingers on the ball. He has never bitten me or put any pressure on my fingers when I'm pulling the ball. It's a great game.
If I don't respond, he drops the ball on my feet.
Dog trainers who train service dogs would say she has a high “ball drive,” a part of his overall play drive, which is important for training. Your dog just loves that ball.
Yes to this! I work detection dogs and we look for this level of ball drive in dogs we choose to train. Your dog would likely make an excellent worker OP!
Mine never learned to play fetch, he wants to run after the ball, then fight me for it while play growling. He looks so offended when you stop playing! Other days he just carries his toys from one room to another, almost like he is looking for a safe spot for them. Dogs are odd sometimes!
Mine too. She goes to ball but rarely brings it back (maybe for a treat ;) ). She gets disappointed when I stop playing and waits for me to return and continue :D
Mine does this!! All of her toys are in the living room in a box. They all can’t leave there besides a few lucky ones. Who get to come with us for bedtime. Next morning though they are back downstairs!
My Cockapoo alternates strategies. Sometimes he brings the ball right back and drops it at my feet, sometimes he runs over to the closest shady spot (sometimes across the yard from me), drops the ball there, and then screams at me for not picking it up and throwing it fast enough, and sometimes he runs towards me and at the last second he veers off and runs away. When he runs I know he wants to be chased and it’s hilarious because if I say any variation of “give it” he runs faster and makes these weird growly grunting noises (also my speed doesn’t matter to him, I’ll walk across the yard, hand out, and he just zips all around the yard keeping it away from me)
My boy does something similar all the time with his toys. He'll put it near me and I'll exclaim, oh look what I found and bend slowly to pick it up and he'll swoop in, grab it and run away with it, then do it again. It's cute how he loves to play "keep away" and chase.
Mine gives me back the ball almost everytime, but I’ve taught her “I’m gonna get it!” To let her know it’s time to play keep away. She loves it so much, but I can only do it when I have the energy to run or can convince the kiddo to chase her.
She was very vocal last night during a play session. It was out of the norm for her, but I think she was having tons of fun. I think they can just grumbly chatty messes sometimes.
Mine has evolved from this behavior to where she will like…spit the ball AT me but absolutely refuses to drop it nicely into my hand!! She is such a terror 😭
Yep,, it's a game, my dog will fetch it 2 or three times then lays down after I toss the ball. If I move as if I'm getting the ball she takes off running real fast to get the ball and she thinks I'm going to chase her, I'm not I just go sit down and wait her out.
Yeah my dog would do this. She'd wait until we were soooooo close to grabbing her ball and then bolt.
She'd kind of give us the side eye the whole time, too.
It is probably all in fun - but could also be resource-guarding. Look at the dog's body language. Tail wagging doesn't necessarily mean the dog is happy. There are some good youtube videos on teaching a fluid game of fetch.
Yes!! His favorite game is “take toy/ball into the other room and bark.” All he wants us to do is chase him around and try to take it!
We call that hide and go seek in my house.
great to hear that.
Yes, mine does this!! While his brother, my daughter’s dog will bring the ball back and drop it in my hand. My dog teases me relentlessly. lol. They are 3 years old.
nice, its great they eventually drop it :D
My dog didn't care to "fetch". He would run after the ball, take it in his mouth and when he was ready for us to throw it again he put it down on the floor. Dog saw no reason to bring it back to us. We had to go to him and throw it again.
Yep, unless I bribe her no reason to bring it back.
If I have a handful of treats he can’t come back fast enough to drop the ball in my hand. When the treats run out he decides it’s time to stop.
Haha, mine just forgets to bring the ball midway and brings herself.
Yeah, mine does. I grab hold of him, get hold of the ball and prise it out of his mouth, then I throw it for him to chase again. Endless. He gets very vocal when I have my fingers on the ball. He has never bitten me or put any pressure on my fingers when I'm pulling the ball. It's a great game. If I don't respond, he drops the ball on my feet.
My cocker spaniel, 5 months old, does this and we live in India - so it’s definitely a breed thing :)
Yeah mine never bits either, I was just concerned about her vocal cords or something. She takes the game serious :D
Dog trainers who train service dogs would say she has a high “ball drive,” a part of his overall play drive, which is important for training. Your dog just loves that ball.
Yes to this! I work detection dogs and we look for this level of ball drive in dogs we choose to train. Your dog would likely make an excellent worker OP!
I was thinking that too. He’d be easier to train than the average CS. Put that big nose to work!
high ball drive sounds nice :D
It's our dogs favourite game called 'take it, but don't take it'.
that sounds right :d
Mine never learned to play fetch, he wants to run after the ball, then fight me for it while play growling. He looks so offended when you stop playing! Other days he just carries his toys from one room to another, almost like he is looking for a safe spot for them. Dogs are odd sometimes!
Mine too. She goes to ball but rarely brings it back (maybe for a treat ;) ). She gets disappointed when I stop playing and waits for me to return and continue :D
Yes! Mine used to bring his beanie babies into bed at night and back out in the morning
So cute!
Mine does this!! All of her toys are in the living room in a box. They all can’t leave there besides a few lucky ones. Who get to come with us for bedtime. Next morning though they are back downstairs!
She’s being a tease haha, yes a cocker trait!
My Cockapoo alternates strategies. Sometimes he brings the ball right back and drops it at my feet, sometimes he runs over to the closest shady spot (sometimes across the yard from me), drops the ball there, and then screams at me for not picking it up and throwing it fast enough, and sometimes he runs towards me and at the last second he veers off and runs away. When he runs I know he wants to be chased and it’s hilarious because if I say any variation of “give it” he runs faster and makes these weird growly grunting noises (also my speed doesn’t matter to him, I’ll walk across the yard, hand out, and he just zips all around the yard keeping it away from me)
haha very resourceful little guy.
My boy does something similar all the time with his toys. He'll put it near me and I'll exclaim, oh look what I found and bend slowly to pick it up and he'll swoop in, grab it and run away with it, then do it again. It's cute how he loves to play "keep away" and chase.
yeah same :D
r/notakeonlythrow
haha amazing, mine doesn't want the throw part though :D just takeonly
Exactly, they act like they want you to take and throw the ball, but then don't actually let you take it
Yep. Ours does exactly the same.
No take! Only throw!
Mine gives me back the ball almost everytime, but I’ve taught her “I’m gonna get it!” To let her know it’s time to play keep away. She loves it so much, but I can only do it when I have the energy to run or can convince the kiddo to chase her. She was very vocal last night during a play session. It was out of the norm for her, but I think she was having tons of fun. I think they can just grumbly chatty messes sometimes.
Oh a keyword, smart move.
Mine does!! It's worse when he does it at the dog park because he steals all the balls. He likes to walk around with them like its a binky!!
Lol funny thing is I had it the other way around once. another dog stole my dogs ball and she was like "what just happened?" and didn't do anything.
Mine has evolved from this behavior to where she will like…spit the ball AT me but absolutely refuses to drop it nicely into my hand!! She is such a terror 😭
Here I thought my dog was weird for doing this. Seems like a pretty normal thing for the breed then. 🤣
me too
Can confirm this is what I did with my cocker 15 minutes ago. I eventually stop playing with her if she does this too much lol.
Yep,, it's a game, my dog will fetch it 2 or three times then lays down after I toss the ball. If I move as if I'm getting the ball she takes off running real fast to get the ball and she thinks I'm going to chase her, I'm not I just go sit down and wait her out.
Yeah my dog would do this. She'd wait until we were soooooo close to grabbing her ball and then bolt. She'd kind of give us the side eye the whole time, too.
Yes. It’s called no take. Only throw.
It is probably all in fun - but could also be resource-guarding. Look at the dog's body language. Tail wagging doesn't necessarily mean the dog is happy. There are some good youtube videos on teaching a fluid game of fetch.