Curious about behaviour when fetching/returning balls

[Stevepleds]

Hi all,

I have a 4 year old male and was just curious about some of his behaviour when fetching/returning things.

He absolutely loves playing fetch and is hyper focused when we play - but he’s super reluctant to bring the ball back to me. He’ll usually take the ball and go sit with it, often at a distance but usually a few metres away from me with his back to me. I’ve taught him to ‘bring’ but it’s often quite a painful process involving him prodding it a few feet closer numerous times! 
When he’s ready he’ll then leave the ball, and go lay down from it a few metres away waiting for me to throw it. 
 

Just to be clear I’ve not got any problem with his behaviour and not looking for training tips, Im just curious/interested in what the behaviour is about - when he loves playing fetch so much why not just bring it back to me? Is he trying to train me by making me retrieve it on his terms instead of bringing it to me?

Thanks everyone!

Stephen

[gcv-border]

He thinks that if he surrenders the ball to you, that the game will be over. He is playing for himself. You are not seen as a partner in this game.

Fetch is not just the dog running after the ball, IMHO. Appropriate fetch games include the dog happily returning the ball to the handler.

And since you don't want training tips........ you got what you got.

[urge to herd]

He's playing ball with his rules, not yours. Agreeing w/gcv. and will add that some border collies, not all, may take it further. 'Oh, you want me to come to you/sit/be quiet? Nah, not gonna.' 

Ruth

[Journey]

Then we have the flip side to that, what my dogs do..they bring me things all the time, gonna throw, please throw it, here how about this one, and there ends up being piles of what they deem throwable all around me..nah, we aren't playing that game 

[alligande]

On 7/13/2023 at 9:36 PM, Journey said:

Then we have the flip side to that, what my dogs do..they bring me things all the time, gonna throw, please throw it, here how about this one, and there ends up being piles of what they deem throwable all around me..nah, we aren't playing that game 

That’s what 2 of mine do, the third doesn’t care about toys.

I agree with what the others have said, he is playing his own game, on his terms, nothing weird or unusual about that, border collies do make up their own entertainment.
We adopted a 3 year old who played fetch just like that, when we met him at his original home we were impressed how well he had trained the family to fetch for him. We don’t play fetch that way, so if he didn’t bring it back, we picked the ball up - 3 months later he played our version of fetch not his. 

[cdog]

I have a 9 year old male border and a 10 month old female border who are passionate about retrieving a ball.  Both do exactly what you describe.  They try hard to beat each other to the ball. (the 10 month old wins if I throw it far, since she is faster), but like you say, are reluctant to return it to me.  The game seems to be between those two.  I repeat the commands 'To me', and 'Drop It', and they usually do bring it closer and drop it, but only when they are ready to play again.  (usually not very quickly). (this video from today; I also carry a ball in my backpack for them: )

 

[diane allen]

Call me the party pooper, or whatever other name you can come up with.  I didn't write this article, though I highly recommend reading it.  If you can't get through all the ads and unnecessary photos, flip to the end where it talks about ways to make "retrieve" a fun and safe activity.  (Sorry, OP, slightly off topic, but important!)

https://pethelpful.com/dogs/Is-Playing-Fetch-Bad-For-My-Dog?fbclid=IwAR11IIA_UlP7ctYzOIFHhoFqTIT4OAGZ9l85BahLP0AqgnMLBhWWStwttP4

diane

[D'Elle]

Good article, and everyone with a dog should read it so they know that there can be dangers and negative consequences with playing fetch. While i agree 100% with the article that one shouldn't throw sticks, I think that the rest of the article is good as a caution only, and not a prescription for all dogs. If a person is truly involved with the physical and mental well being and health of their dog, and is paying close attention, the dangers mentioned can easily be avoided. I play tug and/or fetch with all of my dogs who want to play those games, but I always pay close attention to how they are moving, how they are reacting, how it affects them, the temperature, how long we play and other factors. Unfortunately, many dog owners don't do this, and that's why an article like this is important for people to read.....to make them realize that they should pay attention.