# Question about fetching



## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

I think it may depend on the dog and/or the location. With Max, if we are at the beach, or at the lake, he will fetch/retrieve for what seems like forever. Also, he brings the ball or float back and drops it at my feet and is ready to go again. I always stop before he does. 

In the backyard with a tennis ball, he will fetch it a few times, and stop and lay down with the ball. It also becomes a game about whether he will give the ball back. 

Goldens were bred to retrieve birds in a water environment I believe. Probably not tennis balls.


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## Sammy&Cooper (Dec 28, 2011)

my female occasionally will fetch a tennis ball in the backyard and very rarely brings it back but if she's fetching in water she brings it back and drops it at my feet every time. my male no matter where we are if I'm throwing a tennis ball he will go get it and immediately bring it back to me and drop it at my feet. 


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

I always say Max should have been named Benson - the butler on the old show Soap, who when the doorbell would ring, would look around and say, "You want me to get that?" I throw the ball, he looks at me. 

Actually, he's gotten more interested as he's gotten older, so it may also be something that isn't ingrained but needs to be trained.


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## goldentemperment (May 16, 2012)

My guess is there's a stronger fetch drive for field-bred dogs, as opposed to conformation dogs, but I've seen both with not very much inclination to fetch.

My Ella will occassionally fetch, but her favorite pasttime is to chase other dogs that are fetching.

Personally, I don't think poor breeding has anything to do with it, and I don't even think that a lack of desire to fetch a ball has correllation to hunting drive, because a tennis ball is not a dead bird. I think every dog is different.


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## mdoats (Jun 7, 2007)

Rookie wasn't overly interested in playing fetch until he was well over a year old. And even then, he'd be happy to chase a ball a few times but would eventually get bored. And then I bought one of the orange chuck it balls and he has become completely obsessed. He would happily play fetch until he dropped if I let him. When we're at the park, I have to actually put the ball away out of sight to get him to drink some water. He's happy to play fetch with other balls, but the orange ball is something else entirely.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Both of my guys would play fetch all day long with anything...toy, ball, bumper, whatever.
My parents' golden, who is also Fisher's son, never was big into playing fetch. You could get him to half-heartedly fetch a ball maybe 2-3 times before he would wander off and eat grass. That is, until we actually took him field training. He went crazy. He whines and shakes with excitement and would fetch the bumper or bird ALL DAY LONG. In the more formal/training setting he lives for it, but at home, nah no thanks. Dogs are weird


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## GinnyinPA (Oct 31, 2010)

Sometimes it has to do with the way they were raised. Ben was neglected, left alone outside all day with no interaction with people for his first three years. It has taken him a long time to learn to play with us, instead of just playing by himself. If a toy has a good squeaker, he will usually chase it a few times when we toss it, but usually he just gets it then goes over into a corner to toss it for himself, or to chew on it a bit. We can get him to bring it to us and drop it by doing a trade, but then he is more interested in the treats than in running after the toy again.


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## sdhgolden (Aug 13, 2012)

Darn I was kind of hoping it was the breeding so that when I get another dog from a better breeder it would love to fetch!  I agree with what has been said here though. Thanks for your input! 


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Bella would do it all day long in the house, but only a few times outside. She would much prefer to look for twigs to chew on, and sniff around for rabbit poop to eat. She would probably make a good tracking dog. 


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

The drivier dogs do tend to love fetch, but I don't regard it as a 1:1 ratio because while the ball typically triggers the drive, it doesn't seem to every time. The situation K9-Design described is a perfect example.

It's quite likely that your dog will love to fetch if you get a dog with a strong working pedigree and spend some time when he's young bonding over the game and reinforcing it. not 100% guaranteed, but very, very likely.


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## sdhgolden (Aug 13, 2012)

Nairb said:


> Bella would do it all day long in the house, but only a few times outside. She would much prefer to look for twigs to chew on, and sniff around for rabbit poop to eat. She would probably make a good tracking dog.
> 
> 
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This is my dog, exactly. He loves eating rabbit poop. Its more excited than fetching when we're outside. So gross. I don't get why he'l only fetch inside. 




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## BriGuy (Aug 31, 2010)

What if you try to teach fetch? Start really small by tossing the ball or bumper a few feet, wait till your dig picks it up and then treat (I like to use a clicker too). Then gradually increase the distance. That might be enough to spark your dog's interest.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Brady comes from strong conformation lines and MacKenzie is a rescue that probably comes from more of the field lines. They have totally different personalities.

MacKenzie will fetch all day, she is very prey driven. 

Brady will just look at her totally confused. He will chase an occasional rabbit, deer or fetch a couple times, but that is it, while MacKenzie lives for this and is constantly stalking things, etc. While Brady is out smelling the flowers, enjoying all the sights and looking for people to hug him.

We always tell Brady that he should be more of a "real dog" like MacKenzie.

The funniest thing I have experienced with fetching is I used to have a GSD and a Great Pyrenees. My GSD loved to fetch and of course guard dogs like the Pyr are very smart but don't have that instinct in them.
One day I am playing fetch with my GSD, and my Pyr is sitting there watching him. He all of the sudden sits next to me as if he wants a turn, so I throw the ball for him. He chases it down, and brings it back to me perfectly, I am shocked, he then walks away. Never to want to do it again. I guess he just figured he would try it, and it wasn't that much fun. I tried over the years a few times again with him - nope not interested.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

sdhgolden said:


> This is my dog, exactly. He loves eating rabbit poop. Its more excited than fetching when we're outside. So gross. I don't get why he'l only fetch inside.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I do everything I can to discourage her from eating rabbit poop, but unless she's leashed in the yard, there's nothing I can do to prevent it. 

As for fetching in the yard, I could work on it more by using the 50 ft lead and high value treats, but I'm not overly concerned about it at 8 months. I'll wait until every little twig isn't so interesting to her. 


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## Walnut_the_Nut (Jan 25, 2012)

I think the key is to stop playing fetch, and put the ball away while they still want it. 

That being said, Walnut will play fetch indoors, outdoors, in mud, snow, whatever. HOWEVER, he enjoys the searching part more than the fetching. 

For example. I'll throw a Glow in the dark chuck-it ball, and it lands deep in the snow somewhere. He visually cannot see the ball. He will spend as long as it takes looking for it, and all the while, his tail is wagging so hard it looks like it might break off. 

And when he finally finds it....he runs back so fast we usually need to step out of the way so we don't get hit...because he can't stop in time. 


While he's still enjoying the game, we make it a point to show him that we're putting the ball away. We've been doing this for some time now, and it just makes him more and more likely to play again next time (and for much longer). It's gotten to the point where he sees the ball and gets so excited, that he almost makes a 1/2 dash to get the ball...even though he sees it's still in my hand :doh:

We still reward him too. Specially if he's able to sniff out the ball after 5 minutes of searching. Sometimes he looks for it for 3-4 minutes, takes a poop, and continues to look for it for another 3-4 minutes until he finds it. haha. 

Anyway...try putting the ball away before he gets bored of it.


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