How to Teach a Dog to Fetch When They Won't Return It

Have you seen the funny little internet comic about fetch? It's three panels of a dog with a ball in his mouth. "Please throw? No take! Only throw!"

At some point, most of us have probably experienced this exact situation. Our fuzzy canine companions desperately want to play, and they love to chase and grab the things we throw. The only problem is, when it's time to bring it back for another round, they don't want to let it go.

I've seen a handful of different variations on this behavior. Some dogs love to chase things, but will then just play with them where they land. Others will bring it back, but want to keep hanging onto it. Some just want to play a little game of tug-of-war while they're at it.

So, if you have a pupper that doesn't want to bring their ball, stick, frisbee, or other toy back for another throw, what can you do? The answer, as you might imagine, is training.

Don't Give in to Fetch Yourself

One particular situation is worth mentioning because certain dog breeds love to pull this little trick, and unsuspecting pet parents fall for it.

If your pup loves to go chasing after their ball, but they won't bring it all the way back, they might bring it some distance away and drop it there. They'll sit and wait for you to come get it, so you can throw it again.

If you give in and go get it, you're basically the one being trained to play fetch. The trouble is, if you go and retrieve the ball yourself, you're teaching your pup that they don't have to bring it all the way back to you, and that sets a precedent for future behaviors.

Understand Why Your Dog is Keeping the Ball

Dogs are clever, they're joyful, and they love to play, but they're not the most complex creatures in the world. Their behavior can be understood if you think about why they might be doing what they're doing.

If your dog loves to go chase something you throw, but then they just play with it where it is, it could be that they actually only care about the toy and not the chase. They might be just as happy to play with the toy on their own, and in fact, it might feel a little rude to them that you're taking it and chucking it out of their reach.

If your dog likes to bring their ball back somewhere nearby, but not all the way, it could be that they are used to you taking away things they like. Some dogs actually just like holding things in their mouths, but the things they hold might not always be something you want them to be holding. They might initially want to return it, but then remember that you tend to take away the things they like, so they want to keep it a little longer.

If your dog likes to bring their ball somewhere random, maybe to play or maybe just to leave it, it's possible that they were never actually trained in what fetch is, and their instincts haven't fully internalized it. Scholars think the origin of fetch behavior comes from wolves hunting and bringing prey back to their dens.

But, your pup might instinctively just want to drop their "prey" somewhere safe, which could be by the door, in a cozy spot in the yard, by their bed, or somewhere else entirely. They don't know to bring it back to you.

If your dog likes to bring their ball back to you, but they refuse to drop it, it could be because they haven't been properly trained to give it to you. Or, they might just want to play a tug game instead.

Fortunately, pretty much all of these variations come down to training your dog to behave in the way you want them to, and there are a few different ways you can do that.

Exploring the Options for Training Fetch

Now, let's dig into the options you can use to train your dog to give up their beloved ball so they can chase it once again.

Option 1: Training "Drop It"

This is really the key, and it's actually a much more important behavior than just part of fetch.

The "drop it" command is one of the essential dog training commands, and with good reason. It's very important for safety!

Training your dog to drop whatever they're holding allows you to tell them to let go of something they shouldn't be carrying around, whether it's something dirty, something dangerous, or something harmful to them or to the people around them. If you've ever seen those happy pups running around with the lawn sprinkler, or carrying a dirty, dripping stick from a gross pond, you know how nice it would be to have a command to get them to stop!

Drop it is also helpful to prevent resource guarding. If you can get your dog to give up something they like, even if another dog or person is around, you prevent altercations as they try to defend it.

The American Kennel Club even has a full set of instructions on training this behavior. It's very handy!

Option 2: The Trade-In Reward Method

This is part of the method you would use when training a puppy to fetch, if you go about it through a standard process rather than relying on adapting their instinctual behavior.

Remember, the best way to train any animal is through positive reinforcement. Things like punishment don't work, but rewards are very effective.

Broadly, the method works like this.

• You offer the ball, or whatever other fetch toy you're using. For dogs that already know the basics of fetch, you can throw it. For dogs that don't bring balls back, you should hang onto it while they bite it.

• Once they have a hold of the ball, you offer them a treat or reward that incentivizes them. This is best done with treats or bits of food, and is much harder to pull off with pets or praise. Food-motivated dogs will take to this much more quickly, but any dog will respond to a treat, generally speaking.

• When they let go of the ball to take the treat, say your key phrase (like "drop it") to associate the phrase with the behavior. They'll enjoy the treat, and you can pick the ball up for another throw.

When you do this enough times, your dog will realize that when they drop the ball at your feet or put it in your hand (whichever version you choose), they'll get a reward.

If you're trying to train fetch from scratch, holding onto the item and offering the treat until they let go is the first step. After that, start with "throws," where you just let go of the ball when you give it to them. Eventually, you can escalate to tossing the ball a few feet away. Then, full tosses. With patience, you'll have fetch trained into them in no time.

Repeat the process a few times, but be careful not to try to force it if your dog is losing interest, or you can end up reinforcing the wrong behaviors. You can add a few repetitions by amping up the excitement level, but

Option 3: The Two-Ball Method

Another option is a sort of trick you play on your pooch, albeit a good-natured one.

The concept is pretty simple; if your dog won't drop the toy you've thrown so you can throw it again, have another toy on hand to throw. When you throw the second one, there's a decent chance they'll drop the first one to go chasing after it. Then they bring back the second toy, and you're ready to throw the first one.

There's one significant barrier to this method working, and it's this: dogs don't mind having their mouths full. I've seen dogs try to cram two, three, even four toys in their mouth all at once. You might need a small pile of balls for it to work.

It also helps if your throwing toys are identical to one another. While your pup might be able to tell the difference between them by subtle changes in scent, it doesn't matter that much; it just helps prevent them from having a favorite they hold onto over other toys.

It can also help if the toy you throw is bigger and awkward enough that they can't hold more than one in their jaws at a time, which makes it easier for you to convince them to drop one in favor of the other.

Option 4: The Sorting Method

The third method is a little more complex and will require more dedicated training.

The idea is that you will have 2-4 "spots" that you mark. You might have baskets, or small hoops, or even just flags or markers you can place down.

You also have the same number of toys, which are distinct from each other, but related somehow to the space they'll go.

When you teach your dog to fetch, once you've taught them to drop their item, you also teach them where it should be placed. A red ball in the red bucket, a frisbee in the yellow hoop, that kind of thing. Each one is distinct and unique enough for your pup to remember.

The key is, again, positive reinforcement. You teach your dog that putting the toy in the right place is what earns them a reward. When you take and toss one of the items, they bring it back and get a treat for putting it away.

This can even be used in a similar way to train your dog to put their toys away! It's a pretty handy behavior, though it's more work.

Questions About Dogs that Don't Fetch

Now let's round things out with a few questions readers like you have asked me. If you have another question I didn't cover, let me know in the comments!

What if my dog just isn't interested in fetch?

Well, that's up to you. The truth is, only around 80% of dogs are even interested in fetch. It's also a behavior that gets less common in neutered dogs, in female dogs, and in older dogs. Maybe your dog just doesn't find a lot of joy in it, or maybe they have joint issues, and the chase isn't fun.

If you desperately want to play fetch, you can still try to train in the behavior, but chances are your dog will get bored quickly. Fortunately, there are plenty of other tricks you can train them in, so don't feel too bad about it.

What if my dog loves fetch too much, and brings me random things to throw?

Fetch should always be limited to just the toys that are designed for fetch. Taking any random toy and tossing it can feel bad for your pup if they care for that toy more and prefer it as a snuggle toy, for example. Try to keep fetch limited to just the designated toys, and never throw a non-fetch toy.

You might also want to reinforce all of this with patience training, especially with sit and stay. An overly excited dog might jump for the ball you grabbed to throw, or might try to catch it just out of your hand, which can be dangerous. If you add in patience training and make them wait before chasing it, you can ease this risk.

Can I make a game of tug part of fetch?

You can, but you want to use toys specifically for it. Dogs adjust their grip on toys they're pulling on, and you definitely don't want your hands in the way if they try to do that with a small toy. If you get a rope or other toy for throwing, you can add a tug game to the end.

Do you have any other questions? Let me know if you do!