Hello, my family dog recently moved in with me due to my parents no longer being able to care for him. Some background is that he is a Pekingese-poodle who is 6 years old and LOVES to chase the ball. The problem is that he rarely brings the ball all the way back to me. Fetch is his favorite thing to do but he obviously expects me to get up and walk a few feet to the ball every time he drops it. I've tried everything I can find online to train him to bring it closer, teaching him to drop it, not playing unless he moves it closer, ect. But none of it has any success. I think a combination of 2 things prevents him from learning to bring it closer. the first is that he has learned from other family members that people will still throw it despite it being out of reach. The second issue is that he is so obsessed and excited about the ball being thrown nothing but "wheres the ball going" goes through his mind. another problem is if I try to ignore him until he brings the ball within reach. he assumes im not going to play, gives up, and takes the ball elsewhere despite that he REALLY wants to play fetch.
Its hard since he is a middle-aged dog and has been so obsessed and reinforced to playing fetch this way, is there any way to teach him to drop it closer?
Its hard since he is a middle-aged dog and has been so obsessed and reinforced to playing fetch this way, is there any way to teach him to drop it closer?