Fetch

The dogs we had growing up loved to play fetch. We would go in the backyard and throw the ball, or a nearby stick, for hours and they would run to get it and bring it back to us. One of the dogs was so good she could get 2-3 balls at a time and bring them all back in her mouth at once.

Thinking back to those days, I was looking forward to playing fetch with my dog. I found an old tennis ball in the back of the closet and took her the few blocks to the off-leash dog park. As we approached I saw another dog chasing down a ball their owner had thrown and racing it back to them. We went through the gate and I let my dog off her leash.

As my dog stood staring at me, I lifted my arm back and threw the ball as hard and as far as I could and said "go get it!" I looked down and there my dog sat- just staring at me. I repeated "go get it!" again while pointing towards the ball but she just shifted her neck and continued to sit and stare at me. Wow, was this disappointing. So I walked over to pick up the ball as she happily strolled beside me. I then showed the ball to her mouth and she quickly grabbed it out of my hand and took off. I yelled at her to come back so she turned and came charging towards me; then around me; then back towards the gate; then towards the other dog; then back towards me. I reached out to take the ball and she took off again. I asked her to drop it and she held it for a second towards me, still in her mouth, and when I went to take it she bit down harder and would not let it go. She raced away again and then got bored and dropped it in the far corner of the park. I walked over and picked it up and tried the whole thing again but she just ignored me- wandering slowly around and sniffing the surrounding fence.

I've tried everything to get my dog to play fetch, but she could care less. She's a remarkably fast dog so once in a while she will get pleasure at outrunning another dog as they go for a ball, but that's about as close as we've come. Even then she just steals the ball and won't give it up until she's bored. So I hold onto the fond memories I have of the hours of fetch I played with my childhood dogs; and try to enjoy the other wonderful traits that my dog has.