Question
I've got a 9 months Labrador.
We'll go for a one hour walk once or twice a day and play with a Frisbee. She's crazy about it, really loves it.
So because she likes it so much I use this to exercise her both physically and mentally.
Normally I'll ask her to do a command and if she does it fine - I'll throw the toy so that she can run after it and bring it back. Boy she enjoys it!
But I don't really know how to teach her to give it back to me. She'll come back and will stay couple yards away from me and won't give it back. Usually she'll want me to run after her and take it away. I understand this is another game for her but I dislike it.
I'm quite patient and tried various snacks, sausages for a trade, but she's not really into it. She might do it for a piece of sausage once in a while but that's it.
So basically I'm looking for an advice how to teach my dog to give her favorite toy back to me so that game is fun for both of us.
Answer
There are a lot of videos showing how to teach a dog to bring a toy back. For example, you can look at Zak George's YouTube channel and search for his 'fetch' videos. Here are two of them I found with quick search but I bet there are a few more:
10 Easy Tips for Teaching your Dog a RELIABLE Fetch!
How to Teach your Dog to Bring You Things
The reason your dog isn't bribed by food is probably because, for her, food is less fun and nice than the toy she's playing with. I would really suggest watching some videos. I think it will be shown in one or a few of the videos for sure, but after the dog grabs the toy, you can start to run a little away from it. Usually this makes the dog come closer to you.
You will need to start with smaller distances and keep increasing it as she keeps bringing the toy back.
Answered By - Shirru