My three-year old chocolate lab male is ball obsessed. But once I throw it for him and he catches it, he refuses to give it up, running around with it and if I tell him to drop it, he looks at me, growls, and continues running around with it. I tried treat bribes and throwing him other balls but nothing works. It's quite frustrating. Any advice or help?
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Welcome to Pets! Please take the tour and have a look at the help center. As explained in the linked question (or more precisely the top voted answer), prancing around with his prize and growling at you is part of the game for your dog and at least as much fun for him as running after the ball. You need to take care not to convert your dog into a "ball junky". Bad cases of ball junkies show behavior similar to addicts, which is neither enjoyable for the dog, nor for the owner.– Elmy ♦Commented Jun 8, 2020 at 5:44
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1 Answer
My dog does the same thing! It's likely that he wants to play a game of chase rather than play a game of fetch. Try running away to get him to chase you, and once he's close enough then try getting the ball. Using another ball or toy might also be helpful for getting him to release the ball. If these suggestions don't work, I recommend checking out these methods from the AKC on training your dog to fetch: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/how-to-teach-a-dog-to-fetch-or-retrieve/ Good luck!
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Consider adding the relevant parts of the linked article into your answer.– user6796Commented Jun 11, 2020 at 8:40