Was this something that is bred into them? Or does it occur in the wild.
I was in the park today getting some rays, when the Yuppies started to walk there dogs. Now admittedly these dogs are city dogs so they don’t get much exercise and maybe this has something to do with it.
While they were all talking to each other, I started throwing the ball to one of the dogs, quickly I wound up throwing 5 different tennis balls to 5 different dogs.
I never thought about it before, but in addition to all the dogs seeming to really love to fetch, I got sick of it in about 1/2 hour but not one of the dogs wanted to stop.
I got to thinking is this a behavior that corresponds to wild dogs? What would a wild dog fetch?
Also I noticed that not one dog missed getting his own balls. I showed the dog his ball and threw it and the dogs took turns and waited for their ball to be thrown and even if the two balls were in the same area each dog knew to bring the ball its own ball back to me.
Is this something inbred or were these just smart, well behaved dogs. Like I said since they are city dogs in a Yuppie neighborhood they probaby only get walked once on the weekdays and a weekend trip to the park
Dogs are pack animals. The King, (the alpha dog) is the master. Any other dog of the pack will bring any coveted item back to the alpha dog. In the wild it would probably be food. In your case it is a little odd that they would bring the ball back to you. My dog might (Unless I was paying attention and ordered “Stay” which I would) leave my side to catch your ball, but would bring it back to me, not you. I suspect the dog owners had not established a clear pack leader/member of the pack relationship with thier dogs, and you became a possible leader of the pack. (In this case the pack being you and each dog, meaning five packs).
The dogs would naturally get the right ball, each ball has your scent in common, but only their own doggie scent. They know which is theirs.
I would have expected that there would be some competition for your attention. That you did not see that indicates they were well versed dogs and trained to ignore disractions such as other dogs. But anyone who would train a dog as such would never allow his/her dog to stray and play with a stranger.
I started out on this post to make a point, but I think I just blew myself out of the water!
In an attempt to save face, I can say that at the park with Foxie at my side and you threw a ball she would start to move and I would say “FOX! STAY!” and that would be the end of it.
I got two sons in college now, but when they were young I never forgot where they were, and I do not forget where Foxie is now (when she is off lead). It is diffucult for me to comprehend that a dog owner would have trained a dog so well and yet ignore where the dog is, unless the dog was trained by another, and the custodian has not a clue.
Domestic dogs have been bred for particular functions. Retrieving items is one very useful function, enough to provide a name to a whole group of breeds. It’s a selective accentuation of behaviour which comes from the wild - another good example is sheepdogs, where the encircling of prey is accentuated, but also has been controlled so that there’s no final kill.
Well these are city dogs. Meaning that they are used to crowds and frankly the Yuppies that own these dogs don’t give them a lot of attention and all of them were more than happy to drink their Starbucks coffee and let me exercise their dogs.
That makes sense about the scent I hadn’t thought of that. The thing that got me was after a half an hour of running back and forth I was sick of the game and they all kept wanting to play, I thought to myself, OK this can’t possibly be THAT much fun to these dogs. It must be an instinctual behavior
But I will add the German Shepard dog (he looked like he has something else in him too) was by far the best catcher, he could catch it without letting it bounce while the other dogs regardless of the distance let the ball hit the ground before they picked it up
Just to add my two cents on the theory of why the dogs brought the ball back to you…
As the owner of 5 Border Collies, 4 of whom are “fetch-crazy” I can tell you that if you threw the ball for any one of my dogs, they would bring it back to you. They know a sucker when they see one :). My first Border Collie, who is the most fetch crazy, burnt me out on the game by the time she was 2 (she is now 12). My dogs realize that fetch with me is a special treat but more likely I will hide the ball if they bring it to me. On the other hand, they are stockdogs as well and if there were sheep around, all 5 dogs would bring them to me (and would ignore you even if you had dozen tennis balls).
I used to have a kitten that fetched, and I didn’t even teach her to do it. Most young cats will chase after thrown objects, but she’s the only one that brought it back and waited for me to throw it again.
My old cat, Wily, would fetch marbles when he was younger. He would only fetch the “Hungry Hippo” marbles, any other marble he would chase but not bring back. The marbles inevitably would end up under the fridge, or the couch. Wily would ask us frantically to get them out for him and all kinds of “did you lose your marbles?” jokes ensued.
Just want to add another “My cat used to fetch also” comment.
My first cat, Oscar, would bring you back a crumpled paper ball if you threw it, so you could throw it again. He loved to chase them and pretend they were prey, but understood (at some level) that I was the one that made them ‘go’.
No, but I did (and still do) keep misunderstanding the meaning of the word “fetching” when I read the title while going down the list. My first reaction was, “What? Is your dog looking coyly over his shoulder at you and winking? Making sure to only give you his best side? Donning an absolutely fabulous sweater/skirt ensemble to catch your eye?”
I have two dogs, a little one and a very little one. They have two dumbells, a little one and a very little one. The very little dog will chase the bigger dumbell when it is thrown - every time. But it is too big for her. She can’t pick it up. She knows she can’t pick it up. She races over with the ‘big’ dog and then stands there looking stupid. She will even chase it when the ‘big’ dog isn’t playing.
This has now been going on for five or six years. I suspect she will never learn. Instinct? Fun? Really dumb dog?