Our old dog loves to play ball, but if I throw it and let her chase it she’s likely to either jump high in the air or have to change directions quickly. Both of those things are bad for her ancient joints; she got to the point where she would often limp after playing. I changed the game to throwing the ball right to her, which she is happy with. About a third of the time she just catches it, which most dogs do. Another third of the time, however, she hits it to me with her nose so I can catch it. Any other hounds out there who do that? It seems like it would hurt, but I’m sure she wouldn’t do it if it did. The other third of the time she hits it where she knows I can’t catch it and catches it herself.
I had a RatTerrier who did that. She would play as long as you threw. Up until she was very old. She loved nerf type balls. I saw her often outdoors tossing it up for herself.
If her nose gets sore I can switch from tennis balls to nerf balls.
They can really send a nerf ball sailing.
My pups now, an obese Beagle and a developmentally delayed Yorkie, don’t fetch or catch a ball. If I roll it on the ground they will chase it. Dummies.
(I love them, anyways)
Ours used to knock tennis balls out of the yard and across the street. Her intention was to bounce them off the fence and catch them, but sometimes she would get a little too enthusiastic. Or maybe it was her beagle half temporarily overruling her Australian Cattle Dog half.