Fetch works but leaves ball 1 m away

[princessa2727]

My dog (3 years old neutered male Lhasa apso) loves to play fetch and does so well, except for releasing the ball/toy 1-2 meters away from us. It doesn’t matter if we are playing inside the apartment, at someone else’s s place or outside on a field. Nor does it matter if it’s me, my fiancé or any of our friends/family. He lives alone without any other dogs but have no problem sharing toys with his friends (he does not get to practice this this often though, many of his friends has problems with sharing toys) but we haven’t noticed any tendencies towards resource guarding.
Every time we play fetch he happily let’s go of the ball/toy (sometimes by himself or by command), just 1-2 meter away from us. He does not seem to mind us getting close to the toy, once in a while he bends down his head towards it but upon being give the release command he drops it and then happily runs after the toy when it’s been thrown again.
Any idea what this could indicate? Anything we could do/do differently in order for him to give us the toy at our feet? We’ve tried and or but this just seems to puzzle him and/or resulting in him coming towards us without the toy.

 

[ayryil]

@princessa2727 Doesn’t really indicate anything. It’s just the way your dog plays. Nothing to worry about. You can try to train it out of him if it bothers you.

My cockapoo has a tendency to leave the ball 20 meters behind on a walk, then come running up and look at me like I’m meant to get it. I taught her that pointing and saying “get the ball” means she’s to go back and get it. A year ago she wouldn’t go back for it, now she does.

Not having a dig at you, because to new owners understanding training doesn’t come naturally,but a lot of questions on here can be answered with training. Dogs are smart and their behavior is malleable. If something bothers you, work on training it out of them. As for the lowering the head thing, it’s excitement. You’ve went to pick up the ball and they know in a few seconds they’ll be chasing after it again. Totally normal.

 

[princessa2727]

@ayryil Make total sense. Thank you!

 

[juliekl]

@princessa2727 If you want him to bring it closer, the best way is to give him lots of praise and throw it immediately on those instances when he brings it straight to you. If he happens to leave it out of your reach, give him a chance to work it out on his own by not going to get it (neutral response). He’ll come to learn that if he wants you to throw it, he has to bring it close to you. Let his wheels spin a little and figure it out. Dogs are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for

 

[princessa2727]

@juliekl Thank you for your response!