10/17/2026
A lot of people think their dog won’t retrieve because they “don’t like fetch.”
More often than not, that’s not actually the problem.
Dogs are fulfilled in different ways. A Lab is typically bred to find fulfillment in retrieving. Many shepherds, on the other hand, find fulfillment in possession. Once they have the toy, the fun is over if they have to give it back.
That’s why we love the two ball game.
Instead of turning bringing the toy back into the end of the fun, we make it the beginning of the next game. The dog learns that coming back to you doesn’t mean losing the reward. It means another opportunity to play.
Over time, they stop running away with the toy because they realize staying engaged with you is what keeps the game going.
Training is a lot easier when you work with a dog’s genetics instead of against them. Every breed was created for a purpose. The more we understand what fulfills the individual dog in front of us, the more effective our training becomes.
