My dog won't drop the ball. How to teach fetch without treats?

Asking her to 'drop it' for a treat is teaching her the command - you should simply continue to practice trading a toy or anything else in her mouth for a treat. If you practice frequently enough hopefully you will be able to ask her to drop it without a treat in an urgent situation, but it's important to continue to give rewards for the correct behavior.

Some dogs are so trained with treats that they will not do them without knowing they are going to get one. You can also try it with a piece of kibble in hand so that way he isn't getting anything extra. Some dogs do not play with toys. I would recommend just letting him enjoy the ball that he loves. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

You should work on a command like ‘drop’ to teach him to put the toy down when you ask, them ask him to come. You will need to offer a high value treat to get him to drop the toy. The growling may be an attempt at getting you to play when you were pulling the toy away from him - if you work on asking him to put the toy down you can probably avoid this in the future. Clicker training can be especially helpful since you can click as soon as the toy is dropped.

I would recommend working on a 'drop' or 'leave it' command with Charlie. You can give him a toy, then offer a treat and when he drops the toy say the command. Once he will do this consistently during training time you can try using the command when he picks something up and wants to chase. It is important that you don't chase after him when he's doing this (unless he has something that will truly hurt him) as even the negative attention can reinforce the behavior. Look away, find a treat, and wait for him to drop the item and reward him. Since he seems to like chase you could also have a special toy that is the only one you use for chase - you could ask him to drop whatever he has and replace it with this toy and then chase him for a bit as a reward.

He’s using this as a way to get you to play. I would try to put up things he shouldn’t have and ignore him when he takes something. Your trying to get it is what he wants. If he likes to go outside or for a walk take the leash and act like you are leaving so he’ll want to join you and hopefully will drop the object. When I teach the command ‘Drop’ which is what you need in this instance, is to offer him a very high value reward. Steak, cheese, hot dogs or his favorite toy. In order to get the reward he needs to release the object he isn’t supposed to have. I recommend putting him on a short leash, giving him a toy and working on the ‘Drop’ command. That way he can’t run away, and soon he’ll learn what you want. He’s just a bratty teenager so don’t go along with his games. He will improve as he gets older. A general group obedience class will help you learn to work together also, and is fun. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Jax.

General obedience training is where to start. Once Koi learns to come, stay, down and heel you will have better control over her behavior. To get her to drop an item I like to teach the Drop command. Do this with a toy or ball. Toss the toy, call her and ask her to Drop the toy by having a yummy treat in your hand. She'll drop the toy to get the treat and then you can praise her and give another treat. Once she learns this command you should then be able to say Drop, and she should drop the item and come looking for a treat. Be patient with the training, she's a puppy. Don't chase her when she takes something she shouldn't as this will encourage her to make a game of it. Instead say Treat and throw a treat to her if she won't come. Usually a treat is more enticing and she'll leave the item she's not supposed to have. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Koi.

It's important to remember that dogs are individuals with different likes, dislikes and quirks. Not every behavior can be trained out. Try having two frisbees. This may encourage him to bring back his current frisbee so that you will throw the second one. Make sure praise and reward him for any positive behavior. Please feel free to post any additional questions.