On Feb 25, 8:45 am, montana wildhack
wrote:

We don't let the dog have the treat if it's dropped. Ditto with
teaching "catch."

He'd be happy to walk off (or otherwise not cooperate) if there isn't
sufficient motivation for him to stay. Then of course, you'd lose the
trick entirely.

I tried for a very long time to get him to be better at catching
stuff. Tried all sorts of stuff, including dropping treats into his
mouths from ridiculously short distances, in an attempt to build it
up. Never achieved anything remotely resembling consistancy, even
with really short distances. About the only thing that seemed to help
was lots and lots (and lots and lots) of practice. With the
limitations in his caloric intake, there just wasn't enough bandwidth
to practice as much was needed to get anywhere close to perfection.
Yes, we practiced with kibble; no, there isn't enough kibble in his
diet to get enough practice in. A few weeks of breakfast/dinners
later, I gave up.

Pan is quite good at catching stuff. I can throw just about any way I
want ( to the sides, way high, up and over), and she'll get it if it
is physically possible. Some things, I don't do anymore, because she
can be reckless when there is food involved.

Suja