"ceb" wrote in message
...
Zoe will fetch 3 times in a row. After that she settles down to chew on
the item.

This is Spenser. Three times. If you throw it after that, he looks at you
and says (and this is very clear if you speak Schnauzer) "If you want it,
why do you keep throwing it away?"

Sassy gets very excited. But she may or may not notice if you throw
something. IF she notices (or if Spenser has been getting attention for
bringing it back) then she'll run (bounce) and POUNCE on it - both paws!
And then she'll look back at you and grin. I think she has actually carried
a toy back to us less than half a dozen times.

And if someone could explain this to me............
Spenser also will carefully choose a toy from the toy basket, bring it to
you, toss it to you and then look at you expectantly. You would probably
think this means that he wants you to throw the toy. Or pick it up and play
with him with it. If you try either of those things he will stare at you as
if you are the stupidest person on the face of the earth. If you either do
nothing or try one of the above, he will go back to the toy basket and try
another toy.

If he comes out of the basket, swinging the toy from his mouth or prancing,
THEN he wants to play either keepaway or tug or wrestle. But this other
thing? We've tried treating it like a present, saying Thank You and holding
it. Sometimes he just sighs and sometimes he gently pulls it out of our
hands and tosses it back to us.

I'd like to play the game with him but I'm clearly not getting the concept.
Any ideas?

Judy