Fetch!

This happened on our walk this morning.

I dropped the Dokken dummy bird and told Larsen to fetch.  He ran, grabbed it, and put it down 6 feet from me.  I told him to fetch, and he ran around, sat, barked, lunged at the dummy, ran off to pee, and came back (at my insistence) and lunged at the dummy again.  I put the dummy in his mouth and made him bring it to me, which he did without making any eye contact.  I let (made) him hold it while I whispered sweet nothings and calmed both of us down.

We did a second short fetch with somewhat the same results.  There was clear avoidance, and real anxiety on his part. He would lunge at the dummy but refuse to pick it up.  He would bark at the dummy and then try to wander around.  What the heck is that?

We had a successful third try.  I tossed the dummy.  Larsen ran out and brought the dummy back.  He made eye contact and handed the dummy to me.

All of this tells me that I should have been doing this type of yard work before.  This avoidance on our walk has really put the fetching issue in sharp relief.  It's something for us to work on in the yard, away from the field.

 This dummy has its head removed so that Larsen must hold it properly, around its fat middle.