throw up in air - lands on head... - Page 1

Does anyone know why some dogs jump up to catch food thrown in the air or at least try to grab it with their mouth and others will just sit there and let it land on them?

thanks :)

Maybe while you're at it, you could explain why my female GSD will 'head' the ball about 1/3 of the time, rather than catch it in her mouth!

This means I have to be VERY careful when playing indoors with her, as I never know where the ball is going to wind up! Yes, a few things have been broken because of this...

I think she was a soccer player in a previous lifetime. That, or poor eyesight, are the only two explanations I've come up with!

Drive for the food or toy play a HUGE role in how a dog will react in these situations. Confidence as well as "intelligence" on the dog's part also plays a big role as well.
I have had dogs that would ignore food until it fell on the ground and I have my current dog who will go through a wall and through you if he needs to in order to get his toy or a piece of food that he missed...its funny to watch and dangerous sometimes..

Hired dog, i think you are correct, the dog im working with at the moment has low confidence and drives so could be down to that.

My initial comment on this thread was going to be: How DARE you throw your dog up in the air, and have her land on her head! 
Yeah, thread titles can be deceiving...

I had a golden doodle I was doing daycare for that seemed to have zero play drive. I kept working at it, and after 3 months, he finally got comfortable enough with me to chase after a ball. He was quite enthusiastic about it, too!

If other dogs were around, he would always let them get to it first, though. so working alone with him was a key factor in increasing his confidence.

it is called eye-mouth coordination, some have it, some don't.