>> If I leave him to chew it, even though it’s plastic, he will eventually destroy
>> it.
Right, ok so what we have is a habit you wish to stop for financial reasons - fair enough
Its possession, its his, he wants it, he wants to mangle it to death. In what way do you think taking it off him and throwing it away where he can see it, is going to diminish his possession desire? Its not is it, its going to make it worse, stronger. "I want my ball, I love destroying it, if I give it to this bloke he is going to chuck it away so he's NOT having it"
>> He enjoys chasing after the ball and bringing it back.
You are confusing your wants and desires and needs* to what the dog is doing. Clearly he doesnt enjoy any of those things in these circumstances more than he does chewing the ball. In front of you, "you are not having it, its mine."
So what to do? Carry multiple balls, but do not throw his fave ball. Throw the other ball, and when he comes back with it, offer him his fav ball as a swap, and let him chew it. DO NOT take it off him, trying to do that reinforces the possession. If he really enjoys the chase and return, he will drop the chew ball and chase after the "live" ball if you throw it again. You'll have to train it, and he has to know he will get his fave ball back EVERY time, he wont trust you for a while because you have been tricking him (in his mind) for far too long.
*its a human thing, it dredges up our hunter gatherer cave man inner bit, our dog will run off after prey and bring it back for us/look how well trained our dog is/look at out playful relationship.
Dog dont naturally "play" with humans, you have to teach them to do so.
Soapbox time
Ball launchers/chuck-its. Are Dangerous for the dog. Unless used correctly. How so? well invariably the dog and the ball meet just at the time the ball is bouncing in the air after landing. You have, say, 25 kilos of dog moving at 25 miles an hour suddenly trying to twist, up round and backwards because its invariably over run the ball. It looks spectacular but its Nasty, very nasty.
Does a chukit have a place? yes it does as long as you understand the above, and ensure the dog and ball never meet under those circumstances. Thats done by training yourself to do a long low shallow throw so the ball kicks forwards, or getting the dog to wait and chase on command when you know its going to be safe. I teach mine to be in a down, then run round behind me on command to chase after the ball in its later, safe, stages of movement. Sometimes I launch one ball, and when the dog is running back with it, launch another ball behind me, the same direction the dog is running, so it runs past me after the new ball, - try this with your dog Bobby. Its good natural safe exercise.
Final word of warning, Never Ever let a woman anywhere near a ball launcher. They are physically incapable of doing anything useful with it, bordering on the damn near lethal.
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