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Roll a Ball
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This is easy for the dog to learn.
The idea is to have him roll the ball to you. Start by putting the ball in
front of the dog while he's in a lying-down position facing you. (A larger
ball is best).
Start by rewarding any interest the dog shows in the ball. Once he has the
idea that he's supposed to be interacting with the ball, then start rewarding
for nudges instead of sniffing or mouthing. If he sends the ball rolling with
his nose, even by accident, praise highly. Then go back to normal rewards,
gradually increasing your criteria. You should work on one thing at
a time. So no matter what direction the ball rolls, if it's a strong push,
reward that.
Once the dog rolls the ball when it's placed in front of him, you
can start working on direction. Start to ignore pushes that go off to the
left or right and reward those that go to you. It's OK to let the distance
slip a little since you're focusing on direction. Give the dog time to catch
on since you've switched criteria. When he's sending the ball in your general
direction, go back to rewarding for distance again.
