I have a 4 year old black and tan standard. He loves to play and will chase and bring back a ball for hours. But he has absolutely no instinct for catching. He can't even catch a piece of meat when it is taossed at him. he just shuts his eyes and then picks it up. He is the best dog I have ever had And I have had dogs all my life (64) but I have never had a dog who can't catch. Is this normal for dachshunds? He seems to have excellent eyes sight and there seems to be no other problem.

Gerry

I'm sorry I have no experience with "playing catch". None of my Dachshunds showed an interest in that type of game. My present girl is not interested in any type of game or toys.

I found the following on the Internet. And perhaps you can get tips from the sites below.

"The desire to catch is genetic in certain types of animal. The ability is a learned behavior. It's like a child playing baseball with the hand/eye coordination. Practice, practice, practice is what makes a dog good. It's all in the timing. As the dog practices, the timing improves".


http://www.petshub.com/dog/learning-to-catch.php

http://www.dogtrainingguide.com/tricks.htm

You also could talk to a dog trainer maybe they will give you some pointers.

Good Luck!!

None of my dachshunds have ever been interested in catching balls, though both of them love to hunt, track and fetch them. If they catch the balls they can't hunt or track them, and the dachshund is a hunting and tracking breed. So I think my dachshunds do what they find most rewarding.