Quote: phaedra rieff

Any idea on how to not get him to drop the item when he's about a foot away?

I'm sure the suggestions of marking the correct behavior would work. However, when I'm working with a dog on the retrieve, it is towards a different end goal (eventually hunting for the toy to bring it back) and I want to build a very heightened state of drive vs. a "thinking" or obedience retrieve (not to be confused with a forced retrieve).

So, if a pup is dropping the toy on the return, it means I haven't built up the "game" of tugging (thanks, Bob, for emphasizing that term!) enough. I would go back to that step of the process. In that process, I am doing short tugs with the pup (a couple of seconds each), releasing the toy, and then encouraging the pup to push the toy back to me for more tugging. If the pup is possessive or it is otherwise difficult to encourage him to push the toy back to you, you can keep him on a light line to prevent him from running off with the toy, as well as to gently guide him back to you for more tugging. If he likes the tugging game, he'll quickly learn he can get more of it by pushing the toy back in to you. And, at this stage, it is very important to keep the tugging short, light and fun so the pup views it as a game and not an epic battle to win the toy from you.

Also, you mentioned that his desire for food currently overrides his desire for toys. To me, it is important that I build up the pup's drive for a variety of reward objects so I have many options when the time comes for formal training. So, if a pup is really stoked for food, I'll spend more time building his/her desire for the game of tugging with a variety of toys/objects. If his/her desire for toys is higher than food, I'll do the opposite.