Jose` retrieves better than my Lab did. LOL. I kid you not. He's really into the game. But he doesn't pester me if I can't play with him at the moment. I don't really remember if I had to teach him exactly. But must have inadvertently. He just wanted to play with me and he liked running after the ball. So, I guess he figured if he was going to get to run after the ball again and again, he'd have to bring it back to me, the thrower. So, throwing the ball and having me engaged with him were the rewards. And pretty soon he found out how cool it is to bring it back, run after it again over and over. It's just a really fun game for him.