Training an unruly dog to catch!

Gracie just loves to play catch or should I say catch me if you can! She actually likes the idea of catch until other games occupy her time such as keep away! Anyway its very difficult to play with her, and we all know we have to play with puppies because we have to get them tired. Of course we don't want to play with them just to make them tired, we should enjoy it too, but sometimes its hard to enjoy playing catch with Gracie because she "play" bites!

So how do you get a dog to drop the ball to play catch, without her running away from you or actually biting you out of shear excitement? Well, my brother helped me out with this one. He plays ball with her and when she comes over with the ball he doesn't give her the option to play "keep away" or play biting, because he puts his hands in his pockets, signifying to Gracie that he wants her to drop the ball and then he'll pick it up. He doesn't take it from her mouth to encourage a playful bite and tug of war. He simply waits and I have to say its works! He claims its all psychology of the dog! He may just be right!