When my Boston Terrier, Tobias (Toby for short), first brought me his little, green bouncy ball, that's when I knew our friendship was meant to be.

Fetch isn't just a game to play with your puppy; it's a tail-wagging good time! From the first toss of a ball to the final fetch, continuing the game is a way of showing your pal how much fun you have playing with him.

I will never forget the day Toby fetched his first ball. It happened during our normal evening playtime. We were playing with his stuffed armadillo when he ran to his toy basket, grabbed a little yellow tennis ball out of it, then came and dropped it at my feet. I just knew that was what he wanted to play with. It was as if he was saying, "Here, now I want us to play with this toy!" It was at that moment that I knew Toby and I spoke the same language—we both simply want to have fun together!

We started and restarted rounds that consisted of me throwing the ball, Toby running as fast as he could to fetch the ball and bring it back to me, and both of us proudly smiling from ear to ear. The game didn't stop until we both decided we wanted to take a break.

Since then, Toby has mastered the art of fetching. Whenever we're both ready to play, he grabs whatever toy he deems best suited for that specific playtime (from stuffed animals to rubber batons), drops it at my feet, and crouches low to the ground so he can take off running as soon as the toy leaves my hand.

But my favorite part of playing fetch is seeing how much of a puppy he still is even as he grows bigger. Whenever I say, "Toby, go get your bone," he'll bring me back a stuffed animal or a ball. He makes me laugh so hard because it doesn't matter to him which toy we're playing with, and it doesn't matter to me what he thinks his toys are called. As long as we get to play together, we're both happy.

Dave Haase of Perrysburg, Ohio, also has a puppy that loves to fetch. But Rockey, his seven-month-old Boxer puppy, had his own way of doing things. Haase remembers that many times he would throw a toy for Rockey to retrieve and Rockey would either forget to run after it or just stare at Haase. "When he was younger, he didn't want to fetch; he could care less about it," Haase says. But once Rockey realized how much more fun it was to play and fetch with Haase, he started bringing his toys back to him. "You could tell he was proud of himself because he just stood there and wouldn't let it go. But once you got him to release, he was willing to do it again. And every time he brought it back to me I praised him. We were both so happy."

It wasn't until recently that Rockey really got the hang of this new game. "He loves to fetch now, but he didn't start fetching until about a month ago," Haase says. "And now he likes to play catch and he will actually chase stuffed animals, balls, and his rope toys if I throw them."

Rockey has gotten so good at playing fetch with his best friend that "as time went on, I could just knock something on the floor, bump it to get his attention, or throw it and he would leave and chase the toy," Haase laughs. This game quickly became a favorite for both friends. "He's got a 2-foot rawhide bone, and he'll come over to me and lay it in my lap as if saying ‘hold it or throw it.' He's not very subtle about it."