As the title suggests, my pup has become less and less enthusiastic about fetching in just the past few weeks. Simcoe is a 3 and 1/2 year old Irish Setter / Cur mix (we think) with energy to burn and lingering separation anxiety issues from before we adopted him a year ago.

Two months back I taught him how to fetch a frisbee, which then easily transferred to the Chuckit. However, he has begun to lose interest in fetching even though I use the same encouraging words and enthusiasm as before. He went from returning the ball a few times, to only doing it once, till yesterday's comedy. I threw the ball downrange, he hustled after it, and then kept running past the ball to go and socialize with a bunch of kids sitting on bleachers across the field. Then after that he zoomed all over the field with another dog he knows, so the heat and/or illness are surely not an issue.

I can't tell whether this is a genuine obedience issue or a case of Simcoe's Irish Setter genes that have a tendency to make his breed play deaf and be more independent at times. All advice and general observations welcome!

Pics of Simcoe and Friends: https://imgur.com/a/fBdVr

UPDATE: We took his frisbee out to the park this evening and played a bit of keep away and then threw it to intentionally curve, float, and roll on its side. Simcoe loved it and fetched the frisbee many times before tiring out!