Rufus (almost) learns to play fetch

Who knew it would be so hard to teach a dog to bring the ball back to you so it can be thrown again for him?

He'll race after it all right. Grab the ball and start running back to me. A quick detour in anything puddle-like or smelly along the way. And when he gets to within a foot or so of me, the little bugger veers off at a great rate of knots to the other side of the paddock.