Watch German Shepherd Puppy Adorably Fail at Catch: 'Mastering That Skill'

German shepherds may be skilled at many things, but when it comes to catching toys, this particular puppy still has a long way to go.

As Rachelle Morgan tried to keep her nine-week-old puppy occupied with a game of catch, she wasn't expecting to get so much entertainment out of his attempts. As Morgan, from Vancouver, Canada, threw the plush toy up, Yoda the German shepherd reached up to try and catch it, but in doing so lost his balance and fell backwards.

Yoda may now be four months old, but he still hasn't perfected catching yet. This hasn't deterred Morgan from continuously testing his abilities, telling Newsweek that "he is still working on mastering that skill."

Some dogs may not be overly interested in a game of fetch, or they might not understand that they have to bring back the item they retrieved. But according to the American Kennel Club (AKC), the breeds who are particularly good at this skill include Labradors, poodles, German pointers, retrievers, and German shepherds.

The AKC suggests that these breeds have an internal drive to pick up items and return them, whereas other breeds need more help to learn those basics.

German shepherd's catching fail
Yoda the German shepherd struggled to catch his toy. Yoda reached up to try and catch the toy, but landed on his back as he tumbled over. @yodatheshep / TikTok

Morgan said: "While Yoda was still so small, I was trying to capture as many videos of him as possible. He loves this little rainbow stuffy, so we were playing tug with it while I was recording. I threw the stuffy at him to catch, and that's when he seemingly froze and went tumbling over himself.

"At first when he fell, I immediately comforted him, but I also couldn't believe I caught the moment on camera. This hadn't happened before, and we've worked on catch since."

The hilarious clip highlighting Yoda's lack of coordination was posted on TikTok under the username @yodatheshep on October 5, and it has since been viewed over 6.3 million times. Although he may be "bad at catch," Yoda's attempts have endeared many, leading to more than 949,000 likes and 1,600 comments on the viral post.

Thankfully, Yoda was perfectly fine after his fall, as Morgan joked that he got right back up and was ready to try again. It may be hard for Yoda to top that moment, but Morgan will continue sharing adorable clips of her four-legged companion on social media.

Yoda's silliness has Morgan her to connect with other dog owners, and she hopes he can keep brightening people's timelines with his goofy antics.

"The response to the video has been all positive and I love to share the silly, funny moments of my puppy, but also to connect more with a community that loves and knows German shepherds," she continued.

Among the thousands of comments on the post, many TikTok users joked about Yoda's malfunction as he tried to catch the toy, which Morgan has loved reading over the last few days.

One comment reads: "He turned into a stuffed animal for a second."

Another person joked: "Processor not fast enough. Run the update overnight."

While another TikToker responded to say that he "had to restart for a second."

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Alyce Collins is a Newsweek Life and Trends reporter based in Birmingham, U.K. with a focus on trending topics that ... Read more

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