Right, I can now get her to catch a treat from about two feet. Tried the same thing with a ball. Any further than 2 feet and she gives me a 'I'm not a fxxxxxg collie you know' look. So I moved on to fetching, however I can't stop her from destroying the ball by the time she brings it back to me. This is an improvement from the first session were she just ran to the ball and destroyed it. I suppose i'm trying to fit a square peg in a round hole but we will persevere.
We have a Staffie and she loves tennis balls. The only problem is she scalps the ball and then chews it to bits. We worried she would swallow the rubber so we started to buy indestructible toys(well they are indestructible to dogs not tigers.)
Try either doing it inside so she cant run off with it and bring her back to where you threw it from. Dont forget to swap the ball for a treat. Either that or one of those extendable leads to return her to you. Always exchange the ball for a treat or something she can destroy so there is an incentive for her to return to you.
Couple of problems there
a) Id lose my arm using the extendable lead
b) She knows she is more than likely to get a treat and gets as much chewing done as possible on the way back.
I google tough dog toys and it looks like i'll just have to front up for postage from the US