The Game

So, we're sitting for a neighbor dog for a couple days — Sabine, some sort of border collie-oid.

And I'm just trying to figure The Game. According to the owner, many have tried over the years. Sure, it starts simply enough. She brings the ball (stick, or thing) somewhere in your general vicinity, and drops it. Throw it so it bounces and she can chase it. OK, then the rules change. She drops it near you. And then ducks under (in that border collie-like crouch), after having made a counterclockwise circuit of the area, some sort of thing. Like a chair, or a table (she was doing this the other night in her own yard), or bush. Sometimes something she can peer around, like a planter. And then she usually doesn't chase the ball if it's bounced near her. I've discovered that if I roll it, boule-like, towards, her, she'll go for it. Unless she doesn't. It's clear that I don't understand the rules yet.