Originally Posted by james1

There are hundreds of things dogs do naturally, they only do them more when reinforced by humans, if a dog isnt getting that reinforcement it wont continue to do it for too much longer
Self reinforcing / self rewarding - unless its a ferral animal that utilises these natural intincts in order to survive on a needs basis then it is doubtfull the reinforcer will be that strong for it to persist.
The only thing it is satisfying it is drive, its not pursuing/hunting/chasing as there is no food received as the end result and once the strongest marker has gone it moves onto the next it doesnt stay glued on it - therefore the actual reinforcer is small. If you only got out into the open world two or three times a day for a few minutes, wouldnt you want to explore?
Once drive is cut out the problem is solved and this basically comes from the owner telling (reinforcing) it whats wanted.
I doubt very much whether having them obsessed with a toy they like will really do anything, as once it gets it .. it will more than likely run off as it has not realised the importance of coming back. It will probably be thinking ive got my favorite toy off you and im going to enjoy it.
You need to reinforce when it does come back that you require things (obedience) and having it learn what you require will stem its drive and replace it with a 'loyalty' (for want of a better word)