Ok this is a REALLY WEIRD ONE!

Today while golfing a fiendly dog (preseumably from a near-by house) joined up with me and my golfing partner. the dog was well behaved and for most of the round he just followed us around the course. on about hole 12, my partners drive got away from him and sliced into a water hazard. and wouldn;t you know it the dog went after the ball, found it and droped it in the ruff beside where it went into the water.. we WERE AMAZED! and my partner was was quite glad as he was playing with a titleist V1 which is like a $4 ball.

so. does he have to take the drop? or does the ball simply play where it ended up. we didn't tell the dog to fetch it he just did.

later in the round. I got a great 2nd shot on a PAR 4 and GIR'ed (something I NEVER do) and the dam dog picked the ball up off the green and brought it back to me. Does that mean I have to take a mulligan?


lol. Funny storey none the less.

yeah, I had a random cat run out into fairway and steal my wife's ball many years ago. We almost fell down laughing.

I think that's called an outside agency.

You're allowed to drop as near as possible to the spot the ball came to rest before the dog/cat picked it up. No penalty.

In the case of the dog getting it from the water, your friend is lucky in that it didn't cost him a $4 ball, but he is unlucky because he must proceed under the rules and take the penalty and drop. Rule 18-1 wording is clear that the ball MUST Be replaced after the ball is moved by an outside agency. In this case the ball was in the hazard and since the original spot is in the hazard, then it's a stroke penalty and you proceed under the rules for the situation.

With YOUR situation, the ball may be placed, not dropped, without penalty at the spot from where it was stolen.

I find this hilarious because I have a buddy who used to have a terrier like this. If we threw a rock or a golf ball into a lake, he would go get the exact one we threw. We tested him by marking different rocks and golf balls in varying ways with a Sharpie. The dog was phenomenal. But if we tossed one short of the lake, the dog would just sit there sniffing it like he wanted it to jump into the lake on its own volition. He would fetch a tennis ball or a rubber ball, but he would not fetch rocks or golf balls unless we threw them into the water.

I always thought that dog would be a great golfing partner.