Anyone know any short cuts to Give?

Prince is very playful and good fun, and his training is coming along.
A couple of issues have come up - one being his habit of getting a bit excited and refusing to give the toy back. I have got over this one with Daisy but it took a long long time (waited for her to calm down then when I did get it back I threw it for her).
So does anyone have any ways of speeding up the process.
Swaps don`t work and anyway IME the dogs tend to snatch and I`m already a finger short so prefer to err on the side of caution.
I am using a retrieve dummy with a string loop. I hold the loop and wait for him to let go. As I say - when he`s not excited he`s fine.
I`m working on the passing the toy back and forth in the house when I`m sitting down but he obviously has never done that before because he will drop it in my lap but is resistant to putting it in my hand. I assume previous owners have fought him for it.

We have had this issue with Izzy but she's getting much better now.

She would be very possessive of toys and grab hold and not let go at all. I can understand why as her previous owner didn't like noisy toys so she wasn't allowed them and coming to ours and discovering Parker's toybox means she thinks she's gone to doggy heaven!

What we did was go out with a few Kong tennis balls as she likes those and take one that does squeak and one that doesn't (and a squeaky one for Parker too!).

We would squeak the squeaky one and get her very excited and interested in it then do a sleight of hand and throw the non-squeaky one and she would retrieve that and when she ran back squeak the squeaky one etc etc.

It worked as she would then drop the one she was carrying in order to (hopefully!) get the squeaky one.

She is now bringing toys to you and giving you them to throw for her.

The Swap thing gets very manic with big dogs. Prince is as tall as me when he is on his hind legs so I can`t hold one out of reach. He would also try to keep one in his mouth and take the other at the same time. His mouth is huge.
Spo I don`t think swaps is an option. sadly.

Maybe put him on a long line (you keep hold of the end, and then work up the distance), so when he gets excited, you can reel him in, put your hand on the toy, wait (might take a long time depending on his mood) until he drops it naturally, and praise with the "good give" and a treat.

My short cuts to drop have been:
Swap for food
Swap for another one of the same toy.

My main success was having her on the line, throwing it, waiting for her to retrieve. Then I stood on the line so she couldnt run off with it. I started by kneeling next to her and waiting. As soon as she dropped I said good. I then gave her the signal to sit and back up. I then ask her to leave it. If she goes to grab it, I sit back and wait. She ended up getting bored and letting me take it. She learned I threw it much quicker if she gives!
I can now stand up and do it. I didnt add the commands until she was naturally doing it.

After only a couple of weeks she will drop, back up, leave it. I can swing it around and she will stay waiting

Re the line - I do put him on lead when he refuses to give me the ball back as it helps him calm down, but it doesn`t really make that much difference.
Having said that, he just put a big ball in my hand for me to throw - that`s the first time he`s done it. Just once - but that shows we`re making progress.
He doesn`t swap; he wants both toys and doesn`t give them up for food, just drools.
Settling in for the long haul, it seems. He just came up with 2 balls in his mouth and gave me one, which is a good trick.

I only really used the line, because if I didnt play tuggy with her she would get bored and run off with the ball. Now I just stand in front of her, and block her if she tries to wonder off with it.

Good luck, sounds like he wants it all

I had this problem with one of my bullies, swapping toys didn't ever work
But dropping a treat on the floor did

No idea if what I'm writing will work or not as I don't know him but could you do a little bit of heel work and siting or something just to take his mind on to doing something else then take it before he's had chance to think about it so much?
Just a thought though.

Now that could be a solution. Will he play tug with you (thus needing to drop the ball to tug with another toy)?

Maybe have the tug toy for his return and the ball to fetch. Or have a strong ball on string and play tug with him, then teach the leave, and then maybe adapt the leave command to give?