Call yourself a retriever? Daft dog pokes its nose under fence and stares at ball – instead of running through open gate just feet away to fetch it

This is the moment a daft dog desperately tried to reach her ball through the gap under a fence – and totally ignored the open gate just feet away.

Molly Kuekes, 29, from Charlotte, North Carolina, had been playing fetch with her five-year-old dog Eden in her backyard when the ball rolled under a fence.

Despite there being 15 other toys in the yard, Ms Kuekes' 'ball-obsessed' golden retriever poked her nose through the fence and desperately tried to reach the tennis ball, an agonising few inches from her snout

After filming her dog's predicament, Ms Kuekes then panned round to show a wide open gate just a few feet away from Eden.

Molly Kuekes, 29, from Charlotte, North Carolina, watches her five-year-old golden retriever Eden poke her nose under the gap in the fence

The 'ball-obsessed' canine tries to reach the ball sitting just inches away from her but is unable to do so

Ms Kuekes said: 'This is a prime example of a very ball-obsessed retriever getting hyper-focused on a tennis ball.

'Eden was sitting there staring at it for maybe 15 seconds before I started filming. She does stuff like this all the time.

'This was the first time she did it next to an open gate though. She was so concentrated on the missing ball that she didn't even notice the gate was open.

'When playing fetch, we often have tennis balls go over the fence into the neighbor's yard.

'When that happens, nothing else in the world matters except that one missing tennis ball.

The dog stares helplessly at the tennis ball as Ms Kuekes pans the camera to the side to show a wide open gate

The 29-year-old watches as her dog looks at the ball and fails to spot the open gate just feet away from her

Ms Kuekes (pictured with Eden) described how the canine was her 'very best friend' and 'we do everything together'

'Even though we have 15 other tennis balls in our yard, she gets so hyper-focused on the one she cannot reach.

'She'll stay next to the fence and whine, bark, dig, or just lay there until someone goes and gets that one ball.

'I laughed hysterically when I saw what she was doing. Right when I was done filming I threw the ball back to her and all was right in the world again.

'Eden's my very best friend and we do everything together with her puppy brother Bowser too.'

After sharing the comical footage on Instagram, Ms Kuekes has received more than 65,000 likes from amused viewers, many describing Eden as 'dramatic'.

Molly responded by saying her dog 'deserves an Oscar'.

Another added: 'This made me burst out laughing! So typical.'

One added: 'So near yet so far away...'

And another social media user wrote: 'The struggle is real.'