# Apport
Not to be confused with tameness.
In NetHack, apport is a statistic that represents how likely a pet is to 'fetch' items and bring them to you.

Contents

1 Description
2 Strategy
3 Etymology
4 See also
5 References

Description
"Apport" is the name of a variable field in struct edog that governs the chances of a pet picking up an item and dropping it on a square next to you.[1] The higher the apport stat is, the more likely a pet is to bring you an item.[2][3] New pets start with an apport equal to your current charisma.[4]
Apport can be increased by feeding your pet any comestible that qualifies as a treat shortly after it has dropped an item near you. While this is commonly done by throwing the treat to the pet, the only requirement for treats to increase apport is that it has been in your inventory previously.
Apport is decremented by 1 each time the pet drops an item, to a minimum of 1.[5]
The exact formula for apport gain (calculated when the pet receives a treat) is:[6]

200 / ((distance from you to pet when the last item was dropped) + (# of turns since item was dropped))

Ideally, if a pet drops an item right next to you, and you immediately throw it a treat, the calculation would be:

200 / (1 square + 1 turn) =  200/2  = +100 apport

Strategy
Apport is best raised and maintained by immediately rewarding a pet for dropping an item at your feet; this will raise initial apport high enough for the pet to start seeking you out, after which you should treat your pet from time to time after it drops something to keep apport high. Knights (who start with a pony and many carrots and apples) and Healers (who can turn rocks into meatballs via stone to flesh) are the roles most immediately prepared to handle this kind of training.

Etymology
The term "apport" is derived from the archaic English word "apporter" and the much more common French apporter of the same spelling; their common root is the Latin apportō (“I carry in”). The former refers to an importer, while the latter is a verb that can mean "to bring (in)".
In many languages, "apport" is a widely used command in dog training, equivalent to "fetch".[7][8]

See also
Eva Myers' excellent spoiler for Keeping and Training Pets in NetHack and SLASH'EM
Tameness
Monster carrying capacity
References

↑ include/mextra.h in NetHack 3.6.6, line 162

↑ src/dogmove.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 446: chance of picking up an object depends on distance and apport

↑ src/dogmove.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 421

↑ src/dog.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 42

↑ src/dogmove.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 423

↑ src/dogmove.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 295

↑ https://www4.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/languag1.htm

↑ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apport#Swedish