I'm looking for a link to a resource or maybe a helpful description here about how to set up animation/movement of a character's specific body part targeting another object.
So for example a dog that tracks towards a ball (running or walking), then when close enough, it animates leaning down to pick the ball up with it's mouth. I could do a simple animation, but what if the ball is sitting up on a chair? The dog would put it's mouth to the floor (under the ball) and it would look weird that it grabs it. Similarly, it would be wonky if the dog is supposed to take a treat from my hand but doesn't take into account how high I'm holding it (so just bites air above or below the object).
So back to question: Where do I start to understand how a character can have it's body part track somewhat accurately?
All I know is that the model would be rigged with a skeleton. I know enough to start a regular baked animation, but I have no idea about how kinematics works (or what exactly that is) and how to have animations/motions for separate body parts that are independent from each other.