30/03/2025
Finally, someone talking SENSE.
Weāre so bloody quick to write off things without careful consideration. There is a post going about playing fetch with dogs and how it can create compulsive behaviour and such.
Now, donāt get me wrong. If all a dog gets is a game of fetch day in, day out for its whole life, then of course there is damage physically and mentally to be done.
However, everything is about balance. People hate ball throwers because often the owner only does this activity with the dog. It isnāt the ball thrower that is doing the damageā¦yet again, itās us humans.
Adding fetch into your dogās itinerary of the week amongst other outlets and activities doesnāt make you a bad owner. ā
Itās about being sensible and responsible about how much of the activity you do with the dog.
Itās the same when I see posts from trainers telling you to put your flexi leads in the bin š I bloody love a flexi, but there is a time and place for them.
Again, HUMAN error.
Or my personal favourite, donāt play tug or let your dog win a game of tug because youāll make them aggressive š
Stop believing everything you see on social media and taking it as gospel š
I didnāt think Iād spend my career fighting for dogs to be allowed to play fetch. But here we are.
Four years ago, I noticed little hints of pet parents being warned about playing fetch. I had clients whose working dogs got no exercise.
āWe used to play fetch, but the previous trainer told us to stop so he wouldnāt become a super athlete,ā one Aussie owner told me. āThe arch of the ball in the air causes adrenaline spikes,ā one trainer wrote. āIt causes compulsive disorderā is a common theme. āThey are addictedā. The list goes on and on.
At that time, I warned that it would spread like wildfire, and indeed it did. Now, the concept that fetch is bad is in most pet households. Why do I care? Because many dogs are underenriched. Most dogs are underexercised. Taking away the one joyful thing they do is terrible. Especially when the claims are false.
Yesterday, I was tagged on a post about fetch. My followers know Iām pro-fetch (because Iām pro-happy and excited dogs). Heck, I wrote a chapter in my book about fetch.
When I saw the post, my heart sank. The post, with the click-bait āHEREāS THE SCIENTIFIC TRUTH NO ONE TALKS ABOUT,ā had 900 shares. Then 1000. Now 2.1k.
Iāve tried so hard to stay out of these debates. I just want dogs to be happy, but the world is on fire, everyone is stressed, and weāre all focused elsewhere. But this morning, someone shared it with a cattle dog group. One commenter said, āI play fetch with my dog once a week, and now Iāll rethink that.ā
And just like that, my heart snapped in half.
In 2.1k shares, there are countless guardians who will stop playing with their dogs because of that post.
So, I woke up this Sunday morning and found myself here, making this post, attempting to put a bandaid on the gushing chest wound of the assault on happy, excited dogs.
The first claim of the viral post is that fetch mimics the predatory sequence. This is the pattern that all predators use to hunt. They find the prey, then they stalk it. Next, they chase, then grab, bite, kill and consume. The poster says that fetch is bad because āthe kill bite never comesā and reports that āthe dog is neurologically left in a state of arousal.ā I get it. When paired with words like ādopamine,ā āadrenaline,ā āand cortisol,ā it sounds potentially bad.
If we are concerned about completing the sequence, we can rest easy knowing the dog does, in fact, ācaptureā its ball āprey.ā If they want to shake it, they do. They can if they want to hold it with their paws and rip it apart with their incisors, instinctively acting out the āconsumeā part of the sequence.
But fetch isnāt a broken predatory loop. Itās a modified, learned behaviour that is naturally rewarding, fun to do, and often reinforced with positive feedback and the ball being thrown again.
Not every dog must complete the full sequence to experience satisfaction or neurological "closure." Many have been selectively bred not to complete it (e.g., gun dogs retrieving without damaging prey and herders bred for various tasks). You might see some of your breedās version come out during fetch, like when a border collie stalks his ball.
Thereās no evidence that fetch causes chronic stress. Cortisol spikes during activity, including play, but this is not pathological. Itās a normal response. Studies do not support the idea that fetch causes chronic arousal or leaves a dog dysregulated. Chronic stress is caused by uncontrollable, unpredictable stressors, not voluntary play.
Studies show that predictable, rewarding exercises like fetch can reduce stress when balanced with rest. The claim that ādopamine is not the reward chemicalāitās the pursuit chemicalā is a half-truth. Dopamine is involved in wanting AND liking. If dopamine release from play were inherently harmful, food training, nose work, and toy rewards would also be "dangerous" because they rely on the same reward circuitry. But thereās no evidence that normal play dysregulates the brain.
A meta-analysis on canine behaviour problems (Tiira & Lohi, 2015) found that lack of activity is associated with increased problem behaviours, including anxiety and destructiveness. Dogs, especially high-energy breeds, need both mental and physical outlets. Fetch can absolutely be part of that. Itās not "coffee for a child with ADHDā. Itās more like recess for a kid whoās been sitting all day.
While play can resemble predatory behaviours (chasing, biting, shaking), which is why we have stuffy squeaky toys, tug toys, balls, herding balls and candy-coated ways to let our dogs kill things, itās functionally and emotionally distinct. Play triggers positive affective states in the brain and is associated with dopamine, endorphin, and oxytocin releaseānot just adrenaline and cortisol. Studies in dogs and other mammals show that play is self-rewarding and contributes to stress regulation, not dysregulation.
We also know dogs can distinguish between real predation, acts of aggression, and sexual behaviour vs play. Thatās the whole point of play. Itās like humans playing house when weāre kids. Dogs are acting out the real-life version of what they might need to do, from fighting to hunting prey.
Again, no peer-reviewed studies show that playing fetch daily creates āchronic sympathetic dominance,ā weakens immune systems, or causes behavioural burnout. These claims rely on theoretical ideas, not research. In fact, routine play, when balanced with sleep, training, enrichment, and calm time, contributes to emotional regulation and well-being.
On top of all of the fake scientific-washed bu****it, the concept that it makes dogs less focused on their handler is where I really want to pull my hair out. Our dogs are literally focused on us for survival. They are captive animals, rarely getting more freedom than a zoo animal. They rely on us for everything from potty breaks to feeding, and these days, they canāt even sleep where they choose. Iāve never met a dog who is less apt to focus on his handler because of fetch, but if I do, Iāll congratulate him for having some agency in his day, some ability to not care what the human is doing.
In fact, the very act of fetching and retrieving IS directly tied to the ālevel of synchrony between human and companion animal.ā Delgado MM, Stella JL, Croney CC, Serpell JA. Making fetch happen: Prevalence and characteristics of fetching behaviour in owned domestic cats (Felis catus) and dogs (Canis familiaris). The very concept of fetch is believed to be tied back to days when it was helpful for us to have dogs bringing back animals killed with projectiles, something we still use the behaviour for to this day in hunting breeds.
If you ARE worried your dog is compuslive or āaddictedā, know this. NO TRAINER IS QUALIFIED TO MAKE THIS DIAGNOSIS. Especially when the diagnosis is coming because a dog is focused on the ball, jumpy, potentially a lot to manage, Barky, āpushy,ā or otherwise doing what excited dogs do. Including not wanting to stop. Imagine, as a kid, if you were running into a playground, excitedly yelling and begging your mom for five more minutes when itās time to go home, and someone said you were āaddicted.ā
Compulsive disorder in dogs still needs a lot of studying, but it is likely genetic is often made worse by underlying conditions, like pain. Stress and anxiety usually contribute along with a lack of exercise and enrichment. Your dog enjoying playing with a ball is not a diagnostic criterion. In fact, I use play, including fetch, to help my compulsive disorder clients.
All that to say, the original post will be shared. It will be shared a lot because it sounds real, because itās clickbaity because it makes people feel like they might be harming their dog. And, as a result, well-meaning people are going to stop playing with their dog.
The last line, āHe deserves youānot just the ballā, is what REALLY makes me mad. This gaslighty concept that guardians using fetch are somehow not giving their dogs a relationship, love or connection.
If you donāt want to play fetch with your dog, donāt. If youāre worried about joints or arthritis, Iām not going to tell you to do something that doesnāt feel right. But if youāre like me, and your dogs love games, play and fun, donāt let some post stop you from having fun with your dog.
Update: thank you to everyone who has interacted with and shared this post!
To find out more about your working dog, read my book, Urban Sheepdog: https://amzn.to/4g0o6VT
Dog Trainer based in Arbroath. Learn how to rebuild your relationship with your dog. Scentwork / Mantrailing 
