# Playing fetch isn’t helping our dogs?



## Frida010 (Apr 24, 2020)

Just wanted to start up the discussion on playing fetch. Our breeder has strongly advised us not to play fetch with our dog more than once every week or so.

There is plenty written about the damage that playing fetch does to joints.

But what I found most interesting is that our breeder said playing fetch too often can make your dog stressed out for days. Article here: Is too much ball throwing stressing out your dog? | Burgess Pet Care

Now before I got Fred I used to dog sit a V who was very VERY focused on fetching. On walks she’d throw sticks and pine cones in front of your feet and demanded (barking) you would throw it. If you would bring a ball, and decided to put it away she went ballistic. At first it was fun walking her, but it started to get annoying after a while. And she definitely did not relax or snif the ground for a moment during walks.

My V loves playing fetch for a few minutes and then looses interest. I’d like to keep it that way. We don’t play much fetch during weekdays, only in the weekends. What about you?


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I would think your breeder would be thinking about the hard stops, and/or high leaping that can be involved in playing fetch. I agree fetch should be kept to a minimum in puppies, and never done to encourage (landing badly) high leaping.
Most of us that want our dogs to retrieve wild game, also limit the amount of fetch we play. We don't want them to get bored with it, so we only do a few throws, and then stop. For dogs (not puppies) there are rules to playing fetch. That alone stops some of the demand barking. IE dog must sit, or stand the heel position. Object will only be thrown again, if it returned to you, in the manner that you taught. You don't reward the demand barking, the dog has to follow a already known command. After a short working session, you can throw them one or two freebies. The freebie is a fun stress reliever, when the dog does not have to follow the normal fetch rules. Then put up, whatever you were playing fetch with.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

We don't play fetch incessantly, but it is part of the training for hunting dogs as Texas Red pointed out.
Everything is done to bring them to the point of watching a bird fly without chasing after it, the gun going off, the bird dropping, the dog observing the flight and marking where it dropped,then the release to retrieve the bird and bring it back to hand, without letting it go, or damaging it.
Each component phase is worked separately, and then the sequences trained together to achieve the final result.
There is a lot of "fetch" played in their first year, but there is generally a method and purpose to it.
Then there is the "blind retrieve" where the dog is sent to "fetch" something, they could not mark dropped. That's a whole different thing altogether though, but it also starts with the simple game of "fetch".
Fetch is an important command for a Vizsla to learn.


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