To Fetch Or Not To Fetch

I am a massive proponent of meeting the needs of our hunting breeds. It's kind of my thing. But hunting and fetch are not the same. Upland bird hunting especially is DEFINITELY not fetch! (Liza Rader in an Instagram Reel posted 2024.02.15)

Many gundog trainers seems to really dislike fetch. Other trainers love fetch. Other trainers are somewhere in the middle. What's going on with fetch?
Some of own thoughts, in no way definitive and in no particular order:[1]

  • As a sufferer myself of arthritis and tendinitis, any high-impact activity can lead to repetitive injuries in the long term, there are ways to mitigate this, the key is to figure out if the benefits of the cardio (and excitement) outweigh, for example, the longer-term risks that impact bring;
  • The argument that fetch is not at least a kind of retriever game (though I agree, it's a very simple one) seems tenuous to me, but I admit to not being an expert on retriever sports (working on that);
  • The argument that fetch fulfills a dogs instincts to chase or hunt or retrieve is one I'm examining currently; some dogs who love to play fetch have no (traditionally defined) prey drive or retrieving instincts;
  • Fetch being a dog's only athletic and mental outlet is definitely not ideal;
  • Some dogs resource guard their toys;
  • Some dogs definitely can suffer from obsessive behaviours; I'm wondering how much of this backlash against fetch comes from dogs with serious temperamental and wellbeing problems unable to disengage or calm down around their balls (see Liza Rader's February 2022 blog post, linked below.)

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  1. I also always reserve the right to unreservedly change my mind about this kind of stuff, when embarking on any kind of informal research.↩︎

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To Fetch Or Not To Fetch
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