How Bad is Playing Fetch With Your Dog?
Many dog owners assume relatively easily that a physically exhausted dog is a happy dog. And the quickest and easiest way to achieve this goal is by throwing a ball with our animal. It's common knowledge that the earliest domestication of dogs was for hunting purposes.
Historically, people took advantage of dogs for their natural impulse to track, chase, and retrieve. The modern result of years of this domestication and conditioning is the game fetch. Ball chasing is a fun and popular activity for contemporary dog owners, but what is fetch actually doing to your dog?
Where does the enthusiasm of throwing a ball come from?
By nature, a group of dogs goes hunting when they are hungry. Their adrenaline ensures that all the senses are mobilized so that the dog becomes alert and capable of the greatest performance. If the dog is in this state of excitement, then the dog is able to conquer a prey. The reward is often a hearty meal and a wonderful time of tearing, chewing and nibbling. All these activities help the dog to lower the stress level. The dog comes to rest, the adrenaline level drops and as a result dogs sleep better.
Effects on The Dog's Stresslevel
Throwing the ball activates his hunting instinct and his adrenaline starts to flow. We don't let the dog walk once, but 10 or 20 times and it seems as if the dog can't stop, he is so excited. But that enthusiasm is excitement and stress in a maximally fuelled body to get the prey. And we make it worse with every litter!
Fighting or flight hormones (adrenaline and cortisol)
If the dog bosses let the dog run behind the ball every day, fighting or flight hormones are created. This helps them to stimulate muscle strength so they can catch prey. The body makes no distinction between a simulated hunting experience (chasing the ball) and a natural one. When the dog has caught and eaten a prey, it is usually to go to sleep for a few hours to lower the elevated hormone level. However, when a dog is challenged to fetch the ball again and again, without rest, it can take days to break down the associated hormones and leave the body. This creates a situation of chronic stress, leading to loss of brain cells and reduced ability to cope with the world around them.
But is the dog addicted to this?
Research has shown that after an exciting event (hunting, ball game, etc.) it can take days for the adrenaline level to drop. The dog is in a constant state of excitement. This leads to a busy dog and undesirable behavior such as barking, demolition and constant attention seeking. All kinds of health problems can also occur, such as prolonged stress can also lead to physical complaints in humans. For example, restless and lack of sleep, fear of being alone, high blood pressure and metabolic problems.
Alternatives
It is important that we understand what the dog really needs: to shift the focus from tough physical exercises to mental challenges. There are different ways to let the dog do other exercises without physically exhausting him. Think of them:
- Running loose with the dog
- Hide chunks and start searching
- Other nosework
- Let it browse around
By letting the dog sniff, the dog gets a chance to do a round of social media. All stories and gossip are complete at once. Because of all the good smells he knew the dogs in the area: which dogs are there, new dogs, young dogs, old dogs, hot dogs or males looking for hot dogs, etc. Also other animals left interesting traces, of course in forests, dunes or parks.
Let his nose work.
Take a toy with you on your walk. Let your dog wait a while and put the toy in sight from a distance somewhere. Then give the search command. Your dog will now use his nose to look up the toy. Don't rush him but give him the time for this. If he has found it, be happy and let him carry it around with him.
Luxury Dog Car Seat
L'élianne ® designer dog car seat is original, exclusive & innovative designed for any car-adventure. Our iconic dog travel bed provides the best protection, comfort, and support during dangerous & unsafe situations.
The dog booster seat is a must-have to instantly master anxiety, stress or car sickness. The elevated seat provides a breathtaking view of the outside world. L'élianne ® strives for a future where dogs no longer have to feel such problems.
The luxury dog booster car seat functions as an airbag effect during sharp turns, hard brakes & high bumps. By recreating the comforts of your home for small to medium-sized dogs into the car.
SHARE THIS BLOG
DISCOVER MORE ABOUT DOG BEHAVIOUR
8x Best Natural Relaxation Exercises for Dogs
How to train a (high energy) dog to relax? This blog will educate you about natural relaxation exercise techniques that you can use to calm your dog.
Help! How to Stop Excessive Dog Barking | Best Tips
How to stop excessive dog barking? This blog will educate you about techniques to prevent your dog from barking. The longer your dog has been practicing the barking behavior, the longer it will take for them to develop other means of communication.
Bored Dogs | How to Recognize Dog Boredom (and Help!)
Dogs, like humans, can become bored when they do not have enough mental or physical stimulation. Boredom in dogs can lead to a variety of behavioral issues, such as destructive behavior, excessive barking, or other types of misbehavior.
12 Types of Aggressive Behavior in Dogs | Behavior & Education
Signs that your dog may become aggressive is a serious topic we need to discuss. Dogs can be aggressive towards other dogs or towards humans. It is important to recognize aggressively signs of your dog and how to handle with these situations. Aggression is the most common and most serious behavior problem in dogs. It’s also the number-one reason why pet parents seek professional help from behaviorists, trainers and veterinarians.
10 Symptoms of Lonely Dogs, Symptoms & Tips
Loneliness by dogs is an underestimated and often invisible problem. Most of them are naturally social animals for which contact with a fellow pet companion or with the owner is a basic necessity of life. Nevertheless, most animals live alone and only get 8 minutes of attention per day. Who can not spend more time with his pet, can better not take one, says experts.
5 Signs of Stress By Dogs: How to Recognize, Causes & Tips
Just like people, dogs can be stressed. Perhaps you've noticed behavioral changes in your dog lately or your dog just doesn't seem to be feeling so well? Perhaps they are unusually tense, affectionate or just more distant than usual. The cause of this could be stress.
Add comment
Comments