How to Teach a Dog to Fetch (and to Drop It)

Most dogs that "can't fetch" can chase just fine. What they never learned is the second half of the game: bringing the ball back and letting go of it.

 

That half is easy to untrain by accident. The dog grabs the ball, you walk toward it, it runs, and now you're playing keep-away instead of fetch. The American Kennel Club warns that chasing a dog for an object also "increases the chance they'll swallow the object to prevent you from getting it first" (AKC, How to Teach Your Dog to Drop It, updated 2026).

 

National Fetch Day, a promotion started by a dog-toy company, comes round in mid-October, which makes it as good a time as any to fix the giving-back part. This guide covers how to teach fetch in small steps, how to teach "drop it" as a trade, where two respected training sources disagree, and how to play it safely.

 

 

Is fetch instinct, or can any dog learn it?

 

In 2022, a genomics study of 2,155 dogs, with behaviour surveys from the owners of 18,385, found retrieving to be the most heritable behaviour it measured: "Retrieving is the most heritable behavioral trait," at 52.5%. Yet the same study concluded: "Breed explains just 9% of behavioral variation in individuals." (Morrill et al., Science, 2022).

 

So retrieving does run in families, and sporting breeds as a group are more toy-focused. But your individual dog isn't its breed average. A Labrador that ignores balls and a mixed-breed that won't stop bringing them back are both normal.

 

The AKC's own fetch guide makes the practical point: "For many dogs, like retrievers, the game of fetch is a fun activity that comes naturally. But some dogs may find the idea of fetch foreign or aren't naturally inclined to bring toys back after being thrown" (AKC, How to Teach Your Dog to Fetch, updated 2026). Those dogs can still learn it. They just need the steps the naturals skip.

 

How do you teach a dog to fetch, step by step?

 

The AKC's method starts somewhere most guides don't: "The first step to teaching your dog to fetch is to teach hold." Its goal is "to break down the retrieve into very small behaviors, so your dog can be successful." Every step below is rewarded, because the evidence on training methods points one way.

 

The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior says: "Based on current scientific evidence, AVSAB recommends that only reward-based training methods are used for all dog training, including the treatment of behavior problems" (AVSAB, Humane Dog Training Position Statement, 2021). In a 2020 study of 92 dogs from training schools in Portugal, dogs from aversive-method schools showed more stress during training, larger rises in cortisol afterwards, and more "pessimistic" responses on a later test than dogs from reward-based schools (Vieira de Castro et al., PLOS ONE, 2020).

 

Sources: American Kennel Club, How to Teach Your Dog to Fetch and How to Teach Your Dog to Drop It (2026); VCA Animal Hospitals, Dog Behavior and Training: Play and Exercise.

 

1. Hold. Offer a toy your dog likes and reward the moment it holds it in its mouth, even for a second. The AKC's advice: "It's much better to do many repetitions of short holds" than to ask for one long one.

 

2. Take. Hand the toy over and reward your dog for taking it from your hand.

 

3. Pick up. Put the toy on the floor right in front of your dog and reward the pick-up.

 

4. Bring. Take a step or two back so your dog has to carry the toy to you. Reward it arriving in your hand.

 

5. Toss. Throw the toy a short way, indoors or in a quiet yard, and repeat the bring. Add distance slowly.

 

6. Give. Every time the toy comes back, trade for it. The next section covers how.

 

Keep the treats somewhere you can reach without fumbling. Our Treat Pouch clips to a waistband, belt or shoulder strap, and its built-in dispenser holds poop bags for the park. It comes with three rolls.

 

Practising little and often works. In a study of 44 laboratory beagles learning an obedience task, dogs trained once or twice a week learned faster than dogs trained daily, and one session a day beat three in a row, with no difference in what they remembered four weeks later (Demant et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2011). That wasn't fetch, and the dogs were lab beagles. It's still a good reason not to drill the same throw twenty times in a row. A predictable routine helps too, as why routine matters explains.

 

Why won't my dog bring the ball back?

 

VCA Animal Hospitals' veterinary behaviourists are direct about the most common cause: "Avoid games in which you chase your dog as these games teach dogs to avoid coming when called and can encourage them to "keep away"" (VCA Animal Hospitals, Dog Behavior and Training: Play and Exercise). If your dog runs off with the ball, the game it's playing is chase, and you're it.

The fix is to make coming back more rewarding than running away:

 

• Use two toys. VCA's method starts "with two toys of equal value to your dog." When your dog has one, show the other and make it interesting. Most dogs drop the first to get the second.
• Back away instead of advancing. Moving toward a dog with a ball invites a chase. Turning and walking away invites the dog to follow.
• Trade for food. A treat in your hand is a clear reason to come close and open its mouth.
• Keep the first throws short. A ball that lands a few feet away is easier to bring back than one that lands across the park.

 

If your dog guards toys, stiffening, growling or snapping when you come near, stop here. The AKC recommends working with a qualified trainer or behaviourist before trying these exercises. Our post on common behaviour problems covers where to start.

 

How do you teach a dog to drop it?

 

"The trick to training your dog to drop items is to make it all about trading," says the AKC's guide to the cue, written by a certified professional dog trainer. A dog that has learned "drop it" will let go of what's in its mouth, and the AKC notes that it "helps your dog bring objects back to your hand rather than leaving them on the floor for you to retrieve."

 

Source: American Kennel Club, How to Teach Your Dog to Drop It (updated March 2026).

 

The AKC teaches the trade in this order:

 

1. Start low. Give your dog a toy it likes but doesn't love, and hold a treat it really wants.

 

2. Show the treat. Put it right at your dog's nose. When the toy drops, give the treat.

 

3. Give the toy back. Often. If every drop means losing the toy for good, your dog will stop dropping.

 

4. Add the cue. Once your dog drops reliably at the sight of the treat, say "drop it" first, then show the treat.

 

5. Fade the lure. Over time, say the cue and reward after the drop, with the treat out of sight until then.

 

If your dog grabs the toy and pulls, go still. The game stops being fun, and most dogs let go. Then reward and restart.

 

Two things to avoid. The AKC says you should never "pry your dog's mouth open to retrieve an object," and explains why: "That puts you at risk of a bite and again may persuade your dog to swallow the object." It also cautions that "you don't want to race your dog to the toy after they drop it." Calmly pick it up while the treat has your dog's attention.

 

"Drop it" and "leave it" are different cues. "Leave it" means don't touch something. "Drop it," in the AKC's words, "tells your dog to immediately drop whatever they have in their mouth." Teach both.

 

Is the next throw enough of a reward?

 

Two respected sources disagree here. The AKC's fetch guide says: "Just remember that, for dogs, the reward isn't the game itself. You want to be sure to continue to reward the fetching behavior with treats." VCA's behaviourists teach release with a second toy of equal value, so the next toy is the reward.

 

 

Whichever you use, reward the return. A dog that brings the ball back and gets nothing for it is being asked to give up its prize for free.

 

Which balls are safe, and why not sticks?

 

The PDSA, a UK veterinary charity, says a ball "should be large enough that your dog cannot fit the whole thing into their mouth," and ideally has "at least one open hole to prevent suffocation if swallowed" (PDSA, How to choose a safe ball for your dog). Its urgency line is worth knowing: "If your dog is choking, struggling to breathe or has swallowed pieces of a damaged toy, contact your vet immediately."

 

Throw away from your dog, never toward its face. A 2022 Cornell study of eye injuries from sports balls found 18 cases in dogs over 17 years at one referral service, and "small, dense balls (e.g., golf balls, baseballs)" caused 11 of them, including the worst outcomes (Chan and Ledbetter, Veterinary Ophthalmology, 2022). It's rare. Golf balls and baseballs still have no place in a game of fetch.

Sticks are the classic fetch toy and a known source of injury. In a University of Glasgow review of 50 dogs with penetrating mouth and throat injuries, the cause "was most commonly a piece of wood (72%)," and the authors suggested this "may be attributable to stick chewing or retrieving behavior" (Griffiths et al., Veterinary Surgery, 2000). A separate University of Bristol series of 41 dogs with acute stick injuries is grimmer still: "Five dogs with esophageal injury died" (Doran et al., Veterinary Surgery, 2008). Those are referral cases, so they show the injury is serious, not how common it is. Bring a ball.

 

What about tennis balls and teeth? Veterinary dentists say the felt is abrasive: Penn Vet's dentistry service warns that tennis balls "collect tiny particles of dirt and sand and will wear down the teeth" (Penn Vet, Dentistry & Oral Surgery, 2026). No study has measured how much wear normal fetch causes. The dogs dentists worry about are the ones that chew or carry a ball for long stretches, so put the ball away when the game ends. Our guide to whether tennis balls are bad for dogs goes into the evidence.

 

How much fetch is too much?

 

In a 2020 study of UK primary-care veterinary records, exertion triggered 74.2% of canine heatstroke events, hot weather 12.9% and being shut in a hot vehicle just 5.2%. Among exercise-triggered cases where the activity was recorded, 13.8% followed periods of play (Hall, Carter and O'Neill, Animals, 2020). Heatstroke is uncommon overall: 1,259 events in more than 900,000 dogs. When it happens, though, exercise is the usual cause.

 

Source: Hall, Carter and O'Neill, Animals 10(8):1324 (2020), UK primary-care records.

 

Fetch-mad dogs are the ones at risk, because they don't stop on their own. The PDSA puts it plainly: "Some dogs will keep chasing and fetching even when they are tired or too hot." It names Labrador Retrievers, Cocker Spaniels and Border Collies as common examples. So the human has to call time.

 

VCA's behaviourists give the signs. Stop and rest "if your dog appears out of breath, or repeatedly tries to sit or lie down." After play, watch for "a slower than usual response to known cues," irritability, difficulty lying down or getting up, or "a change in posture such as a 'sloppy' sit." Their urgency line is plain: "Hold off on exercise and have your veterinarian examine your dog if you notice any of these signs."

 

 

Joints matter too, though the evidence is thinner than the internet suggests. The PDSA's vets say "repeated chasing, sprinting, and sudden stops can stress a dog's joints and muscles," and VCA advises avoiding "games that incorporate very fast stops, fast changes of direction at speed." For growing dogs, VCA adds that puppies "younger than 12 months in tiny breeds, 18-24 months in larger breeds" shouldn't routinely run on hard surfaces.

 

You may have read that science shows ball launchers wreck dogs' front legs. The study usually behind that claim walked 10 working Labradors carrying weighted training dummies of 0.5 to 4 kg, and reported: "Peak vertical force and vertical impulse were significantly increased in the forelimbs" (Bockstahler, Tichy and Aigner, BMC Veterinary Research, 2016). It didn't test balls, sprinting or launchers, and we couldn't find a study that did. The sensible middle: short, low throws on grass, no skidding stops on hard ground, and plenty of other exercise. Fetch shouldn't replace walks, as why daily walks matter explains, and keeping a high-energy dog busy has other ideas.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

How long does it take to teach a dog to fetch?

 

No credible source gives a timeline, and dogs vary a lot. Short, spaced sessions help. In one study of 44 beagles learning an obedience task, dogs trained once or twice a week learned faster than dogs trained daily. Teach hold first, add distance slowly, and stop at the first signs of fatigue.

 

 

Why does my dog run away with the ball instead of bringing it back?

 

Because running away gets chased, and chase is fun. VCA's behaviourists say chase games teach dogs to "keep away," and the AKC adds that chasing makes a dog more likely to swallow the object. Use two toys of equal value or trade for a treat, and walk away from your dog rather than toward it.

 

 

What's the difference between "leave it" and "drop it"?

 

"Leave it" means don't touch something. "Drop it" means let go of what's already in your mouth. The AKC teaches "drop it" as a trade: show a high-value treat, reward the release, and often give the toy back. Both cues are worth having, and "drop it" turns fetch from keep-away into a game.

 

 

Are tennis balls safe for dogs?

 

Pick a ball too big to fit wholly in your dog's mouth, ideally with an air hole, as the PDSA advises. Avoid golf balls and baseballs: a Cornell study linked small, dense balls to 11 of 18 eye injuries from thrown balls. Vet dentists say the felt wears teeth, mostly in dogs that chew them, though nobody has measured how much, so put balls away after the game and replace them once they're worn.

 

 

Can a dog play fetch too much?

 

Yes. In UK veterinary records, exercise triggered 74.2% of heatstroke events, and some breeds keep fetching when they're tired or too hot. Stop if your dog is out of breath or keeps trying to lie down, and call your vet if it wobbles or collapses during play.

 

 

The short version

 

Teach fetch in small steps: hold, take, pick up, bring, toss, give. Reward every step, because the evidence backs reward-based training and nothing else. Never chase a dog with the ball. Teach "drop it" as a trade, give the toy back often, and go still if it turns into tug.

 

Pick a ball too big to swallow, skip sticks, golf balls and baseballs, and throw low and away from your dog. Keep sessions short, stop before your dog does, and treat a wobble or collapse as a vet visit, not tiredness.

 

For the park, a Treat Pouch keeps treats and bags on your hip, poop bags go in the dispenser, and a paw cleaner deals with muddy autumn feet before they reach the car. Our guide to cleaning dog paws after a walk covers the rest.

 

Sources: the American Kennel Club, VCA Animal Hospitals, AVSAB, the PDSA and the peer-reviewed veterinary and animal-behaviour literature. Specific pages consulted are listed below.

 

This guide is general information, not veterinary diagnosis. If your dog is unwell, call your vet.

 

 

SOURCES & CITATIONS

 

American Kennel Club (Patterdale S, CPDT-KA, CTDI) — How to Teach Your Dog to Fetch, updated 26 Feb 2026, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/teach-your-dog-to-fetch/

 

American Kennel Club (Gibeault S, MSc, CPDT) — How to Teach Your Dog to Drop It, updated 25 Mar 2026, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/teaching-your-dog-to-drop-it/

 

VCA Animal Hospitals (Lindell E, VMD, DACVB; Feyrecilde M; Horwitz D, DVM, DACVB; Landsberg G, DVM, DACVB) — Dog Behavior and Training: Play and Exercise, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/dog-behavior-and-training-play-and-exercise

 

American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior — Humane Dog Training Position Statement, 2021, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/AVSAB-Humane-Dog-Training-Position-Statement-2021.pdf

 

PDSA — How to choose a safe ball for your dog, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://www.pdsa.org.uk/what-we-do/blog/how-to-choose-a-safe-ball-for-your-dog

 

Morrill K — Hekman J, Li X, et al., Ancestry-inclusive dog genomics challenges popular breed stereotypes, Science 376(6592):eabk0639, 2022, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9675396/

 

Hansen Wheat C, Temrin H — Intrinsic Ball Retrieving in Wolf Puppies Suggests Standing Ancestral Variation for Human-Directed Play Behavior, iScience 23(2):100811, 2020, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7033638/

 

Vieira de Castro AC — Fuchs D, Morello GM, Pastur S, de Sousa L, Olsson IAS, Does training method matter? Evidence for the negative impact of aversive-based methods on companion dog welfare, PLOS ONE 15(12):e0225023, 2020, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7743949/

 

Demant H, Ladewig J, Balsby TJS, Dabelsteen T — The effect of frequency and duration of training sessions on acquisition and long-term memory in dogs, Applied Animal Behaviour Science 133(3-4):228-234, 2011, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2011.05.010

 

Hall EJ, Carter AJ, O'Neill DG — Dogs Don't Die Just in Hot Cars: Exertional Heat-Related Illness (Heatstroke) Is a Greater Threat to UK Dogs, Animals 10(8):1324, 2020, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7459873/

 

Taylor SM, Shmon CL, Shelton GD, Patterson EN, Minor K, Mickelson JR — Exercise-induced collapse of Labrador retrievers: survey results and preliminary investigation of heritability, Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association 44(6):295-301, 2008, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18981194/

 

Griffiths LG, Tiruneh R, Sullivan M, Reid SW — Oropharyngeal penetrating injuries in 50 dogs: a retrospective study, Veterinary Surgery 29(5):383-388, 2000, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10999451/

 

Doran IP, Wright CA, Moore AH — Acute oropharyngeal and esophageal stick injury in forty-one dogs, Veterinary Surgery 37(8):781-785, 2008, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19121174/

 

Chan RX, Ledbetter EC — Sports ball projectile ocular trauma in dogs, Veterinary Ophthalmology 25(5):338-342, 2022, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35384230/

 

University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine — Ryan Hospital, Dentistry & Oral Surgery, updated 25 Sep 2026, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://www.vet.upenn.edu/ryan-hospital/clinical-services/dentistry-oral-surgery/

 

Bockstahler B, Tichy A, Aigner P — Compensatory load redistribution in Labrador retrievers when carrying different weights: a non-randomized prospective trial, BMC Veterinary Research 12:92, 2016, retrieved 2026-10-09 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4897959/