FIFA Fever and Furry Soccer Fans: Is Playing Fetch Bad for Your Dog?
- bridgecityvetrehab
- Jun 29
- 5 min read
When the World's Watching Soccer, Let's Talk About Ball Play for Dogs
With FIFA excitement in full swing, millions of people are watching incredible athletes sprint, pivot, and chase the ball across the field. It's a reminder of how much many of our own dogs love chasing a ball too.
At Bridge City Veterinary Rehabilitation, we love seeing dogs active. In fact, one of our favourite sayings is:
"Motion is lotion."
Regular exercise helps maintain healthy joints, strong muscles, a healthy weight, and a happy mind. We would never discourage owners from getting outside and enjoying activities with their pets.
However, not all exercise places the same demands on the body, and repetitive, high-intensity games of fetch may place significant stress on your dog's joints—particularly the knees.
Let's take a closer look at why.
Why Fetch Can Be Demanding on the Body
Unlike a leisurely walk, a typical game of fetch involves repeated cycles of:
Explosive acceleration
Full-speed sprinting
Sudden deceleration
Sharp turns
Twisting movements
Jumping and landing
Dogs often repeat these movements dozens of times in a single session.
During the chase, a dog's forelimbs direct the body through rapid changes in direction. As the front limbs plant and pivot, large rotational forces are transferred through the hind limbs, especially the stifle (knee) joint.
Inside the stifle is the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL)—the canine equivalent of the human ACL. This ligament stabilizes the knee during movement and helps prevent excessive forward motion and rotation.
Over time, repetitive high-speed starts, stops, and pivots may increase strain on the CCL. While fetch is not the sole cause of cranial cruciate ligament disease (CrCLD), repetitive high-impact activities may contribute to injury in dogs that are already predisposed because of genetics, age, body condition, muscle weakness, or underlying ligament degeneration.
Cruciate ligament disease is one of the most common orthopedic conditions we see in dogs, and exercise history is one of many factors we discuss with owners.
It's More Than Just the Knees
Fetch doesn't just challenge the body—it also affects the brain.
As your dog prepares to chase the ball, the body releases stress hormones, including cortisol, which help prepare muscles and tissues for explosive activity.
When your dog successfully retrieves the ball, the brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with reward and pleasure.
For many high-drive dogs, this creates an incredibly rewarding cycle. They don't necessarily stop because they're tired—they stop because we put the ball away.
Although cortisol is a normal part of exercise, it doesn't disappear the moment the game ends. It takes time for hormone levels to return to baseline. When cortisol remains chronically elevated over long periods, research has shown it can reduce collagen production. Collagen is one of the essential building blocks that gives ligaments and tendons their strength.
This doesn't mean fetch is harmful on its own. Rather, it highlights why repetitive, high-intensity exercise without adequate recovery may not always be the best choice for every dog.
"But Aren't Dogs Meant to Chase Things?"
This is one of the most common questions we hear.
After all, dogs evolved from wild canids that hunted prey.
That's absolutely true—but the way our dogs play fetch today is quite different from how their ancestors hunted.
A wild hunt involved tracking, sniffing, stalking, brief bursts of pursuit, problem-solving, and recovery between efforts. It wasn't the same explosive sprint, abrupt stop, hard pivot, and repeat twenty or thirty times in fifteen minutes.
From a rehabilitation perspective, it's the repetitive loading of the same tissues that raises concern. Sports medicine—both in people and animals—has consistently shown that repeating the same high-impact movement over and over can increase the risk of overuse injuries.
Fetch Doesn't Have to Be All or Nothing
This article isn't meant to convince you to throw away your tennis ball.
We still encourage dogs to play, run, and have fun.
Instead, we recommend playing smarter, not necessarily less.
Simple changes can reduce repetitive stress while keeping the game enjoyable.
Keep Fetch Sessions Short
Rather than throwing the ball continuously for 20 or 30 minutes, consider shorter sessions with breaks in between.
A few retrieves followed by a walk, some sniffing, or a training exercise allows your dog's body—and mind—to recover before the next round.
Remember:
Quality is more important than quantity.
Try Rolling Fetch
Instead of throwing the ball through the air, roll it along the ground.
Rolling the ball encourages your dog to chase in a straighter line and reduces the airborne catches, twisting landings, and sharp pivots that often occur when trying to intercept a flying ball.
Many dogs enjoy this just as much as traditional fetch.
Play Fetch in the Water
If your dog enjoys swimming and it is safe to do so, consider playing fetch in a pool or calm lake.
Water provides natural buoyancy, reducing the amount of weight placed on the joints while the hydrostatic pressure helps support the limbs.
It's an excellent way to burn energy while decreasing impact on the knees.
Add More Sniffing to Your Walks
Physical exercise isn't the only way to tire out a dog.
Sniffing, scent detection games, food puzzles, and hide-and-seek activities provide incredible mental stimulation.
In fact, many dogs are more relaxed after twenty minutes of sniffing than after twenty minutes of nonstop fetch.
Mix Up Your Activities
Variety helps reduce repetitive stress while developing a stronger, more balanced body.
Try rotating activities such as:
Walking
Hiking
Swimming
Underwater treadmill therapy
Cavaletti exercises
Balance exercises
Nose work
Interactive food puzzles
Obedience or trick training
Different activities challenge different muscle groups and reduce repetitive loading of the same joints.
The Bottom Line
Fetch isn't "bad."
In fact, many dogs absolutely love it.
However, long sessions of repetitive, high-speed fetch may place significant stress on the knees and may contribute to cranial cruciate ligament injuries in susceptible dogs.
Like many things in rehabilitation, balance is the key.
Keeping fetch sessions shorter, incorporating rest breaks, varying your activities, and including lower-impact forms of exercise can help protect your dog's joints while still allowing them to enjoy an active lifestyle.
This FIFA season, enjoy watching world-class athletes perform incredible feats on the soccer field—but remember that your dog's body wasn't designed for endless full-speed sprints, abrupt stops, and repeated hard pivots.
A little variety today may help keep them happy, healthy, and running comfortably for years to come.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is fetch bad for dogs?
No. Fetch itself isn't bad, but repetitive, high-intensity sessions involving constant sprinting, stopping, and turning may increase stress on the joints, particularly in dogs predisposed to cranial cruciate ligament disease.
How long should I play fetch with my dog?
Every dog is different, but shorter sessions with regular breaks are generally preferable to prolonged, nonstop games. Mixing fetch with walking, sniffing, training, or swimming provides excellent physical and mental enrichment while reducing repetitive strain.
What are safer alternatives to traditional fetch?
Rolling the ball along the ground, playing fetch in water, scent detection games, nose work, hiking, swimming, and structured strengthening exercises all provide excellent alternatives or complements to traditional fetch.
Can veterinary rehabilitation help prevent injuries?
Yes. Veterinary rehabilitation focuses on improving strength, balance, flexibility, body awareness, and movement patterns. Individualized rehabilitation programs can help reduce injury risk, improve performance, and support recovery following orthopedic injury or surgery.
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