Originally Posted by Vicki

No, the dog will NOT say "enough is enough"! Some dogs love playing fetch so much that they'd go on forever. My dog's like that. Once he hurt himself while playing with the frisbee and couldn't use one leg . But he was well prepared to chase the frisbee with only three legs He's never, under any circumstances, said "thanks, but no thanks" to a game of fetch.

I love to have a dog that loves to play, but it also means that it is my responsibility to see to it that the dog doesn't overdo it. Even though it's fun, it's also a stressful game and you need to teach the dog the rules. I make sure that I'm the one that's in control of all the toys. I don't let my dog run around with balls, frisbees and other toys on his own; they are only for playing with me. That way I'm always the one starting the game and also the one deciding when to stop. I also sometimes make Lyle sit and stay before he's allowed to run after the ball and sometimes I hide the ball so he'll have to use his nose to find it. That's less stressful and it's good for dogs to use their excellent sense of smell.

I don't play fetch for very long, maybe 10 minutes at a time when I'm out for a walk. I also use it as a reward in obedience training, but then I only throw the ball once before going on with the training.