A fun article on playing fetch with your dog by John Gilpatrick

Dogs go crazy for fetch. For some, not even an unwatched roasted chicken on the kitchen table can bring as much excitement as the feeling of the breeze rushing through his fur while clasping his teeth around a soft, plush toy thrown to him.

“Dogs find playing fetch so fun, in part, because it releases dopamine in their brains,” says Angelica Steinker, a certified dog behavior consultant and founder of Courteous Canine Inc. in Tampa, Florida. “It’s one of the few recreational activities that’s fun in and of itself without requiring food or some other external reinforcement.”

But ultimately, fetch can be a pretty rote activity. You throw something. They bring it back. You throw something. They bring it back. You throw … well, you get the idea.

If you feel like your dog is quietly begging you to stop trying to make fetch happen, you should listen, but it’s also not a bad idea to try to spice this classic up. Here are six ways to take fetch to the next level:

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