Balls to it!! Is throwing a ball a good way to exercise your dog?

Ball throwing, the good, the bad and the ugly! All the truths!

Whilst this may outwardly appear to be a great way to tire out your dog, it is potentially doing far more harm than good.

How many times have you walked through the park and seen someone continually launching a ball from a plastic device while their dog hurtles after it, skidding to a rapid halt and coming haring back to their owner ready to do it all over again???

Yes they may have their dog’s undivided attention and focus but at what cost? Repetitive ball throwing is likely to create an obsessive behaviour trait. Many dogs who chase balls are unable to switch off from this activity and just be a dog. Many dogs learn to equate their walking time with relentless ball throwing which completely fixates their mind to just that! Worst cases entail the dog following their owner around the house dropping balls at their feet in that unwavering optimism that they will either subconciously stoop down and send the ball off for them to chase or consciously give in to the persistence!

“Throw the ball, come on, throw the ball!”

Chasing the ball creates a rush of adrenaline for the dog. Adrenaline increases the heart rate and boosts blood pressure and energy supplies. In response to this added stress ( and excitement is absolutely stress, but good stress!) the body creates cortisol, the fight or flight hormone. Too much cortisol within your dog’s body is not a good thing. Overexcitement is not a healthy place for a dog to be living in as this often means an elevated heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate.

All too often dogs that appear high energy are exercised more to help ‘calm them down’ but if the only exercise they receive is high intensity such as ball throwing then that is not a suitable outlet and the dog will remain in a state of high arousal or over excitement. Plus the dog will just get fitter and the fitter the dog, the more they need. The more a dog rehearses a behaviour or mindset, the more they will do that behaviour. It really is a vicious cycle!

Even in significant pain a dog will continue to perform this reward based activity because the adrenaline takes over.

So it is not just the negative mental impact ball throwing can cause our dogs. The physical impact on their joints from the high speed chasing that often includes unpredictable bounces of the ball, causing the dog to jump, twist and land all at high speed, this can put considerable stress on their joints. Micro trauma to the muscles and cartilage can cause long term damage and often this is seen in the front leg joints, the elbows. A dog may display uneven weight distribution and limping can be a persistent ailment, especially after chasing a ball. Think of the stress those joints are under when running at full speed, then skidding to a halt by slamming on their brakes to a total standstill, occasionally tripping or tumbling over as they overshoot the ball. That is potentially going to cause a lot of damage! We humans, know when something hurts on our bodies and will avoid causing more damage to that area until it is healed. Dogs don’t. Dogs have evolved to mask pain so they don’t show any weakness to others but this does not help us help them!

Finally, by throwing a ball for your dog we are teaching them that the best place to be is way over there! Not with us. The place of value is where the ball lands and that is often where a dog, once it has returned the ball to its owner, will return to in anticipation of the next throw. There is no reason balls have to be excluded from your dog’s toy box but play should involve low level rolling of the ball, rather than launching it across the garden, park or room!