Fetch is a game usually played with a dog. An object, such as a stick or ball, is thrown a moderate distance away from the animal, and it is the animal's objective to grab and retrieve it. Many times, the owner of the animal will say "Fetch" to the animal before or after throwing the object.

Dogs will sometimes attempt to change the rules of the game after the object being thrown is retrieved, and will run away carrying the retrieved objects. Dog trainers recommend in such circumstances to regain control of the game by turning and walking away from the dog as soon as the dog has retrieved the object. Arizona State psychology professor Michael McBeath has proposed a simple model to explain how dogs play Fetch.

By mounting a camera on the head of a dog, he found that the dog changed its speed and direction in order to keep the frisbee's image in a constant position on its retina. This approach, called the Linear Optical Trajectory, makes the frisbee appear to move in a linear path at a constant speed. McBeath had previously noticed this interception strategy in professional baseball players pursuing fly balls.

Tim Pennings, a mathematics professor at Hope College, has found that dogs are somehow able to calculate the optimal path to a ball thrown in the water. While playing Fetch with his Welsh Corgi, he noticed that the dog ran along the beach for a certain distance before jumping into the water. Because the dog is faster on land, this technique minimizes the total retrieval time.

He showed that the dog is able to calculate the optimal point to jump into the water with statistical significance, a problem Pennings must resort to calculus to solve.

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