The Hidden Danger in Force Fetch Training
The hidden danger in force fetch training is that it compensates for behaviors that should be developed by selective breeding. This idea occurred to after a few years of working with many puppies of American Field Trial breeding and many puppies of British Field Trial breeding. There is a glaring behavioral difference between the two genetic pools of puppies. A much higher percentage of British puppies automatically deliver to hand, than do American puppies of field trial breeding.
You don't have to look far to find the reason. The British very seldom force fetch train their dogs. This training practice is not widely accepted or practiced in England. Therefore, in that breeding population, soft mouth and delivery to hand is developed by selective breeding. Dogs that are not soft mouthed or that don't deliver to hand, are not successful field dogs and thus tend not to be hunted or campaigned in field trials. Thus they also tend not to be bred to for good working stock. In England, selective breeding is still operating to produce soft mouthed retrievers.
In the US working retriever population, training is operating to produce soft mouthed retrievers. Selective breeding for soft mouth and delivery to hand has been replaced by training to develop these traits.
Since fetch training has become a general and nearly universal practice in the training of field trial dogs, we are camouflaging one of the major traits that molded the retrieving breeds through selective breeding of hundreds of generations. When you cover up a primary trait with training, then it no longer has value for selective breeding. Today when you look at a prospective sire for breeding, you can't tell whether his soft mouth and delivery to hand came from his ancestors or from his trainer.
One of the primary traits for which retrievers have been selectively bred since entering into a partnership with the sportsman has been delivering to gently to hand an undamaged bird. With the widespread practice of force fetch training we have effectively reversed years and years of breeding selection for soft mouth retrievers.