Pet fetch, petting, and sitting next to you

You can play fetch with your tamed dog, pet your tamed dogs, cats, and parrots, and have your tamed dog or cat come sit next to you when you sit. You do not need any special items or commands, and anyone can use these features in all worlds.

Playing fetch

When you throw a regular stick, your tamed dog goes to fetch it and brings it back.

How to throw the stick

Hold a regular stick in your hand and right-click to throw it toward your tamed dog nearby (within 24 blocks).

When you throw it, one stick is consumed from your hand (it is not consumed in Creative mode).

If you right-click a block that is used by right-clicking, such as a door or a chest, it opens as usual. If you right-click it while sneaking, you throw the stick instead.

How the dog behaves

Only the single closest dog will go fetch the stick.

Dogs that are sitting, on a lead, or fighting will not go fetch it.

In those cases, the stick cannot be thrown and is not consumed.

You do not need to make sitting dogs stand up (only standing dogs will play).

The dog runs to where the stick landed.

It returns to the owner holding the stick in its mouth, and places the stick at the owner’s feet.

After placing it down, hearts appear, and the dog tilts its head with joy.

On Bedrock Edition, the stick held in the dog’s mouth may sometimes not be visible (the dog still fetches it, and the stick arrives at your feet).

Ending the game

While playing, other players and hoppers cannot pick up the thrown stick.

The game ends if the dog does not return after 30 seconds, if you make the dog sit during play, if the owner moves too far away (60 blocks), or if the owner logs out.

When the game ends, the stick can be picked up normally on the spot (if the dog was holding it, it drops where the dog was).

Petting

While sneaking, right-click your own pet with an empty hand to pet it.

What happens when you pet

You can pet your own tamed dogs, tamed cats, and tamed parrots.

Hearts appear above the pet’s head and it makes a sound (cats purr; dogs and parrots make their usual sounds). Dogs tilt their heads for about 2 seconds.

A sitting pet stays sitting, and a standing pet stays standing.

Even if you keep petting, the hearts and sound happen at most once every 0.5 seconds.

You can also pet a dog in the middle of playing fetch. The game of fetch continues.

When you cannot pet

In the following cases, you do not pet the animal, and the usual action happens instead.

• When you right-click another player’s pet or a wild animal
• When you are not sneaking
• When you are holding something in your hand

You cannot pet horses, donkeys, mules, or llamas. Right-clicking them while sneaking opens the inventory screen as usual.

Pets come to sit next to you

When you sit or strike a pose, one of your tamed dogs or cats nearby walks over to your side and sits.

When a pet comes

In the following cases, your tamed dog or cat within 8 blocks comes to you.

• When you sit on a block
• When you sit with /sit
• When you strike a pose with /lay, /bellyflop, /legsup, or /spin

A pet does not come when you crawl with /crawl. For details on how to sit and the poses, see Sitting and poses.

Only the single closest pet comes.

Pets that do not come

The following pets do not come.

• A pet that is already sitting
• A pet on a lead
• A pet that is fighting (angry)
• A dog in the middle of playing fetch
• Parrots

When a pet arrives

When it reaches your side, the pet faces you and sits, and a few hearts appear.

When you strike a pose where you lie on your back or face down, a cat lies down next to you.

If the pet has not arrived after 10 seconds, it gives up coming (it stays where it is).

When you stand up

When you stand up (stop posing), the pet sitting next to you also stands up.

The pet also stands up when you log out or move to another world.

If you make a pet sitting next to you stand up by hand, that is the end of it.