Ball obsession is getting extreme! any tips?

[browndog]

Hi there,

I would really appreciate any suggestions/tips you might have as this issues is getting pretty extreme. Our Katey is now 11.5 months old and has a serious ball obsession. She LOVES balls - any kind. She loves fetch but gets way too overexcited. She is okay (kind of) when we play fetch with her when no one else is around - still gets overexcited but is generally managable.

The problem arises when we walk her and happen to come across someone playing fetch with their dog. She goes nuts! If she is on leash at the time, she will start pulling and lunging and screaching. She wants to get at the ball and is desperate for it. Her whole body stiffens and starts quivering and she can't seem to hear you - it's like she's in a different zone/trance and all she sees is BALL! Nothing will dristract her - we try treats and poking her and redirecting but nothing does it. It's really embarrassing, she sounds like she is being injured as it is such an intense high pitched screeching sound.

If we encounter someone playing fetch and she is off leash, she will immediately run over and steal the ball from the other dog. She is sooo fast, she ALWAYS gets it before they do. She will bring it back to the owner and bark at them to throw it. Again, I cannot get her attention at this time and she will not return to me.

It's so frustrating. We tried not playing fetch at all for several weeks but it didn't help. We talked to a trainer and she suggested "impulse" training where we have her sit and then throw the ball and then she has to wait till we say ok for her to go and get it. We have been working on this and she can stay in a sit until released for about a 5-8 seconds now and is getting better at it. But honestly I don't know if this is actually making it worse as it just builds it up more for her and then she starts shaking with excitement in anticipation of being released to go get the ball.

Any suggestions?

[lindamarie]

It's so frustrating. We tried not playing fetch at all for several weeks but it didn't help. We talked to a trainer and she suggested "impulse" training where we have her sit and then throw the ball and then she has to wait till we say ok for her to go and get it. We have been working on this and she can stay in a sit until released for about a 5-8 seconds now and is getting better at it. But honestly I don't know if this is actually making it worse as it just builds it up more for her and then she starts shaking with excitement in anticipation of being released to go get the ball.

This sounds great and like the right thing to do! Keep it up!
Let her shake! It's like a withdrawal a human might go through. Eventually, she will learn she can't.
I have seen that kind of excitement in Bogart. It is amazing how something can block everything around them but the object of their desire.
Bogart will sometimes get into sniffing a tree and it's like a bomb can go off and he wouldn't hear it. Pretty wild huh? A tree?

It's good advice, IMO, and I think it worthwhile. It will help control her in other ways too.

[browndog]

Thanks for your encouragement lindamarie. It's good to have another perspective on it. We will keep at it and hopefully at some point her "withdrawal" subsides. Sometimes it's hard as it's so embarrassing in public when she makes such horribly loud screeches, but I think I just have to not care what other people think and how they are judging in that moment and just let her screech/shake it out until she understands that being in that extreme state is not going to work for her. I think it is a true obsession that she has and we will just have to work on it.

I'm also thinking about just leaving balls around inside our house so that she maybe gets a little more desensitized to them. At the moment we don't allow balls indoors as she goes nuts gnawing on them and won't leave them alone for hours on end. But I think maybe this isn't good either as then she only associates then with the high-excitement of fetch and of seeing other dogs chasing them in the park (which then drives her wild with excitement). So I will also give de-sensitization a try as well.

Thanks again lindamarie.

[deepnite10]

Toby had the habit of chasing after other dogs frisbies at the dog park..

of course im not fast enough to go chasing after him..out of frustration one day i threw my car keys at a frisby as he was about to grab it..it was enough to startle him and he stopped..

to make a point i picked up the keys and chased him, rattling it as i did..

thereafter i d just rattle the keys with the *leave it* command when he got interested in a toy and he d just turn away..

[Daisy'sMom]

My Daisy is obsessed with balls as well, but not the extreme you are going through. But still, she is truly obsessed. We only allow her to now have those orange Chuck It brand balls, we buy them at Petsmart. The reason being is because she is not able to destroy them (no tearing, ripping, popping) and thankfully they don't have squeakers and no hair (like tennis balls) to shred. Maybe some dogs can pop or destroy these Chuck It balls but Daisy has not been able to. And we keep them inside and outside so she is always playing with them. Oh, and we do have a few Life Is Good balls that she is not able to destroy either, but she prefers the Chuck It ones over them. Even though we let her have them inside as well though she is CONSTANTLY dropping the ball at our feet to throw it for her. My hubby keeps saying that one of these days one of us is going to wipe out or sprain an ankle on a ball. And the other negative is that she is constantly playing with them, kind of like a cat, and they get stuck under furniture and then stretches her long legs under the couch or wood furniture scratching to get the ball, it's annoying! But, I'm pretty sure her ball is her best friend and it keeps her entertained Sorry I don't really have much advice, just wanted to tell you that I have a doodle obsessed with balls as well!

[browndog]

good to know mine isn't the only dog with a ball obsession! We also only use the orange chuck-it balls as well for the same reason. I'm hoping as she gets older that it somehow becomes less addictive/powerful to her. I'm sure she will always love playing fetch but it would just be nice if she doesn't have to go absolutely insane when we encounter another dog playing fetch! We have been continuing to work on her impulse control and she is getting better at it everyday. Just hope it will help her ball excitement! Only time will tell!

She is one happy, excited girl!

[Ace's Place]

If I told you Ace has found about 50 balls would you believe it? Tennis, lacrosse, baseball, its like he can smell them....goes under the tree....and...yep out comes Ace with a big yellow tennis ball in his mouth! I just emptied 40 of them out of his toy basket and am donating them back to the school field where he first found them! He loves any opportunity to play fetch, but I haven't seen (yet) what you describe. I have a different problem in meeting people and their dogs on walks and Ace does a weird sit like a statue (just enough so the other person thinks he's perfectly calm and collected)...and then he goes nuts. Need to start working on that one.....New Year's resolution?

[Nikkiey]

Originally Posted by Daisy'sMom

We only allow her to now have those orange Chuck It brand balls, we buy them at Petsmart. The reason being is because she is not able to destroy them (no tearing, ripping, popping) and thankfully they don't have squeakers and no hair (like tennis balls) to shred.

I laughed out loud when I read that because that's exactly what happens when Juneau plays with 'regular' tennis balls which is why we also only have the orange chuck It brand now.

I don't have much advice about obsessive dogs as Juneau doesn't become fixated upon anything, but I did watch a friend of mine do exatly what you're doing with the impulse training because her dog would eat rocks. I think it took a few months before she was able to walk Mags without having to worry about her eating rocks.

So I guess all I've got is encouragement! If you stick with the training and always follow through you'll be able to find that happy balance between you, Katey and the ball. I wish you the best of luck.

[browndog]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. We will keep up with the impulse training. Our dog also does something similar to the "sit and act collected and calm" and then go nuts routine when meeting people on a walk. It's like she has a "zone" and when people get close enough that they are in her bubble, she goes crazy! She's soooo happy to see them!

With other dogs we meet on walks, she does this weird, standing frozen, completely still routine and then the other owners think she is afraid and go to try and console her and then she goes nuts and wants to pounce and play with the other dog!

Dogs - you never know what you're going to get!

Thanks everyone. I will keep you posted.