Obsessive Dog
By LisaMHale911
@LisaMHale911 (11)
United States
September 13, 2011 12:09pm CST
The newly adopted Brindy is a joy and a fantastic addition to my family. She is about 4 years old. Has had a couple of litters of puppies and has not had the best of time in life. She has had a hard life in the shelter. She is heartworm positive and as soon as we get that fixed, she will be spayed.
But my question and the reason for this discussion is her obsession with her ball. She carries it everywhere and gets very upset if she can't find or reach it. She is not protective of the ball. She drops it and gives it to us for us to throw it often. Make that ALL the time. She loves to chase it and begs us to throw it for her all the time.
Is this normal doggie behavior? Or is she on the prozac side of obsession?
3 responses
@savypat (20216)
• United States
13 Sep 11
Life for this dog has been tramatic and she is holding on to something familiar like a small child would do. When we first adopted Sadie she was the same way.
We just let her be for about 6 months and then we would ask for the toy and place it where she could see it. Then we gave her a treat to eat. Everytime she asked for the toy we returned it to her and shortly thereafter asked for it again. pretty soon we gave the treat for the toy once a day. As she grew more secure in our home we were able to palce the toy in it's special spot, where she could see it
until the time came to play with the toy, we tried to do that at the same time every day. As she grew older she had less and less atttachment to her toy. It's just like you would train a child only it takes longer. Just make sure however you handle this she does not get upset about it. If she does you will have to start all over, but if that happens you will find that she gets back in the habit
you want her to have quicker. Blessings
@LisaMHale911 (11)
• United States
13 Sep 11
Thank you for the ideas. We've only had her about 4 days now. She is a sweet, wonderful girl. I will take your advice of waiting for about 6 months. Then we will try to ween her from her ball. But right now. I don't think it is harming anything. It just seems weird.
@NIECIE21 (365)
• United States
13 Sep 11
Awww, your poor doggie. I had a dog once that also had a rough life and she would do the same thing with her ball. We talked to the vet and were told that because of the life she had up to that point, she didnt feel safe of secure so that was something she could hold on to and feel safe (like a kid w/a blankie). Once she got comfortable with us and was getting love and not yelled or beaten, she seemed to need her ball less. She still has her ball, but she doesnt get as upset when she cant find it unless there is a lot of loud noise or what not.
@LisaMHale911 (11)
• United States
13 Sep 11
I bet you are right. I never thought of a dog needing a security blanket. But after her hard life, I am sure that is what she needs. She is getting beaux coup love from us. Hopefully she will not need the security as much later.
@nasapiyush (147)
• India
14 Sep 11
As Brindy is the newly adopted and a joyful addition to your family, then it is obvious for it to behave in such a manner. The pet's obsession with the ball can be considered as a normal behavior of all the pets. This can be seen in case of every pet. So you do not have to worry in accordance of this problem with you pet.
have a good life!
