Ball addiction

surime

Hi, is there any thread about ball obsessed dogs? If there is, please direct me, if not - could anybody tell me if I should let him have it (ball!) or hide and take only for walks. (for all walks or just one a day and second walk -no ball)
He really is obsessed, his eyes go huge when he sees it :pac: and he doesnt hear what I am saying. Pure addiction.
(oh and he can smell and find them just anywhere in the house -even in washing mashine!) Help!

tk123

Use it to your advantage for training or even agility - the ball is his reward for doing your bidding!

falabo

same "problem" here, eyes get HUGE, the focus is unreal and she could play ALL THE TIME never gets fed up. in the house she will sit near the door of the press it's kept in. whenever we have visiotrs she brings the ball and wants to play.

It's incessant .... but very cute ....

Rob Nulty

falabo wrote: »

same "problem" here, eyes get HUGE, the focus is unreal and she could play ALL THE TIME never gets fed up. in the house she will sit near the door of the press it's kept in. whenever we have visiotrs she brings the ball and wants to play.

It's incessant .... but very cute ....

Janey! That dog is mad!

are you serious

Tk123 hit the nail on the head, use the ball as a reward, you will get unbelievable results with a dog with great ball drive like that!!

When out on walks you can obviously still use it as a play thing, but if your having any difficulties in any of your training take the ball with you, one or two times later you will find the dog will do anything you want in return for the ball!!

Léan

My guy has this too, it's a recent thing though, now that he has fetch figured out (he wouldn't give the ball back before).

Except..
He'l do it with anything! And I mean anything. If he can pick it up in his mouth then he wants you to throw it. This includes shoes, slippers, briquettes, bits of wood etc... He drops it in your lap and if you don't throw it he cries or barks . It becomes a never ending game :P Queue this routine over and over and over again.

It's worse in the park if he thinks I have a ball in my pocket, he grabs the bottom of my coat and tugs it to get me to throw the ball :rolleyes:.

Graces7

Some dogs are nuts!

Wee dog here is currently obsessed with what she thinks is living in the walls, ie rodents. She spends hours whining to be let into the cupboard under the stairs and has made holes in the walls in the room nearby so has to be watched.

She may well be right as this is an old house and we hear things in the walls at times.

Lately she has also become obsessed with the old car; under it ,trying to get into it..

Getting her away to go for a walk etc is getting harder and harder.

Must be something in their nature that is definitely addictive..

maxfresh

my dog is similar ,would play fetch all day and can sniff out a tennis ball at 100 yards it can be used to your advantage with controlling your dog

the only thing i worry about is i will make him too puffed out (he'd a springer spanial)

surime

Thanks everyone for your posts.
Silly dogs :pac: So obsessed with something so simple!
I wouldnt mind at all, its just it started worrying me, because my dog started going too crazy about it.
He really was coming to me ALL the time (after hour and half walk with playing ball -I have this thing for throwing balls, so he can run far for it -should be exhausted!) and was showing me the way where I keep tenis balls! :rolleyes:
He calmed down a bit recently, maybe it was because of really bad weather there was sometimes one long walk instead of two.

By the way -a question to all ball slaves -what you do with smelly wet balls after a walk? I used to put them on radiator in a hall way, but wall got dirty and they smell bad! any ideas, how to keep them tidy (and in secret! )

lrushe

surime wrote: »

By the way -a question to all ball slaves -what you do with smelly wet balls after a walk? I used to put them on radiator in a hall way, but wall got dirty and they smell bad! any ideas, how to keep them tidy (and in secret! )

I have a ball obessed Rottie, we don't even mention the word ball in the house we spell it or she will go looking for it :rolleyes:

As said above you can use it as an excellent training tool, my girl would bend over backwards for a ball of any kind and I've been able to teach her so much using this.

I also find ball throwing an excellent way of draining energy. I am 7 months pregnant at the moment so I physically can't walk for as long as I used to but 40 minutes of constant ball throwing exhausts Brook and she is quiet in the house for the rest of the day

I keep all balls in the boot of my car, she doesn't get them in the house, I like to keep them a novelty so she looks forward to playing with them when she does get them.

surime

lrushe wrote: »

I have a ball obessed Rottie, we don't even mention the word ball in the house we spell it or she will go looking for it :rolleyes:

-the same here, lol its just our magic word is in polish.. :pac:

lrushe wrote: »

I am 7 months pregnant at the moment so I physically can't walk for as long as I used to but 40 minutes of constant ball throwing exhausts Brook and she is quiet in the house for the rest of the day

All the best with new baby!

lrushe wrote: »

I keep all balls in the boot of my car, she doesn't get them in the house, I like to keep them a novelty so she looks forward to playing with them when she does get them.

This is just brilliant idea! I wouldnt think of that! They can dry this way, I won't have to keep them in the plastic bag so he doesnt smell them!
Thanks so much for sharing! :pac:
ps: does your car smell bad? Mine is crap anyway, but I am slighly obsessed with smells and will have to check how that will work .
Thanks a lot!

Sigma Force

My collie had calmed down a lot now she's getting on but still loves to chase them.

But when she was younger she was nuts for them, I never restricted them but if I couldn't find she'd be totally hyper until one of us found one. Nowdays she'll run for the ball a few times before she gets tired, she'll have a break, then go again but when she was younger she would go non stop and in hot weather I'd actually have to put her to bed for a while and take the ball away so she would calm and cool down. But she loves it so much I'd just, if I were you, use it to your advantage as mentioned and use it in training.

If your dog is anything like mine she won't get tired of it although you can of course keep them aside for walkies etc. but really if the dog loves them just let her have them as long as she's not ripping them and eating them..lot of dogs like to pull the fuzz off. Although you could maybe get a few different kinds for variety like Kong balls.

Normally tennis balls get lost in our garden so they don't get a chance to get too stinky before we have to replace them but you could wash them in a little bit of fabric conditioner or Napisan powder and then dry them on the rad.

As long as he's not grumpy or aggressive with them he'll enjoy playing with them at home it won't ruin the fun for walkies.

surime

Sigma Force wrote: »

dogs like to pull the fuzz off

-just this lol! :pac: (and he likes to eat this, thats why I try to buy light rubber balls)

aisher

My dog is insane when it comes to a tennis ball - I bring her to the park each day and she gets hyped up on the way in the car and will literally bark herself horse until you throw the ball - she will run non-stop for a full hour and then dies a death when we get home - she is easy to control off leash since I only have to show her the ball and she is hot on my heels for it so I wont complain. Has no interest in the ball once we leave the park

surime

aisher wrote: »

she is easy to control off leash since I only have to show her the ball and she is hot on my heels for it so I wont complain.

That's the good thing about it, I have to agree! Its like a invisible leash. My dog had never run away from me, never ever.

lrushe

surime wrote: »

-ps: does your car smell bad? Mine is crap anyway, but I am slighly obsessed with smells and will have to check how that will work .
Thanks a lot!

My car does smell but not because of the tennis balls but more that my dogs love to swim so you get that lovely wet dog smell :eek:

I'm lucky in that I have 2 cars so one is strictly for carting the dogs around and the other is more for 'good' use

barking1503

My retriever cross has a full on tennis ball addiction. He ended up rupturing his cruciate ligament in a ball retrieving chase (chucker involved) though and v expensive op later his days of thundering up the beach after the ball are over:(
On the upside we live across the road from a tennis club and his short 10 min a day lead walks during recovery consisted of him walking past the (very dense) bushes outside the club, sticking in his head at the appropriate spot and coming out with a shiny new tennis ball in his mouth. We must have about 30 in our house now!!! God help him they aren't any use to him anymore but he does love to carry them around.
He can smell out a tennis ball from an unreal distance.

Sad for him though when it is such an addiction and it can't be satisfied any more.

DBCyc

Another ball obsessed dog owner here! We definitely use it to our advantage and she will sprint after a ball for half an hour and be flattened for the rest of the day. We only let her have it on walks, and can let her off lead and nothing will distract her from her ball. It's a great thing imo.

surime

DBCyc wrote: »

she will sprint after a ball for half an hour and be flattened for the rest of the da

My dog is not flattened after two one hour sessions of running after ball :pac: - unfortunately! :pac: I think he could do it all day!

boodee

My german shepherd will eat any ball i give him. His favourites are the hard plastic type football. He chews it untill it's punctured, then goes around with it everywhere in his mouth. It re inflates, then he bites down on it and the air whooshs out......We started calling him Darth Vadar, when he does it slowly, he'll stand there staring at you, opening and closing his mouth slowly, the noise is so funny.
I swear he's laughing when he runs off.
I have to supervise his ball play if they're smaller as he will eat them so be carefull if your dog does that as you don't want an intestinal blockage.

I bring Max to the local basketball court when it's empty and we have a right time.

Using it to your advantage is great though, you'll be able to teach him anything. I have thought Max 'leave it and stay' with the ball as treats are wasted on him for training.

surime

boodee wrote: »

We started calling him Darth Vadar, when he does it slowly, he'll stand there staring at you, opening and closing his mouth slowly, the noise is so funny.
I swear he's laughing when he runs off.

My dog has a old plastic ball for kids in the garden and sometimes when he is bored he places it in the middle and he runs around it, this is so hilarious because he is so fast and almost can't make it on the corners and it looks like his hind legs (is that correct?) are faster then front! I will have to record it on camera and put on you tube once, it makes me cry every time I see it!

DBCyc

surime wrote: »

My dog is not flattened after two one hour sessions of running after ball :pac: - unfortunately! :pac: I think he could do it all day!

Wow, that's impressive! Suzie puts EVERYTHING into chasing her ball, she sprints as fast as she can & goes too fast half the time & ends up in a sort of tumbling, Tasmanian Devil ball when trying to stop. She'll injure herself one day!