Hello,
Sorry in advance for the long post but I am wondering if anyone can offer any advice on Mina's stone/stick obsession. Since more than a year she has been obsessed with playing with stones. It started when a neighbour we met on a walk threw a lump of dry mud in the fields and Mina went to fetch it. They played this a few times and was Mina hooked! We also made the stupid mistake of playing this same game with her sometimes when in the fields as she seemed to love it so much. But then she brought the game home, substituting the mud for stones that she finds in the garden. We never threw stones for her but she is completely obsessed. She will bring us a stone and leave it at our feet, take a few steps back, sit down and stare at it. If we do not react she will bark at us or take the stone on the lawn and sit there staring at it and barking. After a while, if still no reaction on our part, she will dig at the stone and pull the grass around it making holes in the lawn… Sometimes she also chews on the stones which is the main reason I want her to stop this behaviour, I guess it is very bad for her teeth. Luckily she does not swallow them. We have also tried to tell her "no" and "leave it", which she will sometimes do but after a while she starts barking again (and she is very persistent). We have also tried to take away the stone, which she usually lets us do (although sometimes she runs away and wants us to chase her – which we of course don't) but it only means that she then goes to find another one. She is not interested in swapping the stone for a treat either.
The thing is, she does this ALWAYS when we are in the garden, which in the summer time is most of the time, so it gets a bit much. Since she became obsessed she has not played with anything else when outside, meaning that she completely lost her interest in her ball and other toys. Even inside, she rarely plays with her toys, asking instead to be let outside. This summer, however, we went on a trip to Sweden and for whatever reason she took a liking to sticks while there. Now back at home she is happy to fetch a stick and this we do with her, although she is insatiable and wants to play constantly. When we tell her playtime is over and put her stick away, she continues as before, finding stones and bringing them to us… until we all go inside.
Any ideas on how to stop this? I guess it is not a good idea to play with her with sticks either as it encourages her obsession but I thought it was better than having her chew on stones the whole time. But is there any way I can make her see the difference between sticks (allowed) and stones (not allowed)? And how to train her so she understands and accepts when playtime is finished?
As usual, thank you so much!
