Ball obsessive

[Murphys Law]

After me vowing never to have a dog with an obsession for balls, I have to face the fact that Millie has become ball obsessed.

Because of her very high hunting instincts I have used a ball to keep her close to me when out on walks. I don't throw it all the time but I don't need to. Even when it is in my pocket she stays very close, just waiting for the next chase.

She is not interested on other dogs and doesn't really interact with them at all. In one way, this doesn't concern me too much because, at 10 months old, other than one occasion, no dog has ever snapped or turned on her. Murphy used to want to meet every dog he could see and often they were not that friendly which I think contributed to his fear aggression.

I am wondering if her lack of interest in other dogs and ball obsession could lead to problems in the future.

[lescef]

Your two are sounding very like my two now. Maddie (5) is the fear aggressive one and Bramble (4) doesn't show any interest in other dogs and loves her ball. Bramble doesn't tolerate rude dogs that bomb over her and will tell them off, but will sniff a quiet dog that comes over to her. I've worked hard on a 'let's go' command so that if any dog is annoying her she can get away and not feel trapped. I sometimes then throw the ball as a reward for coming away.
When she was younger she would just follow us hoping we would throw it, like Millie. We don't use it often these day, maybe three times every so often on a walk. The trainer did tell us to use it as a distraction. If a dog came bounding over to Maddie (especially on Easthem fields) then throw the ball to get Bramble out of the way as her barking made Maddie worse. It does work but we don't take them there together anymore as there are too many dogs out of control for Maddie to cope with.We do take Bramble to the woods so that she does stay used to other dogs being around. We  were avoiding dogs because of Maddie and the trainer then thought Bramble was losing her socialisation skills. Something to be aware of I think!
So, we've got to four years and I think it's far better to be interested in a ball than other dogs as long as there is a balance.

[Murphys Law]

Thanks lescef. My worry is that Millie loses her socialisation skills. I am starting to take her to the woods more often as that is the only place where she will forget about her ball.

[Redked]

I think Millie being interested in her ball is a good thing, as Lescef says, but I agree with you that you should try walks without the ball as well. Bonnie is ball obsessed too , which  has been a great distraction tool when training and she absolutely loves a game of hide and seek with her ball. It's been a fabulous training aid  but we found her obsession worrying and did as you are doing. She has shorter walks with her ball, in busier areas like parks; great for recalling her, teaching her to heel, stop, touch and distracting her from anything we need to (including cats and fox scents). She then has a longer daily walk in the woods, where she can just run and track anything without distractions, no ball. She loves both types of walks and it means she isn't ball obsessed on every walk xx

[hoover]

Ollie is 10 months old and pretty ball obsessed too.  We do some walks with the ball and some walks without. We always carry 2 balls in a bag 'just in case' whether we intend to use them or not as we can get his attention with them, or use them to ask him to swap if he has taken another dog's ball (2 days ago we had to swap one for a golf ball he had snatched as it was chipped up onto a green on our local community course at the park, thank goodness for an understanding golfer!)

The problems we have are that he can become quite guardy over a ball if another dog comes up to say hello.  So yes, when he does have the ball he would socialise a lot less because his priority is keeping his ball safe and he views other dogs as a threat to this.  Some days are better than others in this respect.

[phoenix]

I wish mine had all been  all obsessive.  We live in a rural area, badgers, foxes, mice, birds , animal poo,   Balls are boring!

[rubybella]

I have a ball obsessed lab and a ball interested spaniel!! I would say ball obsessed is harder to manage than a ball lover. My lab will guard her ball and see off a dog that even comes close to a ball she has dropped whilst waiting for the next throw, she also likes to go after other dogs balls too. However,  she never tries to get a ball off another dog. Whereas my spaniel loves her ball but is not obsessed. I can get her to walk to heel if she knows the ball is there and I can get her interest sometimes if I hold her ball up, BUT it will never replace the delight of chasing rabbits or pheasants !!

[Murphys Law]

Millie will walk to heel perfectly if she thinks there is a chance of the ball getting thrown. She is much easier to get to walk to heel off lead than on it. She is very timid around other dogs so has never guarded her ball from them and she will reluctantly let another dog pick her ball up. Strangely, she found another ball on the field the other day, had a sniff and just walked on by.

I have found her ball to be a very useful training tool. Stop whistle training was very quick. I blow the whistle, hold the ball up and she stops and sits instantly.

[rubybella]

I think there are definite benefits of having a dog who will do anything for a throw of the ball! Think of all those sniffer/drugs dogs, their reward for working is often a throw of their ball. When my lab was younger she disappeared off into a copse after a deer, then everytime we walked past it she would go off in there, until I got the squeaky tennis ball out! I could then walk her past the copse whilst I held her ball and her reward for not bogging off in there was a throw of the ball. It worked everytime.