Breaking a dog’s ball obsession: Day 1

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I have been good at not playing fetch with Ace for the last 30 days, but I have not done much else to break him of his obsession with tennis balls (and other objects). However, taking away the source of the problem is not going to make the problem go away. When Ace sees someone throw a ball, he still reaches that fixated state of mind. It just happens less often because I have avoided that situation. If you keep a dog-aggressive dog away from other dogs, he is not going to attack another dog, but the problem will not go away. If anything, the problem will get worse because that dog will be even more excited when he sees another dog. By avoiding other dogs, he is not learning how to properly behave around them.

To help Ace, I need to actively work on curing this issue. In part three of my series on dogs with fixations, I explained my plan for working with Ace. It’s almost like a 12-step program for a ball-obsessed dog. Rule number one was no fetch playing for 30 days. We have accomplished that. The next was no dog park for 30 days. I was unsuccessful there and brought him to the dog park about three times in the last month. One rule I am going to start today is to practice having a ball in the room and encouraging Ace to ignore the ball. That on its own will be a huge challenge for him. Until today, all Ace’s toys were kept in the closet so he couldn’t obsess over them. Now I’m going to change that by taking out a toy and asking him to ignore it for a certain amount of time.

I have also looked for other ways to stimulate Ace’s mind other than chasing a ball, such as playing “find it” and taking him along when I bike using my hands free bike leash. That and continuing to run or walk with him every day will be very important so he doesn’t turn his excess energy into obsession.

Over the next 30 days, I will log Ace’s progress.

(This is day one of my 30-day challenge to break my dog’s ball obsession. This is not a challenge to break his obsession within 30 days, but to make working on this issue with him a habit for me. Click here to read about my dog’s fixation. Click here to read my other 30-day challenge posts.)