Dog Community

Obsessed with outdoor toys

Posted : 8/24/2009 12:03:40 PM

I guess this is an agression/obsession question. Our Staffordshire Terrier is a very sweet and calm dog except anytime we try to play "fetch" with her. She won't give up on anything we throw until it's torn to shreds, she's demolished tennis balls, sticks, ball throwers, soccer balls, etc. She becomes obsessed and anytime another dog comes near her when she is "in the zone" (before she gets anything in her mouth) she lunges at their neck. She also overworks herself and gets bloodshot eyes. We've tried training her to "leave it" and "drop it" but she has no interest in obeying. Living in the city, we want to be able to leave her off leash so she can run around, but we want her to come back with the ball and not bite other dogs! Help! Techniques we have already tried:

1. Leave it, drop it...we can't get her to even accidentally drop it

2. Pressing on the soft spot of her mouth to get the object out. It doesn't work (I've raised other large dogs so I know I'm pressing int he correct area)

3. Offering a treat to get her to drop it. She has no interest

4. Offering ANOTHER ball, stick, whatever. doesn't work

5. Walking away from her and ignoring her. Doesn't work, she just comes to me with it in her mouth.

erica1989

Posted : 8/24/2009 12:55:43 PM

well - I think the obvious fix here is to stop playing fetch. she's getting too worked up, and too excited. Until she learns to control herself, no fetch. imo

Shaffies

Posted : 8/24/2009 1:11:41 PM

Thanks. Do you have an alternative to get her play energy out? I take her on long walks but she's not much of a walker. I live in NYC so the only place to take your dog off a leash is to the park before 9am. I've thought about running with her but I already work outdoors doing physical labor. I'm so tired when I get home!

glenmar

Posted : 8/24/2009 2:40:27 PM

Yes, I agree, stop the game. Try to reintroduce it a little at a time later on.

What soft spot? I'm puzzled by this......

It doesn't sound like she's getting a lot of exercise if she's not chasing and retrieving, but running or biking, swimming maybe or good options.

Shaffies

Posted : 8/24/2009 3:01:13 PM

The soft spot is the pressure point right behind the upper canines. She gets about 2 hours of walks a day but they don't seem to stimulate her playfulness. She'd rather play rough with something.

I'll definitely stop playing this game with her and keep searching for another outlet for play. She's chasing and retrieving, just not releasing, encouraging me to chase (to which I respond by ignoring her but I mentioned that doesn't work, she just goes somewhere else, sits down, and demolishes the toy) and showing agression towards other dogs that approach her when the toy is in her mouth.

Again, living in NYC has lots of limitations like no place to swim, and having to navigate 40-50 off-leash dogs with different behavior problems so it's important to have a well behaved dog yourself to avoid situations. I'll push my girlfriend to run with her. I'd still love to find more play games too.

JackieG

Posted : 8/24/2009 4:13:29 PM

Any chance you could enroll her in a class of some type? Agility, obedience, maybe flyball. Rally obedience is lots of fun. She sounds like a normal terrier doing what terriers do, destroying and guarding their toys. lol

She gets plenty of exercise with two hours of walking a day. Get her brain stimulated with some training. Trick training is fun. Check out clicker training if you aren't familiar. www.clickertraining.com

I play tug with my JRT until my arm gives out. He loves it and when I'm tired, I say "that's all" and drop my end of the toy. He chews a bit and then is bored since I'm not playing with him. I did teach drop and leave it when he was a puppy. You could still do it but you must start all over, indoors, with something your dog really isn't all that crazy about. That could be the hard part, finding something she doesn't want.....LOL

AllAboutTheAPBT

Posted : 9/6/2009 7:44:26 PM

My male APBT is similar. Super sweet and submissive in the house but gets very obsessed with outdoor toys and sometimes won't drop them. I agree with everyone else that maybe you shouldn't play fetch off leash with her. I don't live in a city but I am very careful with my dogs offleash because IMO if there is a problem and your dog is a bully breed you are going to be blamed. My dogs don't show agression with toys so I would watch that and correct it. Also my dog always comes back even if he's not going to drop the toy. If your dog won't even come back, maybe try playing with her on a long leash (30ft).

After many years of frustrating ends to play sessions, this is what I have found will work if my dog refuses to drop the toy. I just walk him home and inside with the toy still in his mouth and within a few minutes of being inside he drops it and walks away. It's kind of funny how simple it is. Rather than make a big deal and fight with him I just calmly go inside and there's like a switch that goes off once he's inside and calmer.

On a related note, my pit bulls destroy all toys too lol. I have found that rope toys and nylabones (the ones for powerful chewers) are the only toys that last. Any stuffed animal is torn apart in about 5 minutes and all those rubbery toys are destryed quickly as well.