prism Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 Hi there, just wondering if anyone out there has experienced similar problems with their pup. Our 10 month old Kelpie Maggie is obsessed with her ball - everytime we walk out the back door she begins searching for a ball and immediately wants to play! When we pat her through our front gate she's fine or if she comes in the house to see us she's very affectionate as well but as soon as we set foot out the back she just wants to play - to the point of obsession!!! . This has gotten worse over the past few months. Our behaviour toward her hasn't changed that we're aware of so we're wondering if anyone else has encountered such a thing?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShellyBeggs Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 Sorry I can't help..... just wanted to say how lucky you are to have a kelpie that will play with someting.....mine isn't that interested in toys and food so I find rewards and creating drive tough at times!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prism Posted November 2, 2007 Author Share Posted November 2, 2007 Sorry I can't help.....just wanted to say how lucky you are to have a kelpie that will play with someting.....mine isn't that interested in toys and food so I find rewards and creating drive tough at times!!!! haha! that's terrible... where is the happy medium hey?!! Maggie isn't big on food either and we have a friend who has a kelpie who isn't big on eating either... it's almost like they're not interested?? we try our best but it is a constant battle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddii Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 Sorry, I can't help either. My girl is TOTALLY obsessed about tennis balls (16 month BC). I've seen her stand and watch one for 15 minutes when she was your pups age, now she's learned to throw them at me. We've taken the tennis ball out of her world, except for flyball training. Other types of ball are OK, just not a tennis ball. The trick will be to convince her she has to play with something else before she gets the tennis ball, that way the ball becomes the reward (OK as long as you don't want to do flyball!) It's a long process, but it is worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prism Posted November 2, 2007 Author Share Posted November 2, 2007 seen her stand and watch one for 15 minutes when she was your pups age, Maggie does the same with standing over the ball... she uses her nose to nudge it toward us and our driveway has a downward descent so she makes sure she is up the top of it and sends the ball down to us all the time!! She used to have soccer ball issues but we removed that after she destroyed 3 of them in the space of a couple of months! i didn't realise a kelpie had such a huge jaw-span!!! She now has a ball on 4 legs to play with - a lab puppy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katdogs Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 Our KelpieX is obsessed by her ball. It's more important than food, other dogs, other people. It is sad to see her at the back door when we say 'no Jodie, ball stays outside' and she just can't get it to drop out of her mouth, it's like a green tumour, always there. There's a ball one step behind me, wherever I walk/move/sit. In fact even if I check the chair first, there'll be a ball gently placed under me when I sit down. We're getting used to it. What's really good is that it gives her a reason to run really fast at the park (she beat a greyhound and mastiff the other night), so she can get puffed without exhausting me. We just have to check that none of the other dogs are as ball-obsessed - not many are, most will get the message quickly that all balls are hers. Also she's good at playing with children, they like her game of rolling the ball towards them then sometimes grabbing it back at the last second. She likes to take her ball onto the top of a table out the back and bounce it off, then chase it around the yard. It keeps her busy and happy. And very very focussed on us if we're holding the ball! It doesn't stop her cuddling up for TV time and generally being a sweet girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee_al Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 our youngest dog is like that too except its with everything! As soon as someone walks out the back door, he picks up whatever is close, weather its a ball, a stick a rock a brik plastic, etc etc, he thinks he can get us to play wit it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloebear Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 My puppy keeps dropping her ball at my two year old sons feet, so he keeps throwing it for her (yep the dog has trained my son). She won't go into her kennel of a night unless her ball is with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahona Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 My dogs completely obsessed with her ball too, only she just likes carrying it around in her mouth with her and chewing it, so its not an issue for us! She's very reluctant about giving it to us to throw for her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 Sounds like your Kelpie has a lot of drive which is not unusual at all in a working breed. I would highly reccomend you look into drive training. This Sydney trainer & behaviourist has correspondence courses you can do in drive training if you can't get to him: http://www.k9force.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janba Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 My 9 month border is ball obsessed. I have always refused to play with him and the ball ( as I didn't want a dog that continually dropped balls at my feet for me to throw) so he invents games to amuse himself. He rolls it down steps and the pounces on it, he throws it in the air and does the same, drops it off the back of a chair , he plays soccer with a football and anything else he can think off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloebear Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 In our house, don't know who likes to play ball more, me or the dog. I find it a good way to de-stress and escape from the kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 Hi Prism, she's very cute! Are you planning on doing any activities with her? Herding, agility, Flyball? You will find redirecting her energy will help. Mine can be toy/ball obsessed but they have learnt with me that it's pretty much on my terms. I just put any object away if I don't want to play & they get the message pretty quick. I also try make sure that there are no toys/balls around (hard when you live with a 3YO human). They still manage to suck at least half my visitors in though . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesomil Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 Does she get alot of exercise and training? Alot of working bred dogsl become obsessed with balls etc if they have no where else to redirect their energy. There brains and bodys are designed to work, so when they dont, they find something to put all their energy into. My boy is very keen on balls and i have used a ball with great success in his obedience training. He will switch off it when i put it away though. It would probably help her alot if you used her ball in her training and she learnt that she cant have it all the time but she has to work to get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prism Posted November 2, 2007 Author Share Posted November 2, 2007 Sounds like your Kelpie has a lot of drive which is not unusual at all in a working breed. I would highly reccomend you look into drive training.This Sydney trainer & behaviourist has correspondence courses you can do in drive training if you can't get to him: http://www.k9force.net thanks... what a great site. we are in victoria, so yeah - correspondence could be the G O! Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prism Posted November 2, 2007 Author Share Posted November 2, 2007 Hi Prism, she's very cute!Are you planning on doing any activities with her? Herding, agility, Flyball? You will find redirecting her energy will help. Mine can be toy/ball obsessed but they have learnt with me that it's pretty much on my terms. I just put any object away if I don't want to play & they get the message pretty quick. I also try make sure that there are no toys/balls around (hard when you live with a 3YO human). They still manage to suck at least half my visitors in though . Thanks! We actually have a 40 acre farm that we take her to once every few weeks where she gets to run around and is a natural with herding our cows!!! if only we could direct her which way to send them for us!!! we used to take a ball with us there sometimes that she'd play with occasionally but i guess there are much cooler things for her to do so the 'obsession' side of things were disguised! We are actually heading there this afternoon and taking Maggie & Charlie (or lab) so it will be interesting to see how they go up there together! i think it's sounding more and more like it's time for all the other kongs, balls and toys to be put off limits with the soccer ball that had to go months ago!! at least for a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prism Posted November 2, 2007 Author Share Posted November 2, 2007 Does she get alot of exercise and training?Alot of working bred dogsl become obsessed with balls etc if they have no where else to redirect their energy. There brains and bodys are designed to work, so when they dont, they find something to put all their energy into. My boy is very keen on balls and i have used a ball with great success in his obedience training. He will switch off it when i put it away though. It would probably help her alot if you used her ball in her training and she learnt that she cant have it all the time but she has to work to get it. Yep, lots of exercise - at least one big walk a day... And now we even have another dog to keep her company! they get along well and follow each other around whcih is great - until one of us goes outside!!! great idea re using the ball... i generally use the word 'ball' to coax her out of the laundry at night if i want the little one to sleep and her to get out - sometimes it's the only way!!! i may use it as more of a tool i think thanks ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 What did dogs do before they mass produced tennis balls? They should call them kelpie retrievers. I find the herding dogs have much stronger retrieve drive than retrievers, in general. Be glad yours hasn't learned the "cute" tricks that two of my Labs picked up. Sprocket was adept at dropping a well slobbered tennis ball in a drink glass. G&T and tennis ball or margarita & tennis ball . . . lovely . Middy, on the other hand, likes to put the ball in the toilet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 You have a working animal and its working - it wants to play. Exercise comes in two forms - physical and mental. No good taking the dog for a big walk kelpies were bred to work all day and still have energy left over. You need to start doing obedience, agility, herding, flyball, trick training etc to keep her brain active. If you are near Geelong then Bellarine Dog Activities Group can give you a hand with training. Kelpies will gravitate towards you more, they want to be told what to do and work with you. Prey training a really high drive dog without suppression training can be a bit full on if you're not used to it, so maybe look into clicker training using the toy as the jackpot reward at the end of exercise so you dont completely drive hte dog into a frenzy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddii Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 I just came back to this thread and it is SOOOOOOO funny to read through everyone's experiences. Since I last posted Xena hasn't changed a bit, in fact she's worse if anything - has taken a bit of work to get her to ignore other balls at flyball! It's funny when we get the the end of her run and instead of just her ball ther are 2 or 3 just lying there to be had - talk about BC heaven! Now our other little man is just as bad, only it's either squeaky toys or tennis balls! What others have said about the off switch is so true. Great to train them and be able to have them working, but equally important to be able to turn them off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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