A bit of a problem routine

I felt the nudge on my left arm and reached down to feel who it was.  It is the spot where both Luke and Elsa go to talk to me when I am on my computer.  I was writing but Elsa had other plans as she continued to nudge.  I rub her head and applied an ample amount of kisses hoping that it would suffice, nope.  She stood staring, trying very hard to drill her message into my head.  I got it, I knew what she wanted but it's becoming a bit of a problem routine.  For some dogs like Miss Elsa, steadfast routine can become a problem.  Do something the same for a couple of days in a row and your sunk.  So Elsa thinks that around 4:00 pm that I stop working and go out to play.  It is a good time to do her ball tossing as it is usually cooling off; and it gives her a good amount of time to cool down before eating her dinner, BUT. 

I don't like problem routines.  Nothing should be so cast in stone that you cannot function until that activity is performed.   Structure is good, routine, not always.  Some dogs do well with routine but when it starts to become a problem routine; when the dog starts running the show, it needs to change.  Switch it up, after all we run the show right?  (grinning)  I love giving Elsa what she wants but it has to be when I say, not when she bugs me so much that I cave.  I enjoy flexibility in our day; I do not want the ball telling me what and when I have to do something.

It is true, Elsa loves her ball; she loves most balls but her XL orange squeaky Kong tennis ball is her absolute favorite.  It sits on the shelf in the yard and there it stays until I say so.  Today that ball will move; find a new place to live while not being chased or carried around by Elsa.  Then again in a few days more it will have to find another place to live.  Our "ball" time is also going to change; perhaps we will skip today and do something else, maybe work on the skateboard.  But it is changing, I don't like a problem routine.  Tomorrow we will do some retrieving with another toy, perhaps the ever favorite green football thing that Penny loves so much. 

Many dogs do great with routine; it can offer them stability in life, help them get through their day.  Then there are others who need their routine constantly undone.  A routine can put a dog like Elsa in overdrive; always anxious while awaiting the next routine moment.  So then it must be switched up; throw a wrench into the routine.  Routine, schmoutine; who needs it? 

Dogs who are constantly demanding, often have too much routine in their life.  Of course like I said already, some are fine with routine; they are all individuals remember.  Know your dog, know yourself and build your life together accordingly.  For Elsa and I, we need a freestyle type day to day. 

Controlling that ball

                                           
                                            The ball of a tennis ballaholic is never far away. 

 Aholic - A person who has an addiction to or obsession with some, object or activity.

As I turn to leave my bedroom, I notice Elsa standing just outside the door.  She looks strange and I wonder what's up with her; that is until I notice a tennis ball at my foot, again.  Elsa is a tennis ballaholic; yep, I have to admit it, she is.  I know a lot of people who have tennis ballaholics but hate to admit it.  Come on, say it with me; "my dog;s name is ______, and she is a tennis ballaholic."  There that wasn't so bad was it?  Dealing with the affliction of the tennis ball is not quite as easy and deal with it, you must.

Drive - to strive vigorously toward a goal or objective; to work, play, or try wholeheartedly and with determination.

I could tell that Elsa had drive from the get go; she loves nothing more than retrieving.  Ask her if she'd prefer a steak or a retrieve and she will choose the retrieve every time.  So, with that information I must be strategic.  I do not leave tennis balls just laying around; but if and when I forget, I pay for it by rolling my ankle.  That is because Elsa continues to put the ball at my feet.  If I'm sitting down, it goes in my lap.  If I'm on the double lounge outside, she will roll it to me until I throw it.  If I don't throw it she will just stand there and stare at me, I think forever.

But she is not as bad as some.  She is at the moment looking out my office window with a tennis ball beside her.  She has carried it around for a while this afternoon and placed it at my feet in the kitchen while I bake, over and over again.  But I will not throw it; there is a time and a place and the place is not the kitchen.   It will be going away shortly.  She can forget about the ball if it is away; but it must be out of sight or she will just stare at it, willing it to jump off of wherever I've put it.  She will stand there for a longtime before giving up.  So for her sake, it goes in the garage with the rest of the tennis balls.  Elsa's drive is easily controllable, the way that I like it.

Tilley on the other hand was out of control, for a while anyway.  She too was a tennis ballaholic but when the ball was put away; she switched that obsession onto shadows; which she learned were a pretty reliable object.  It started when she was only four months old and continued until her last day.  A dog with true drive to catch and retrieve will typically do so with any object.  Tilley would catch anything; Elsa is learning to retrieve other objects.  It takes a few tries and then she will happily oblige.  But the tennis ball seems to be the prize possession. 

So how do you control a tennis ballaholic?  Limits and training.  You must limit the ball access and control the ball yourself.  The ball belongs to me and I allow Elsa to play with it when I say.  The training part is much  more difficult in that she must learn to leave the ball when it is present.  We are working on her "leaving it" when it is thrown and not taking other's balls.  This is a tough one for her; if a tennis ball is out, it's hers.  She is not possessive over the ball but she is very strategic.  She knows how to wait it out.  She hovers looking for the fraction of a second when the other dog let's their guard down to swoop in and nab the desired ball.

I do not allow the tennis ball to run our lives; I make the rules and I control the ball.  This is essential if you want to control a tennis ballaholic.  When the simple act of reaching for a tennis ball sends your dog into the "ready" mode, you know you have work to do.  A tennis ballaholic needs to learn to control themselves.  It can be a ton of work; all they know is to chase when they see the ball.  You need to teach them that they can achieve control.   Rules and regulations must be implemented to tennis ball games or the ball becomes an object of  the out of control mode.  When your dog is a tennis ballaholic, you can use the ball as a reward for behaviors; making it easy to train for control behaviors. 

                                   Here Elsa performs different tasks before the ball is thrown. 

But along with limits and training you must also offer your dog an outlet for the drive.  Elsa does a daily 'chuck -it' time.  It gives her the chance to chase, retrieve and run.  Elsa loves to run, almost as much as she loves to retrieve; she is a sporty girl.  Without control being placed on the ball; the ball could easily become a huge issue instead of a controllable obsession. 

Drive

The drive to retrieve is okay, as long as it is within a safe environment and under control.  

Drive: an innate, biologically determined urge to attain a goal or satisfy a need.

Prey drive, we've all heard the term and although it does come from the genetically hardwired behavior to chase a moving object; I prefer to call it just that, chase drive.  Many drives have nothing to do with prey as in animal killing.  Most of it is just the simple desire to chase something moving.  There are many different types of drive in our dogs today.  I saw this big difference when Penny was at our house.  Penny is driven by glimmers, it is becoming a problem.  She is most definitely obsessed and cannot stop unless she is physically removed from the room.  Every night when I would empty or fill the dishwasher as the sun was setting she would go off by the glimmers created.  I had to kick her out of the kitchen; obsessive drive is not something you want to fuel in any way, shape or form.

Elsa and Luke on the other hand are driven by things that they can get; lizards, crickets, balls, frisbees, etc.  Their desire to chase has not moved to the constant need to chase.  I had one of those and one is just fine with me.  Tilley, she had OCD and it was all about shadows.  She started very young; at four months of age we noticed her following butterflies.  Thinking that it was adorable we watched and watched until we noticed that it was not the butterfly that she was chasing but the shadow.  At the time I didn't realize that this was a problem; I thought she was a smart girl to find something that gave her a sure thing to chase daily.   No, it was a problem in the making.

OCD (Obsessive, compulsive disorder) is not a good thing; especially in dogs who we cannot sit down and explain to.  Her desire to chase shadows quickly moved to any shadow, anywhere.  It was not until one day that she chased the shadow of a crow into the street that I realize the dangerous implications of her problem.  So what do you do with a dog like this?  We transferred her desire to chase to objects; so that we could control the chasing.  She was given error feedback if she tried to chase a shadow outside of our yard and she learned quickly.  She became an amazing disc dog and would literally chase and retrieve anything that you threw for her.  We redirected her drive.

It may seem cute in the beginning but an obsession on something that cannot be caught is a bad one.

Obsession:  a persistent preoccupation, idea or feeling.  The act of obsessing or the state of being obsessed.

Not good in any form.  Obsession should be dealt with immediately.  Elsa cannot figure out what Penny is doing when she starts with the glimmers.  Penny cannot figure out what Elsa is doing when she is after a lizard; different, very different.  One is drive, the other obsession.  You can see Penny waiting for a glimmer when she stands transfixed, staring at the wall.  It needs to end there but it must also be redirected onto something else; something that is controllable.  Just ending it will be nearly impossible.