M Golden Retriever loves his ball, to the point of obsessing over them. I take him to the dog park almost every day. I am trying to get him to become more social and play with the other dogs at the park. As soon as he is in there, he goes for a ball (as there are several balls just laying around usually) and will carry it around, pick a spot to hang out, go find more balls, and bring them back to his spot. He becomes very antisocial when he does this. There have been incidences of him becoming aggressive because of it. He will collect every ball in the park and lay with them. If I take balls away from him he will usually stand there and bark, whine, and stare at me.
I have been having a little success in trying to stop this obsession. Every time he goes for ball I tell him to drop it. If he does not drop it, I make him sit, take the ball from him, and toss it away. Recently he avoids grabbing the balls, he will just sniff them and move on, occasionally picking one up, but he will drop them when told to. He has been interacting and playing with other dogs now more and more, and appears to be more mentally balanced. But sometimes he will still be very persistent with anxiety about obtaining a ball.
I will let him have ball time outside of the dog park. I will throw it for him outside on days we do not go to the dog park. Is that hurting or helping his ball obsession problem?
I have been having a little success in trying to stop this obsession. Every time he goes for ball I tell him to drop it. If he does not drop it, I make him sit, take the ball from him, and toss it away. Recently he avoids grabbing the balls, he will just sniff them and move on, occasionally picking one up, but he will drop them when told to. He has been interacting and playing with other dogs now more and more, and appears to be more mentally balanced. But sometimes he will still be very persistent with anxiety about obtaining a ball.
I will let him have ball time outside of the dog park. I will throw it for him outside on days we do not go to the dog park. Is that hurting or helping his ball obsession problem?