Bacchus Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 For the last several weeks, Aden's obsession with lights and shadows has been getting worse. She stares at them and plays with them. When I feed her, I have to make sure that the lights are on or off (which ever will yield the least shadows) or she won't eat - instead, she'll play with the shadows. I've been telling her NO whenever I catch her and try to distract her with something that I think is "less unhealthy". I'll do some obedience training, play ball, etc... Does anyone else have this problem? What should/can I do to correct this behavior? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo&Tex Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 The answer is Squirrels!!! Seriously, I have a young pup who is severly shadow obssessed. He was a puppy mill dog, unsaleable because he is deaf, and he spent the first 8 months of his life in a dog run. He learned to play with shadows to stop himself from going crazy in that run. He is a happy, loving wiggly pup, but it's hard to get him to focus on me because he is so distracted by shadows and sunlight and spots. He doesn't care about toys or treats and I know that when I'm home but busy, he'll target a sunny patch of floor and bark and dig at it non stop. Redirect, redirect, redirect is all I can do and as he's grown older, he has gotten better. I can't light a candle with him in the room, he becomes unglued over the shadows. I've seen him stare at the shadows of geese and sheep instead of the animals. Yes, definitely been thru the "won't eat because theres a shadow" scenario. I was all happy about the new house I have because it didn't have stairs and that was great for my blind Bc. Then I realized it has little green squares on the kitchen floor that my obssessed dog could target. so, it's good for Bdog and bad for Ddog. There are red squirrels with a deathwish living in the pine tree on the front lawn. They torment the dogs but I've noticed that when Loki is out with the squirrels, he stares at them instead. He isn't barking and biting at the ground as usual. Not quite ready to bring squirrels inside to see of they prevent behaviours indoors...but I'm encouraged that there are some things that will break thru the OCD barrier. It's all about quality of life. Yes, my dog is weird but I think he's happy and I can live with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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