Broodle
Well-Known Member
This may be confusing - bear with me!
I have two dogs (bitches), a 2 year old (yellow dog) and a 14 month old (black dog). Yellow dog has always been completely ball obsessed, and never happier than when retrieving. Black dog has never really shown much interest in the ball or anything else being thrown for yellow dog... until now.
Black dog has started what I can only describe as rugby tackling yellow dog when she has retrieved her ball - black dog then steals the ball and brings it to me, tail wagging and looking very pleased with herself
On the one hand it's great that black dog is getting the whole 'fetch' thing, but on the other it's all a bit rough on poor old yellow dog.
So, I've been telling black dog to 'leave it' when she goes to tackle yellow dog, and this is working well. I've also been taking it in turns to hold one dog while throwing the ball for the other. Tried throwing two balls, but they both just chase the same one and the other ends up lost in the long grass
Anyway, I think I'm succeeding in stopping black dog from stealing the ball from yellow dog, but we now have a new problem in that if I throw the ball for them both yellow dog chases it but more often than not leaves it for black dog to pick up and fetch back. It's really quite sad watching her look round for black dog and slowing up/turning away if she sees her in pursuit
Any ideas for how I can restore the balance? Or is this just something we're going to have to live with, given that black dog is probably slightly higher up the pack order than yellow dog? For that matter, is there anything that I can do to even up their pack positions, or is that out of my hands?
I know this is a bit of a silly post, but chasing balls is yellow dog's key pleasure in life and I feel a bit sorry for the daft fluffball
I have two dogs (bitches), a 2 year old (yellow dog) and a 14 month old (black dog). Yellow dog has always been completely ball obsessed, and never happier than when retrieving. Black dog has never really shown much interest in the ball or anything else being thrown for yellow dog... until now.
Black dog has started what I can only describe as rugby tackling yellow dog when she has retrieved her ball - black dog then steals the ball and brings it to me, tail wagging and looking very pleased with herself
On the one hand it's great that black dog is getting the whole 'fetch' thing, but on the other it's all a bit rough on poor old yellow dog.So, I've been telling black dog to 'leave it' when she goes to tackle yellow dog, and this is working well. I've also been taking it in turns to hold one dog while throwing the ball for the other. Tried throwing two balls, but they both just chase the same one and the other ends up lost in the long grass
Anyway, I think I'm succeeding in stopping black dog from stealing the ball from yellow dog, but we now have a new problem in that if I throw the ball for them both yellow dog chases it but more often than not leaves it for black dog to pick up and fetch back. It's really quite sad watching her look round for black dog and slowing up/turning away if she sees her in pursuit
Any ideas for how I can restore the balance? Or is this just something we're going to have to live with, given that black dog is probably slightly higher up the pack order than yellow dog? For that matter, is there anything that I can do to even up their pack positions, or is that out of my hands?
I know this is a bit of a silly post, but chasing balls is yellow dog's key pleasure in life and I feel a bit sorry for the daft fluffball
