Joyce’s spaniel has been displaying obsessive behaviour. He wants to play fetch all day long. What does Glynne have to say about this dog’s obsession?

Question

We have an 11 month old springer spaniel. He likes to retrieve things (toys, sticks) ALL DAY LONG!! We are retired and home all day. Our dog gets LOTS of exercise on our 5 acre property. We are training him to stop when we say “all done”. But we are curious about this strange obsessive behavior. We have a friend who used to raise springers, and she’s never seen this behavior before. He never stops, even when we are sure he must be VERY TIRED. He has boundless energy, and it seems like the only way to calm him is to put him in his crate for a while. But as soon as we let him out, he starts again wanting us to throw his toys for him to retrieve.

Hi Joyce
Your dog has OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) which is very serious.
You really need some hands on help – if you are interested in a consultation please phone me on 031 761958 .
In the meantime, you must stop playing these games with him which has caused the problem in the first place. Keep him very quiet and calm and replace his throw toys with juicy, raw bones. Any exercise should be stopped or prevented immediately until he stabilizes.
The problem with this disorder is that your dog’s obsessive behaviour will deteriorate until you will no longer be able to keep him.

Regards
Glynne