I need some advice with this please

[ComeOnThenFanny]

My dog (almost 18 months) is obsessed with having stuff thrown for her. If it's not a ball, it's teddies, little scraps of material from teddies, bits of fluff, anything she can find. It is driving me demented.
She gets loads of exercise, loads of attention, she's a healthy, happy little girl - but this is beyond a joke now. It's been going on for a couple of weeks, and I just can't find a way to make it stop. It's constant - she won't just lie down and relax anymore, not ever, other than when she's asleep at night.

Does anyone know how I can change this behaviour? It's so difficult to manage.

What breed is she and how much exercise? One dogs exercise is another dogs lazy day. How much attention? Is this just cuddling or mind games as well?

Assuming you don’t engage with it, what does she do if you walk away? Does she bark? If so, she’ll learn eventually not to do it.

Sorry, lots of questions! But more information would be very helpful :)

Don’t forget that if she’s a big breed, she’s in the middle of her tossy period (teenager). They push a lot of boundaries at that age (16-20ish months). But, they do settle down at about 3ish.

Perhaps she’s getting too much attention? All on her terms?

Start teaching her ‘go to bed’ so she knows you’re not to be pestered. Worked with all my dogs and I’ve owned some pretty boisterous rescue ones and police lines GSs.

Dogs are a bit like children, they relax within boundaries.

Tour dog seems hyperactive and this is very often a sign of a lack of boundaries - dog is constantly hyped and on high alert.

My inbox is open if you want to ask for tips. I’m not a behaviourist though, although I’ve done some courses a long time ago.

Stop doing it , don’t have balls in the house and just refuse to throw anything else . After a few days of hell she will get the message

Our dachsund is just over 18 months and exactly the same. When I clean the kitchen I have to keep throwing the ball out of the window. He lives for the sound of the washer finishing as he knows I'm going outside, and he brings the ball.
If I don't throw the red favourite ball, he'll bring the other three until I throw one of them.
Has to be chasing after something. We all absentmindedly throw the ball over the sofa while watching TV.
Can't help but can sympathise.

Agree with Floralnomad, the first thing you do is, stop doing it. Yes you’ll have to manage the fallout from that but it won’t last forever and you will have broken the cycle. Breed info might help other PPs with advice too.

Thank you for your reply!

I have two sisters, we were told that they were Border collie X jack Russell. Her sister has quite a different temperament, she's also a lively little dog, but come the evening time, she just wants to chill and cuddle.

She gets two decent walks a day, lots of playing in the garden and a good run about in a dog park if I get the chance. I wfh, so I'm always here.

I'd love some suggestions of brain games for them both, I think that might really help.

Have you tried diverting her with a licky mat or a snuffle mat? Get her nose working rather than the ball retrieving bit of her brain. Ignore attempts to get you to throw things.

You have taken on siblings? Where did you get them? How old?u
Those things are going to change the advice you receive.

Gods. Collie crossed with a jack russel?! That’s insane. The exercise alone they need is probably a minimum is 90 minutes a day - those are high energy, high intelligence and high drive breeds. You need mind games, 100%

Knowing the breed I would 100% say she’s not stimulated enough and needs a job.

We rescued them from a woman that was threatening to leave them outside to run away because she "couldn't afford to keep them" 😞
We've had them since they were 4 months old.

I'd love some suggestions of brain games for them both, I think that might really help.

One I got from here, which my dog loves is a jar full of rags with cloves to make them smell. Hide the rags round the house, let them sniff the cloves then tell them to Go Find. You might need to do a really obvious one or two first until they get the idea. Works their brain, they get to find and retrieve or just Mark It for a treat ( which is what we do), so she won’t expect you to throw the rag when she finds it.

Thanks so much for all the advice so far, it's much appreciated.

Don’t throw stuff for them in the house. Hide stuff for them to sniff out. Do this on your terms.

Take up a dog sport, or class where they’re learning a skill for each of them.

Scent, man trailing, obedience, anything that works their brains.
They each need their own job.

Ive only read your posts OP so others may have said what i'll say

Put the toys away. Only get them out when youre prepared to play.
Crate train and enforce naps
Do training to entertain their brains
On walks, use the drive for the ball as a reward for training rather than mindlessly throwing

They are both crate trained, we did that from the start. They also get enforced naps, which they're very used to. We do a fair bit of training, but they do need a job, they are very clever and their minds need to be occupied more than anything.

Another option for an activity is Hoopers - it uses the brain but it's also high energy but low impact.

Sounds like pup needs a job. Chasing is self fulfilling. It’s very very addictive.

Have a look at structured training. Agility, hoppers, scentwork, rally - even obedience.

Ok, not entirely sensible but I understand the circumstances, and you’ve got them now. That breed mix is insane and I absolutely agree that it isn’t their physical energy you need to burn off, it’s their mental energy. And throwing toys won’t do that, s you’ve discovered. They definitely do need a job. I’m not even sure some of the suggestions like scent trailing, obedience etc will be enough. And although you’re saying only one is a problem now, they’re only young and that doesn’t mean the other one won’t change as they age a bit - especially as they’re together presumably all of the time. Any ‘job’ you can give them is still going to take an immense amount of your time and energy. I’d be looking for a home solution for one of them and a rehoming situation for the other. Maybe looking at specialist scent working institutions/charities or some such. You’ve clearly done a ‘kind’ thing here OP, but it might prove impossible for you to cope with.

Dogs can get a bit weird and obsessive and manic over ball chasing and it’s awful for their front legs/shoulders, so I’d stop. But in the time you’d spend throwing stuff, teach some tricks, or play other games, it will use their brain but they won’t get as obsessive over it

I think the border collie part is the obsessive part.

I agree with the pp who said do not throw anything inside the home ever. You will have to completely ignore her demands and praise when she settles or is quiet.

I have a JRT mix and he's very clever, can you teach her tricks? My dog knows around 30 different tricks and it's great seeing him work things out.

The Collie part of your dog needs a job. The simple answer is don’t throw the ball at home. Keep it out of the way and throw it as part of your walk. Have you thought about joining an agility or fly ball group?

Collies love to play tuggy. Introduce both dogs to a rope to tug. They will play tuggy themselves once they know how.

They also like to show their very high intelligence. A favourite “game” for my dogs is I scatter their toys over the floor and ask them to fetch them to me by name
Eg “Mollie stay”. “Ravi fetch teddy” He finds his teddy and brings it back to me. Both get a small treat. Mollie for staying put and Ravi for retrieving the correct toy.

They all love learning new tricks too. Tip - work with them one at a time until they are confident with what is required. And always reward.

With the ball obsessed dog the “reward” could be to play fetch for a few throws.

Also play hide and seek. You get them to stay. You hide. They find you.

Play seek a toy. Get them to stay in a room. You hide a toy in another room. Give them the cue “Where’s toy? (Monkey in my dogs case). It helps if they know the name of the toy you are asking them to find.

Cut their favourite treats into tiny pieces (the smellier the better) and hide them. My dogs will do anything for cheese.

Do not under estimate the intelligence of a collie. You need to teach them and always be 20 steps in front of them.

I’m intrigued to know what a collie x JRT looks like tbh. Do you have a pic? I’m imagining a very short collie

You would be surprised what they look like! Sometimes I can see the collie and then again not - but her personality is very definitely collie and jrt. Her sister on the other hand, looks like a whippet! Here you are - honestly really appreciate all this advice, thank you all so much.

Brilliant suggestion. I buy marrowbones from Morrisons and they keep my large breed going for an hour or two. When she's finished the marrow I wash them then re-stuff with cooked mashed mixed veg, or some healthy wet dog food, and freeze, and she loves those. I always have about 5 on the go. I think you will probably have been rewarding her inadvertently by getting your timing wrong with the throwing. As PP have said, try just not doing it for a while. She will probably hit what's called an extinction burst, where she will try even harder to get your attention at first, then eventually it will extinguish when you have ignored her for long enough. The first breed that came into my head when I was reading your post was a Border Collie! I see a lot where I live and they are absolutely obsessed with focussing on either the owner or the ball. Very clever dogs. That, crossed with a Jack Russell, and wow, that's some energetic DNA to deal with. To entertain my dog in the morning, I scatter his kibble around the garden. He has to use his nose to find it. I also stuff his kibble into old boxes and recycling, and again, he has to find it. All of this uses energy, but of the brain, not the legs! (Like another PP, I'm not a dog trainer but have worked in welfare for many years/taken many courses on canine behaviour). Good luck.

Aww, just seen the photo - my guess would possibly be border collie x jack russell for left pic, and jrt x whippet for right pic - but I'd probably be so itching to find out I'd get their DNA done 🤔