ANSWERS: 3
  • What breed of dog is he? If he is a Gordon Setter that is why. Gordon Setters were bred to notice those kinds of things. Treatment: Try to distract him with a loud noise or punish him by tell him in a firm voice "NO!" pull him away and stand up straight and block him by using whole body to back him away;claim the space
  • I have a Cavalier who does this also - drives us up a wall - my walls are all scratched and he constantly wants to go outside only because he wants to see the reflection of the door. I found this on another site - I'm going to try it and see if it help: --------------------- I actually just saw a television program on this very thing starring top dog trainer Victoria Stillwell (the program is called "Its Me or the Dog" and plays on Animal Planet). The shadow/light/reflection obsession is actually a form of obsession disorder (similar to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in humans). Many dogs are entertained by shadows, etc. but when they begin to salivate or chew excessively at the forms on the wall it becomes an obsession. Many dog breeds are actually prone to this disorder, having especially fine tuned hunting senses meant to pick up on shadows, etc. The trainer in the program used a buzz word to interupt the obsessive behavior. Victoria set up a situation in which the dog would be exposed to the shadows and would call out "Enough!" in an attention getting tone (not negative or positive in nature), clap her hands, and walk from the room (everyone else in the room would need to leave as well). She repeated this exercise repeatedly until the dog followed her out of the room. The idea was that any attention, positive or negative, would reinforce the behavior. Praise was given when the dog began to follow her out. This all worked very well with the Irish Setter on the program who was so obsessive that he would actually fall into a trance and crave the reflections and shadows -- it had all become a ritual (much like handwashing for people who suffer from OCD). The dog also responded to light reflections caused by cookingware. The owners were made to walk in front of the reflection and the dog when he seemed to be focused on the reflection. The owner would simultaneously call out the buzz word, "Enough!" If a dog has a form of obsessive disorder, they may begin to transfer their obsession if they cannot seek out their normal obsessions. It is important to stop these obsessions as well with the same buzz word and a reclamation of the object or body block. The dog on the program began to see amazing results within two weeks. I hope this helps. The show is really an amazing one and Vistoria Stillwell is very, very knowledgable.
  • I have a Golden Retriever who is obsessed with reflections. She cannot wear a collar because one brief glint of light would driver her crazy all day!She chews on her feet if we take away the light source without breaking her cycle of obsession. If she sees someone wearing a watch (a common cause of unexpected reflections) she does a crazy dance in front of them like she is half rabid! I say all this because the suggestions made above really do work. We never tell her "NO" because that is a word reserved for being bad. We tell her "ENOUGH" and if it does not work the first time (usually the case) it is said a second time more deeply with a sharp hand clap. That will usually get her attention and she can be redirected to something else...either lead out of the room, given a toy or played with vigorously until she forgets what she was doing. Uninterupted, she will stare at the wall for hours and not eat. Like a small child who really wants something you took away...it is really important to redirect her. She is 6 now and easier to "fix" then when she was 2. Good luck!

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