Just a quick one I hope, I'd like an opinion on my 15 month old toy poodle and playing fetch.
When ever we go walking its with my small 8 year old terrier, I have been in the habit of throwing the ball for poodle (with a  thrower) so that he gets lots of extra mileage in as she prefers to dawdle and sniff.
I am now thinking I've caused an issue as he's becoming a bit too focused or perhaps a little obsessed with this ball!
Any thoughts please....
Karen

I use a flinger with my toy poodle, but when I've had enough I hold the ball attached in the  flinger in my hand and say 'no more, go on'. They are very clever dogs, he'll soon catch on if you have a signal meaning no more ball throwing.

I have squeaky tennis ball that's used as his high value distraction toy when out and I want him by me quick. He gets a couple of throws as reward then he watches me put it in poo bag (saving soggy ball in my pocket) and I say 'All gone, go play" and that's it.

I used to take ball and thrower but he became a bit obsessed just looking at the ball in the thrower and wouldn't toilet. This is when the ball started going in my pocket.

I have completely gone off ball throwing for my dogs.  I used to it a lot, every walk for some of them, for the same reason as you.

What I ended up with was completely ball-obsessed dogs who would scrap over them.  Now, the only one who gets any is Phoebe, and she searches for it and gets a couple of small throws in the garden.  She used to get 10 minutes of solid throwing a day in two lots.  She was very guardy, particularly over that ball.  What I have now is much, much calmer dogs who can have a bucketfull of tennis balls strewn about and not get into any arguments over them; Phoebe is guarding a lot less too - now she'll leave the ball in the porch before we go back inside, whereas before she would hold onto it no matter what and cause problems with my other obsessives.

I do think balls have their places - they are great for Phoebe and her searching, as she doesn't get walks but only in that very limited way.  Searches and sniffing around I find are much better for tiring dogs out - it's about stimulation more than mileage.

I've never used tennis type balls or a ball thrower, prefer a solid rubber rubber ball with a rope through it(well two actually)

Dogs have sustained injuries chasing after balls from throwers, & I don't consider the materials that tennis balls are made from safe. Using a ball on a rope gives the dog a chance to play with the ripe as well ad ball(mine seem to like shaking the ball using the rope & hitting themselves with the ball lol) & means you can play together with the ball, rather than just throwing the ball.

I use other toys on ropes & rubber hoops etc fo the dogs don't focus too much on the balls

mine seem to like shaking the ball using the rope & hitting themselves with the ball

Friend of mine has a little JR who likes rope raggers - the ones with a knot on each end. Usual terrier play - shake it to death then shake it again to make sure - She started rubbing her head on the carpet and holding one ear at a funny angle so visit to the Vets who found she had perforated her eardrum, almost certainly from hitting it with the knotted end of the rope

Thanks everyone, after I wrote this I went out with ball in my pocket and used it to throw in to the water towards the end of the walk and then he simply carried it back to the car.

After reading through these posts this might be the best thing to do, he was chased by an over enthusiastic lab this morning, who had him squealing with fear/ poodle wimpishness and I feel if I had handed it over then he would have become braver and may even have become aggressive. Its another reason I don't wont him to become ball focused.
Karen

Really ? I doubt it was caused by playing with the ragger, my dogs have done this for over 30 years without a problem, they are Border Collies & don't hit their heads with the ball

My lab Willow is absolutely obsessed with balls and it gets on my nerves when she won't think about anything else. For that reason we have maybe 1 in 4 walks as a 'ball' walk - usually a shorter one and the other walks she gets to do other doggie things. On a lot of walks she will find an old ball somewhere which someone has lost or rejected.

Dogz
I am now thinking I've caused an issue as he's becoming a bit too focused or perhaps a little obsessed with this ball!
Any thoughts please....

HP
If you have a dog which enjoys chasing a ball & then you repeatedly use it, then some dogs can very easily shows signs of what humans call a 'clinical obsession', my own certainly would have done. It can cause you problems and cause the dog itself problems & your relationship with the dog when your out simply depends & revolves around throwiing the ball, it's a well known & all to common problem.

Although yours is a toy poodle, given to much frequent pressure over a period of time it can cause veterinary probs in the joints & probably other things beyond my knowledge. I use balls as a training aid, as do thousands of others, but, I am very sparing in their use at any one time, see vid below, which has adequate written explanations without sound, see link below.

Limited Ball Use Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42tNOWAbEE8
.

I have a dog who just loves a ball but I tend to use it in different ways. Although the ball chuckers seem like a great idea I think it depends a lot on how you use them. Having the dog chasing a moving ball thrown with great force can possibly cause injury if the dog jumps for the ball or runs beyond it and then does a sharp turn back to the ball - have know dogs rupture their cruciate ligament doing this.

If I use the chucker I don't release my dog until the ball has landed which tends to stop him from making those tight turns. It also teaches him impulse control as he can't just rush off after it but has to wait to be released first- he had no impulse control at all  when he first came to us as a rescue. He also has a huge prey drive and I can use the ball to channel his drive towards that rather than other things that move rapidly.

I also use a special ball as his reward when training - if at agility the ball is treated as a "dead toy" at the end of the sequence he is doing so the ball has no movement at all. If I am rewarding him for turning his head away from other dogs when they pass (fear reactive) I throw the ball from my hand to his mouth,, so just a foot or so, for him to catch. If I do throw the odd ball on a walk he spends the next few minutes walking backwards in front of me waiting for me to throw it again and he becomes a trip hazard I use it sometimes to reward a recall but again throw it to his mouth rather than onto the floor.

Balls can be amazing rewards but as you say some dogs can be obsessed by them - this particular dog knows the game ends when the ball goes back in my pocket. My other dogs like balls but there off switch for them is far better developed

I don't consider the materials that tennis balls are made from safe

I agree 110% with that, once lost or discarded because of damage people leave them lying around, other dogs pick them up & in some attempt to further destroy them swallow a bit & end with a life threatening blockage.
.

I've never used a ball lobber (or whatever they're called).  I love the floating Kong's on a rope, obviously great for swimming too, also encourages interaction - a tug game, either with me and/or my other dog(s) on retrieval.

I think the lobbers put the interaction/focus more on the ball than on you.  I've not used one though. 
I use the strong focus for training: sit, watch me, look at it, go, built over time in baby steps, is great for  bonding and training. 

Another idea is to have a number of balls,.  you could even extend it, eventually, to o throwing one, then another etc and directing which to fetch (quite advanced). but having a few could quite easily reduce obsession - my two love hooves  to chew in the house, so I always have at least 3 or 4 lying around to reduce their value.

I have a ball obsessed dog but it doesn't worry me - he also loves his tug toys too.  It gives me a really good reward for training - I don't only just throw the ball - I make him wait as Harley says - teaching self control,  I make him offer me different behaviours before going to get it - especially 'watch me' which is really difficult for him to take his eyes off where the ball has landed, touch my hand, offer a paw, turn right turn left etc - then tell him to go get it.  If he has taken his eye off the ball then he has to use his nose to find it (just remember where it is yourself otherwise it is almost impossible to find in long grass if you have a dog that is not so good at sniffing it out) that tires them out more than just chasing and chasing it.  The only time I use a thrower is on the beach to send the ball into the sea so that he can swim.  I use a certain brand of ball that is bright orange and easy for me to see, floats and can be chewed well.  Then he knows 'that's enough' when we have finished.  Love my ball obsessed dog he has learned great focus on me because of it.

Thanks all, this is very useful.
He mainly gets in the car and we go for a walk (with my girl, The terrier) off lead.
Consequently, when I do take him on lead anywhere he pulls terribly. I keep telling myself that I must train him  to walk properly on his harness and lead. I suppose I can use this ball now as a training aid?
He is very intelligent and quick to learn so it will be me who has to get it right.
We did go to obedience initially and he was fab, wasted on me really!

Karen

What type of harness do you use?  The Mekuti Balance Harness and the Perfect Fit harnesses are both highly recommended as they have both back and front attachments that are used with a double ended lead.

Kikopup has YouTube video about loose leash walking too.

Thanks for reply, I don't have a mekuti but a very comfortable neoprene one.
I don't really need the double handling lead as he's tiny and I should be able to cope, a few practice walks with the two of us and all should be well it's just not what we do as a matter of course which is where it's got out of hand. Also with his fondness for a ball as an added bonus ;)

> I have a ball obsessed dog but it doesn't worry me - he also loves his tug toys too.

Same here, and most likely the same breed.  But, although his tennis ball is favourite, he will go and fetch his heffalump on command.  I agree that "watch me" is very important and train it very early on.

Hi, as someone who has trained many gundogs to retrieve it is very important that the dog learns that whatever the dog has retrieved belongs to the human the dog brings it to. Whether that is a ball, dummy or game. I had a little WCS who was completely OCD regarding tennis balls who wouldn't return or release her tennis ball but I eventually managed to get her to realise it was a much better game to return the ball to me and get it thrown again rather than her keep it. It did take a long time though and I would warn the OP to be careful of the dog guarding the ball if it gets very obsessed with it, and possible aggression than can come from that. Harley has it right, the retrieved object, whatever it is, belongs to the human, and it is important to teach a command to say 'ball away go play'. I have a bag I carry and all dummies/balls go in it with the command 'balls away' when retrieving games/training are over and the dogs accept it, out of sight out of mind maybe.

I throw toys every day for my two spaniels - but then, they are spaniels and highly-strung ones at that. I don't throw balls, just ordinary rope toys, except occasionally I get a tennis ball out. Both of mine would go berserk without playing fetch every day...

Change up the toys you use to play fetch, and as your dogs are smaller you don't have to do it every day.

I have been going out with my friend and her ball obsessed Lab, and mine just look at her oddly, the youngest only interest is to retrieve the Labrador (she loves to run alongside her as she runs for the ball).

They have zero interest in a ball, but I have never fostered a retrieve instinct.  As baby pups they do quite like stashing stolen stuff, but not retrieving.

There is no problem with that at all, he is sweet tempered and would retrieve all day long.
Its just that he wants to be at it all the time, if I switched from a ball to another toy it would be the same.
So I have now stopped taking a ball so often, I want him to explore and enjoy the walk and socialize not be focused on this singular aspect of our walk.

Karen