Hi All,

I was wondering if any of you could help me work out our problem!  Jack, our 9th month old GSD is a very keen footballer but so is my 11 year old son.  While i don't want to quash Jack's obivous talent, (we are waiting for the call from Sven anytime now) :rolleyes: i would like him to know that i can't have every ball that he takes a fancy too.  I know this is probably a tall order but i'm replacing that many balls, i'm on first name terms at the shop where i get them from:rolleyes: also my son is getting alittle fed up now.

The weather is so nice now i don't want to keep bring Jack inside but on the other hand its not fair to stop my son playing football in the garden either I've never had this situation before as my other dogs, past and present have never bothered.

Jane

One of my girls is ball obsessed I use it to my advantage as in that she has her own balls which she gets only when we go to the park it then gets popped back in a bag when we have finished.
I take with me 2 small balls and 1 large ball but I have also taught her to hold onto a rubber bone while we play the game!! she then doesnt grap the ball with her teeth she actually stops it with her legs then waits for it to be kicked again. what I find amusing is the way she spits out her bone when the game is over ..LOL
We went through the stages of pinching peoples balls in the park and this is how we solved it , if she spots a ball we  just shout 'where's your ball' and bounce it once and she focus' on that while we get past the other person.

My son plays football in the garden with my dogs maybe if you son had a game with Jack  then put the dog inside while he played alone . Also teach him to hold a toy while he plays would help, Jack is young enough to change his habit if you let him do it he will continue.

HTH

Roni

You can get footballs with ropes attached in PAH - it does stop the dog picking the ball up with it's teeth :D Having said that - my football mad Aussie prefers her footballs that have been punctured :D :D

Daisy

I doubt Sven will ever call - if Jack's GSD he should be waiting for the call from Jurgen.

Sorry, couldn't resist

our staffie is also a keen footballer and we soon had a graveyard of footballs in our back garden and were buying them in bulk :) my hubbys answer was to buy a basketball and pump it right up - this seems to have worked and this is now her fav ball and she chases it around all over the place

Just a thought but you could try one of those footballs with the rope attached then teach Jack that ball is his and he is not to touch other balls. My dog can differentiate between which sock-babies are his and which are ours. Your budding canine footballer could learn to only play with the doggy one, The straps and ropes would just make it easier for Jack to know which was his.