obsessed over shadows

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ruckusluvr

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Lynn is obsessed over shadows! She keeps staring at them....
there is one part of the house where the wall makes a shadow on the floor, and lynn will stand there looking at the floor for up to 30 mintues. I have started trying to distract her with toys and play. but sometimes she will not respond to her toys or anything. she just wants to stare at the floor!

Any ideas how I can get her to snap out of it? And could this be a sign of a more serious problem? I know I already have one crazy sheltie and I would had for Lynn to make it two crazy shelties!

Her breeder just told me to keep distracting her, and that if she is obsessing then she needs more exercise and mental stimulation.

ps. sorry for any type-os this computer doesnt have spell check!
 
Well she is a herding dog, perhaps she's 'guarding' the shadow?

My only thought is to redirect her behavior, as you've already tried to do.
My thoughts are to try redirecting this herding dog behavior to something else natural to her, like chasing/herding something, like a laser pointer. This may just create a new thing to obsess about but you could give it a try. Sadie is OBSESSED with the laser pointer that I bought for her. She recognizes the sound of us picking it up and would run herself into the ground to catch the light if we let her. The nice thing about the laser pointer is that it helps to exercise (especially when the weather is bad), there is very little that resembles a laser pointer (although Sadie also loves flash lights) so she doesn't obsess about it when its not around. My only word of caution would be to try not to shine it on the shadow she's staring at, you don't want her to associate shadows on with the laser pointer.
 
I was watching this DVD I got of a seminar held by Sarah Kalnajs (who incidentally has a little pack of beautiful merle shelties!) called The Language of Dogs. She briefly mentioned that dogs that are really obsessed with something could have some form of obsessive compulsive disorder. An example she gave was the laser pointer light chasing!! She advised that the dog not be given a chance to get into that highly aroused obsessive state. I'd think removing whatever the dog was obsessed with if possible is the best thing to do to prevent the OCD from getting worse or if removal is not possible, to prevent the dog from getting into that state as far as possible (by blocking the thing or distracting the dog).

An episode of Victoria Stillwell's It's Me or the Dog featured on canine that was crazy obsessed with reflections of light (eg. where the light hits anything metal!) and would do this weird slobbering thing on the door frame leading to the verandah. She got the owners to do several things including to step in front of whatever was getting the dog's attention and when the dog looks or walks away, to praise and treat, and to leave the room whenever the dog would slobber over the door, sort of like a negative punishment (time out?). Standing there (like the owner did) and staring at the dog probably reinforced the behaviour (she gave him attention).

I would think that the more ingrained this obsessive behaviour is, the harder (and longer it'll take) to break the habit. Did you try using a super high value treat, ruckus? If I so much as open the container that holds the freeze dried beef liver, Romeo will drop EVERYTHING (prob even pooping but I've yet to see that!) and run right over. That's super high value to him. Maybe stuff a kong with something Lynn really likes and wave it in front of her nose when she's staring at a shadow then when her head turns, praise (or bring out that clicker!) and give the kong to her to occupy her. I would hope after several repetitions you should see an improvement!
 
romeosangiovese said:
I was watching this DVD I got of a seminar held by Sarah Kalnajs (who incidentally has a little pack of beautiful merle shelties!) called The Language of Dogs. She briefly mentioned that dogs that are really obsessed with something could have some form of obsessive compulsive disorder. An example she gave was the laser pointer light chasing!! She advised that the dog not be given a chance to get into that highly aroused obsessive state. I'd think removing whatever the dog was obsessed with if possible is the best thing to do to prevent the OCD from getting worse or if removal is not possible, to prevent the dog from getting into that state as far as possible (by blocking the thing or distracting the dog).

An episode of Victoria Stillwell's It's Me or the Dog featured on canine that was crazy obsessed with reflections of light (eg. where the light hits anything metal!) and would do this weird slobbering thing on the door frame leading to the verandah. She got the owners to do several things including to step in front of whatever was getting the dog's attention and when the dog looks or walks away, to praise and treat, and to leave the room whenever the dog would slobber over the door, sort of like a negative punishment (time out?). Standing there (like the owner did) and staring at the dog probably reinforced the behaviour (she gave him attention).

I would think that the more ingrained this obsessive behaviour is, the harder (and longer it'll take) to break the habit. Did you try using a super high value treat, ruckus? If I so much as open the container that holds the freeze dried beef liver, Romeo will drop EVERYTHING (prob even pooping but I've yet to see that!) and run right over. That's super high value to him. Maybe stuff a kong with something Lynn really likes and wave it in front of her nose when she's staring at a shadow then when her head turns, praise (or bring out that clicker!) and give the kong to her to occupy her. I would hope after several repetitions you should see an improvement!
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Maybe the word 'OBSESSED' was a bit too strong for Sadie's behavior. While she really loves her laser pointer I think if she were truly obsessed with it she would search for it after I put it away, but this has never been a problem.

Good suggestion but I'd think it would be extremely hard to keep Lynn away from all shadows.

I also agree with the high valued treat idea, if it hasn't already been tried
 
That is true. It would be hard to keep Lynn away from shadows! Maybe just the one that seems to be bothering her to most? The one made by a side of the house?

I've tried to get Romeo excited with a torchlight before (thinking that I could get some exercise in him since it was raining) but with little success!! I've not tried it with a pointer. I think the key really is to ensure that the activity is kept at a moderate and controllable level. I mean a dog that lets any activity (even if it's say tugging! or licking your hand!) completely take over his mind until he gets into this focussed state isn't good at all!
 
So far Lynn is only obsessed over that one shadow. I have played around with the placement of things, etc and that shadow does not go away. It really never moves. Even if the lights are off the sun coming in the window makes the shadow.

If i give her a treat wont that make her feel like she is getting rewarded for staring at it. like... "ohhh thats how I get a treat, I stare at this shadow!"

Thanks for the help guys. the past couple of days she has not been eyeing it as long as usual.
 
Oh good! At least it's only one shadow or you'll have your hands full!!
Distract her and the minute her head turns away from the shadow, click/treat! Reward for looking away from the shadow.
Good luck!
 
One of my shelties is obsessed with shadows and reflections from lights too. In the afternoons when the sun starts to set it makes different shadows in the kitchen and she just runs arouns staring at them highly aroused. I love it though and think it is HILARIOUS :lol: - another reason why I love shelties - they are just so silly constantly. The other sheltie could care less and they are litter mate sisters?
 
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