What's on your mind?

[Kain Nobel]

I got a new dog back in October, she is now 8 months old. She is a black lab pit mix I call DD and she is already fairly well trained but still has some progress to make. She is stupendously easy to teach and is fairly responsive to whatever cues I give but she used to be a major ball hog while we were playing fetch.

The other day, her fuzzy tennis ball was swapped for a smaller bouncy rubber ball and she spontaneously and unexpectedly flipped the game on me. She threw the ball herself and gave one small yippity bark as a cue for me to go get it. When I retrieved the ball I returned it back to her immediately and she threw it once again. She never ran for the ball in this "game mode" and she would whine at me if I didn't go off to find it right away. I tried to fake run to see if she would pursue but she just gave that same small "yip" as her way of saying "You go fetch it, not me."

Since then, she has been less of a ball hog. I think, with the improvised role reversal she initialized herself, she came to the realization it was a game and the ball is to be shared, not horded or fought over as I would give it back immediately. Sure, she would drop the ball back when I was still using treats, but I've been trying to phase treats out because sometimes I just need a way to burn off some of her energy and I don't always have snacks for her. Now she actually approaches and challenges me to take the ball from her and its more fun this way, and she finally (sometimes) responds to "drop it" without a treat! I don't usually tell her "drop it" as I think we both have more fun from me trying to get it from her jaws, but she usually will on command now.

I even had a sit down 1 on 1 with the dog and taught her the difference between a "ball" and a "chew toy" and she no longer chews on either the tennis ball, the rubber ball nor the new "blinking eyeball" ball I gave her. It was interesting seeing her actively listening and internalizing what I was trying to teach, now the behavior is proofed and I don't have to keep reminding her over and over. The body language of a dog sitting down calmly and learning something brand new is a sight to see, it's almost childlike in a sense.

Such a fascinating mix breed, I never expected to have such a cool pet. Sure, she looked super cool, a shiny jet black coat with a white belly and white "long sox" legs with a mix of both black and white nails. However, I was worried she'd be a barky and destructive little brat, but she's the best behaved dog I've ever had. I'm just a rookie, never claimed to be an expert dog trainer, but I'm under the impression this pup probably came from a long line of professional service dogs.