Obsessive behavior in dogs

I took two questions last week on Charles Wooley’s talkback show about dogs being obsessed with chewing rocks.
 
It was a tough for me to answer as I don’t have a lot to do with urban dogs and their obsessive behaviour.

Having had time to think about it I would suggest buying a “Kong” from a pet store. It’s a plastic rubber tube designed for dogs to chew and play with.

I would then fill it with peanut butter or something tasty and give it to the dog so it can be distracted by that instead of the rocks.

I would also teach a dog a ‘finish’ command using a hand signal.

With our sheepdogs, once we’ve completed a job with the sheep, I’ll say to them ‘That’ll do.’ and even thank them!  

Then I’ll call them in behind my heels or get them to jump on the ute. It’s a verbal signal that the job’s over.
 
It’s the same with ball obsessed dogs … use a finished signal and remove them from the place they were playing.

The trick is not to allow them to become obsessed. We have one dog who is obsessed with chook-checking.

Because we’ve done our foundation training, one growl from us and she comes away from them.

It’s all about respect. If she goes back to them, we remove the privilege of being loose by putting her back in the pen.