A Not So Temporary Obsession

Four nights ago I gave Sadie a new toy. Just a little squeaky rubber ball, not much different from various others she has. But this one is a miniature basketball, so it has that bumpy texture. Whether it’s the texture, or some other reason, as soon as I gave Sadie that ball, she became obsessed with it. Normally when I give Sadie a new toy, she plays with it excitedly for ten or fifteen minutes, and then either breaks the toy or gets bored. But not this time. This time she cannot get enough of her mini squeaky basketball.
That first night she was squeaking it obsessively for over four hours, only breaking when she convinced me to throw the ball for her. She didn’t even mind me taking pictures of her during our game of catch. Normally she blinks or turns away when the focus light flashes on the camera, but that night she didn’t want to take her eyes off the ball.

For the first two hours I thought her obsession was pretty cute. I was glad she was enjoying her new toy. But four hours went by and the squeaking continued. Then I wanted to go to bed, but the squeaking continued. Once I was in bed and stopped paying any attention to Sadie, she devised a new way to keep me playing. I did not appreciate her new game. She would squeak the ball a few times, and then hit it with her paw, purposely directing it under the couch. Now she knows I won’t let her get things that fall under the couch, because I’m terrified her head will get stuck. So I’m forced to get out of bed and go rescue the ball, or I’ll have nightmares of her head stuck under the couch all night. She did this twice before I decided to lock her in the bedroom with me.

So then she was trapped in the bedroom with me and she still wouldn’t settle down and leave the ball alone for the night. She came up on the bed, squeaked the ball a few times, then dropped it off the side of the bed. Then she whined and looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to retrieve the ball for her. When I got the ball for her, she jumped back on the bed and repeated the process. Eventually I refused to get the ball, and when she jumped off to get it herself, I took away her doggy stairs so she couldn’t come up on the bed and do it again. But Sadie wouldn’t let that stop her fun. She began to squeak the toy incessantly again, until she knocked it under the dresser. Then I had to get up and get it for her because, just like the couch, I’d have nightmares of her little head getting stuck under there. Immediately I blocked the dresser with some cardboard so the ball couldn’t get under there again. But five minutes later Sadie was crying again. She’d managed to move the cardboard over enough to get her ball to sneak past and roll under the dresser. By that point birds were chirping and the sky was beginning to lighten, so I needed to put an end to the craziness for good. I felt bad, but I took the ball away and hid it. By the time I fell asleep, Sadie was still crying and searching the house for her beloved ball.

Now it’s four days later and the obsession continues. I give her the ball every morning, and then have to take it away when I’m ready for bed at night. I’m glad that she’s having so much fun and getting good exercise running after the ball all day, but she still insists on purposely directing the ball under any nearby piece of furniture. I’ve tried various methods of barricading the furniture, but so far she keeps finding holes in my defenses. If this continues much longer I’m going to need a better plan…

This post is part of the Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like A Dog.
This post is also part of the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop brought to you by Ruckus the Eskie and Love is Being Owned By a Husky.