Laser pointers, yes or no?

[Camilla and Darwin]

We recently bought a laser pointer for a couple bucks at Walmart. We used it to play with Darwin for a couple minutes, and he LOVED it. I looked it up later and some people have said it causes OCD in dogs and is addictive. Also that it can cause behavior problems. Is this true? Has anyone used a laser toy?

[Karen & Lucy]

I don't know about OCD, but it is not good for the eyes. I wouldn't use one

[Jamie Petro]

Recently my husband and I were hanging a Christmas picture, and he got out a leveler with a laser pointer to make sure that it was straight. Wrigley, our 10 month old doodle went nuts when she saw the laser. We thought it was funny for a few minutes, but put it away when we were through hanging the picture. A few days later she started chasing shadows and any reflections. I didn't think much about it at first, but now 3 weeks later she is majorly obsessed with any shodow she sees. We googled her symptoms and everything pointed to OCD, which freaked us out. My husband bumped into our Vet yesterday and asked him about it, and he said that Wrigley may have a slight case of OCD, but dogs with OCD are very destructive. He said that they destroy furniture and anything else they come into contact with. We told him that Wrigley isn't destructive at all. He said that it is hopefully a puppy phase that she will grow out of, but to try the Leave It command. If it gets worse there is medication. I am so upset about this! We are trying the leave it command, which she knows, but she doesn't relate it to the shadows yet. I certainly don't want to put her on medication, but these shadows are consuming her!

[Rose Coward]

I wasn't aware of a problem with the pointers. I played with a laser a couple times with Molly, on that last occasion I showed my grand-daughter Abigail of 2 1/2 years how the laser works.  I don't know if Molly was paying attention to me showing it to Abigail but it seems she's figured it out now and shows no interest in chasing the dot anymore, but keeps her attention on the laser pointer that she knows is in my hand.  Good thing I guess.  I would stay away from them, better safe than sorry.