Tennis balls...

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

Whenever I'm at the dog park, Noah will sneak over to a dog playing with a tennis ball, and if the dog puts down the ball, Noah will start rolling on it. Maybe it just smells stinky or maybe he's trying to mark his scent on it? I have no idea - but it does make everyone laugh. Does anyone else's dog do this?

Also, I know a few people on here have ball-obsessed dogs - when did this behavior start?

[GBK]

Kona doesn't roll on tennis balls, but loves to slide her head along good smelling things in the grass :) She also likes to steal any ball or toy in the park and prance around waiting for all the dogs to chase her!

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

Our Penny does this with different toys - I don't know if she's marking her scent or what but it is pretty funny. She'll even take a Milk Bone, toss it in the air, then roll around on it, snorting and wiggling. Funny!

[Mommy2Max]

Max does this with treats too. I look at him and say "It's already dead Max. You don't have to kill it!"

~Danielle

[F, Calla & Luca]

Luca will do this particularly with bad smelling things--at least I think they are e.g. a dead bird. He starts with his head but he'll roll all of the front part of his body if allowed.

[GBK]

YES, and is his little butt still up in the air as he slides his head??? I need to capture Kona like that next time, I am usually too busy telling her to LEAVE IT LOL

[Linda and Murphy]

Murphy doesn't do that. He looks for the opportunity to steal it and prance around...looking back, saying "can 't catch me!"
He was born with the ball obsession.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

HHMMMM - when did Samantha's ball obsession start? That is a great question. I really don't know but it seems she has always been obsessed. Samantha loves to catch the ball - usually at a full run or bounced right in front of her.

We were at the beach Sunday with numerous other Doodles and I intentionally left her ball in the car hoping that she would actually PLAY with the furkids. She did!! I was soooo happy - she played like a dog. She even noticed that there were birds on the beach and she ran after them. It didn't last long because another DM brought out a ball - well, that was the end of that. There were 2 other obsessed Doodles so she 'played' ball with them.

I would be careful with Noah trying to play with a ball that another dog uts down. If the dog is ball obsessed and not a well behaved dog, Noah could get bit.

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

Fenway doesn't roll on other dog's tennis balls, but she does steal them. My brother's labradoodle is ball obsessed and my Fenway is super ball obsessed. I think that Fenway has loved all types of balls since she was little. She has always played more with her balls than any other toys. She will even bat her tennis ball around with her paws while carrying her rope in her mouth. It's insane. She even steals my husband's tennis balls out of his tennis bag if he leaves it out. Ball obsessed from the time we brought her home.