We asked you for some of your biggest doggy behavior problems, and you delivered! Then we presented those challenges to Gabriella Ravani, elite San Diego dog trainer, for her expert opinion. You can read about Gabriella in our first post of this series.

Question:

“Betsy June is OCD with tennis balls. She can have 10 of them around her, but if one gets stuck underneath the couch, she is relentless (whining, barking) until we retrieve it for her.”

Answer:

Option 1: You could extinguish the behavior by completely ignoring her whining and barking when the tennis balls roll under the couch (don’t look at her, talk to her or get the balls for her) but I suspect this has been going on for a while and that she’d drive you crazy before you could extinguish the behavior.

Option 2: The easier way to handle this would be to block the open area under the couch with a platform, boards, etc. so the balls cannot get under there in the first place.

If you would like us to ask Gabriella a more detailed solution to this problem, as in what are some specific things you can try, please contact us via our contact form and we will be happy to dig deeper. 

Photo: Amy Chin

Other articles in this series:
Introduction to our Dog Training Expert (Part 1 of 7)
Jumping Wheatens (Part 2 of 7)
Kid Hating Miniature Schnauzer (Part 3 of 7)
Getting My Two Dogs to Get Along (Part 4 of 7)
Prevent Dog from Barking When Home Alone (Part 5 of 7)
Dog Using House as Bathroom When Cold or Rainy (Part 7 of 7)