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The newest obsession...


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Ever since it was set up about a week ago, this is what my dogs life revolves around:

 

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I mean, no joke, I hardly even see her any more. She spends all her time staring at the fish. I've put down a towel in front of the tank because she gets so focused that she drools like there's no tomorrow!

 

It used to be the cats, but I didn't really mind that. She would mostly just find the cat that's napping, and lay there staring at him to make sure he stays right where he is. To me, that's much better than her wandering around the house, getting into who knows what kind of trouble! However, these fish are MUCH more interesting than those sleepy cats. They are always moving around - obviously attempts to escape the aquarium. And that is just not acceptable to miss Nelly.

 

Now, it's not like she doesn't have enough to do when it comes to 'work'. We do a lot of trick training, and sheep herding, and "chores" around the house(bringing in the cat if he gets out, keeping the youngest cat in check, because he gets mean with the older one, etc).

She's still eager to pay attention to mama, come lay on the couch with me, do some tricks, all that stuff. But any time that she is not 100% focused on something else, she'll be watching the fish. Right now it is almost midnight, and she has been staring at them since I got home at about 7:30.

 

I'm mostly just wondering if this could eventually be a problem, and if it should be discouraged. And if so, HOW do I discourage it? I do not think she would be very fond of having to ignore the fish.

What do you guys think?

 

 

On the bright side, as long as Nelly is around, I can be sure that those fish will not be escaping the tank. ;)

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Yes, don't allow it. Some border collies have a tendency to obssessive behavior, and staring at something for hours should be nipped in the bud as quickly as you can.

 

Block her view somehow. Call her away every time she goes over there. Give her a place in the room to settle where she can't see the tank. If the tank has an aerator thingy that makes noise, do what you can to quiet it down so she can't hear it.

 

The longer she stares, the more fixated she'll become. Do something now.

 

Ruth

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Yes, don't allow it. Some border collies have a tendency to obssessive behavior, and staring at something for hours should be nipped in the bud as quickly as you can.

 

Yes, ever since I got her she's been extremely obsessive. It got a LOT better after she started having jobs to do, but she still is a bit obsessive about some things.

 

Yes, it could become a true pathological obsession. I used to call my parakeet "Border Collie TV" and would put her on the deck on nice days so the dogs wouldn't stare at her.

 

Hah! Border Collie TV, I love it. What did you do when the bird couldn't be kept outside, though?

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does she still stare at it when the fish tank lights are off? Unless you have live plants in the tank, the lights really don't need to be on much at all. I own an aquarium maintenance business and most people leave their aquarium lights on too long. All you will do is increase algae growth if the lights are on all day. I always tell people with freshwater tanks to just turn the lights on when you want to enjoy the tank.

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I do have live plants. Right now, just two Amazon Swords, but will be adding more soon.

Since I used dirty filter media from my old tank I was able to add fish almost right away to my new one. Went and got a Dwarf Gourami from my LFS, and he got ICH when I was gone over the weekend, so I didn't catch it in time to treat it. I tried, but he didn't make it, poor guy ): So my sisters two goldfish that were SUPPOSED to be staying in my tank for just a couple days before being moved to a pond are now on quarantine and undergoing treatment in the smaller tank in my living room.

She's not obsessive over the tank in my room right now, since there's no longer any fish in it. Now it's all about the quarantine tank. I'm able to leave the lights off in there since there's no live plants, however that does nothing in the way of detering her from watching the fish. ATM I have the tank covered with a towel, but that's not a practical option with the one in my room. I'm going to try being very strict about discouraging it, and see if she starts listening..

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Mine ignore the tank, but evidently DH is messy when he feeds the fish and mine like to clean the fish food up (yuck).

 

Hahah, how does he manage that?!

We used to have sinking algae wafers for my Mystery Snails(now I just put in lettuce for them), and I once caught Nelly eating them out of the package that got left open. Naughty dog!

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