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Very specific quirk and play behaviour 


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Doesn't matter if I live my whole life and never understand this particular little quirky behaviour but I'm intrigued to know if its an extra special collie quirk I've not yet had the privilege to experience or my youngest is the purest snowflake.

2yr old male border collie "Fleet" we re-homed from a farm at 9 months. Lived outside his entire life, never stepped foot inside a house or car and had never seen or known toys, blankets or bedding bless him.  Troubled lad but settled in brilliantly with us and is such a happy little soul but one particular way he plays with a tennis ball in the house has me watching and wondering what it is about that very specific thing that makes him so happy.

Finds a ball and paws, grips with a hooked weird type paw thing rolling it back and forth like pizza dough.  Has to find a blanket, soft toy or similar he can hold in his mouth at the same time though which is something we have used for training with other dogs but Fleet picked up entirely by himself.

Inevitably puts too much downward pressure with his big meaty man hands and it pings across the living room then when it does, he's up right behind it doing a super happy big bouncing dressage trot making extra huge strides to avoid stepping on the blanket still in mouth.

Shoves them under blankets, starts excitedly sniffing, nudging and finding it again with a bit of pawing / bitch-slapping then he shows that tennis ball who's boss and dives on it "Raaaar... Rarrrrr!!  Take that tennis ball"

The need to have a blanket or second ball in his mouth feels similar to a child sucking its thumb and needing the sensation of a soft blanket as well.

Interestingly he never plays with tennis balls outside the house or cares for the kids throwing and encouraging him to catch it.  That particular little pawing / rolling and showing a tennis ball who's boss is his own special thing he prefers to keep for himself. 

The enjoyment he gets from it is immense but so simplistic I could cry for him sometimes it's weird but similar to seeing a young kid drop their lunchbox on the way into school and their little snack raisins and fruit just rolling off and getting squashed by a taxi. :(

Must sound like I'm high on drugs but as soon as I catch him and record it, I'll share and hopefully make more sense but if in the meantime someone knows exactly what I'm talking about – I'm all ears.

Fleety_collection.jpg

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Actually, Fleet sounds delightful and absolutely brilliant.  Perhaps because he was on his own for the first 9 months of his life, he learned how to entertain himself and keep mentally challenged.  This is no small feat for any dog.  Just a warning - you will have to work hard to stay one step ahead of him! We had a Bull Terrier that did things like this years ago.  Everyone who saw her in action thought she was brilliant as well.  Have fun with Fleet (who is also very handsome).

 

Kathy Robbins

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3 hours ago, Bordercentrics said:

Actually, Fleet sounds delightful and absolutely brilliant.  Perhaps because he was on his own for the first 9 months of his life, he learned how to entertain himself and keep mentally challenged.  This is no small feat for any dog.  Just a warning - you will have to work hard to stay one step ahead of him! We had a Bull Terrier that did things like this years ago.  Everyone who saw her in action thought she was brilliant as well.  Have fun with Fleet (who is also very handsome).

 

Kathy Robbins

I thought this too - figured it was something he'd started back on the farm but then realised he didn't have a single blanket or toy when he was in those kennels.  Nothing.   Actually when we met him he was so startled when I chucked a tennis ball he ran off tail between his legs "What the hell...What was that?"

 Just a concrete floor, handful of shavings, concrete water bowl and rats getting in through the front staling what little food he had. 

Sure it's just something he just finds comforting the same way kids have a favorite blanket, toy or label but it's so funny and bizarre watching him bounce his way around the house with a blanket in his mouth -  legs out front and up high like he's marching to war but inevitably stepping on the blanket or t-shirt in his mouth and stumbling a bit then burying the tennis ball completely and pretending he's found it "Aha!!  I finded you tennis ball take this!!! Rarrrr take that!!" :D

He's a happy little soul though that's one thing. 

Went from this godawful kennel to almost unrestricted sprawling space - more often than not upside on the sofa with the other.

Fleet kennel.jpg

Fleet puddi sofa upside down.jpg

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3 hours ago, Liz P said:

I’ve got a bitch and her niece who play the exact same game.  No idea why, but they are not hurting anything...

How interesting.  There's nothing wrong with it and I don't need to know because I'm concerned or anything he really is a happy little chap I just tend to sit and watch my dogs and horses generally and when something gets my attention I'll sit a bit longer and quietly watch thinking "Wonder what that's for?"

Amazed how much I learned about one or two dogs just from doing that.  Something so out of character would make me "Whoa what was that about?   Not like her at all"  then suddenly i'd hear the sound of a thousand pennies dropping "Ohhh..  :o No way I know why she does that thing!!!"

Sad sometimes though I took a few years with one dog I never gave a thought to her behaviour until the day she did something totally different and made me wonder why.  Jeeeez when I realised and things clicked into place I felt so bad for having not even noticed  :(

Still it's how we learn I guess.  

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Found this clip of him bouncing and bounding around with a tennis ball  the same day he learned the river is not a hard surface upon which he could run.

He sprinted in behind our eldest dog then "dunk!"  CHARLOTTE.... :blink: THAT GROUND HAS GONE :o CHARLOTTE!!!!" then panic swam in a few circles, got himself back to the riverbank where I was howling with laughter then ran up and down super fast with zoomies and decided that was ace fun so jumped a good 6ft straight into the middle of the river again.

Oh bless him I cried laughing when he tried to run across the water and it didn't work out the way he'd expected. 

 

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5 hours ago, D'Elle said:

I love it when they make up their own games. :-)

The eldest had a thing for rolling on the most random stuff.  Bits of paper or a tiny bit of popcorn or a mushroom or pea she found right behind the bin and pulled out to go and play with.

When I'm shopping I'll have a quick glance to see what might have really high rollage value (lavender, fresh mint leaves and that sort of thing drives her nuts)

Lemon.  I bought a lemon, sliced and stuck it in a little pouch thing my God she was there a good hour. 

 

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