# Chasing Shadows...



## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

I know that Samson has been afraid of his own shadow, and at times, he's chased them....but it seems he figures out what it is and gives up....


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## vrocco1 (Feb 25, 2006)

Let her do it and enjoy the time while she is sleeping


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## GoldenSadie (Mar 24, 2006)

We were thinking the same thing. She is definatly amusing herself.. she is chasing away in the other room as I am typing this!! The other thing I should add is she seems to get hypnotised and not respond to any commands. We were mostly worried that she would drive herself "nuts".. She is a silly girl though!! :eyecrazy:


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## LaurJen (Aug 10, 2006)

"Obsessive" behavior to the point of exhaustion isn't normal and shouldn't be encouraged, in my opinion. There was an episode of "The Dog Whisperer" in which the dog was obsessively chasing his shadow. I didn't see that particular one, so maybe someone who did could chime in with advice.


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## MarleyLove (Sep 2, 2006)

I saw that episode of Dog Whisperer. As LaurJen said, and as Cesar Millan said, that level of obsession (tuning everything out, repetitive activity to the point of exhaustion) is not a good thing. He provided a correction to the dog (put him/her on a leash) and did that "pssht" thing every time the dog went into over-drive on the shadow. It worked really well. That and lots of exercise in a controlled way (a good long walk with you in the lead, Sadie beside you) would maybe help. That's what he did for the dog that was chasing his shadow. 

Here's a link to Cesar talking about obsession: http://blogs5.nationalgeographic.com/channel/blog/dogwhisperer/?p=2


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## LauraEyes2 (Sep 16, 2005)

Vinny plays with his reflection in the sliding glass door. I honestly don't think he thinks it's real, just more or less a friend to play with. We call his reflection "Vince", Vinny's alter-ego who lives in the window. It's pretty funny. He'll grab his toys and try to get his reflection to play along with him. Too funny. Dan and i said it's our cue that we need to get him a "buddy" at some point....


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

LauraEyes2 said:


> Vinny plays with his reflection in the sliding glass door. I honestly don't think he thinks it's real, just more or less a friend to play with. We call his reflection "Vince", Vinny's alter-ego who lives in the window. It's pretty funny. He'll grab his toys and try to get his reflection to play along with him. Too funny. Dan and i said it's our cue that we need to get him a "buddy" at some point....


Samson also does this at times with his reflection in the fireplace glass. Sometimes, he'll see himself out of the corner of his eyes and will start growling....then, it seems to hit him that it's just him....

I guess I'd have to see Sadie doing it to know how bad it is....


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## njb (Oct 5, 2006)

I agree with the posters about obsession being unhealthy. We can actually accidentally feed that obsession by rewarding it--laughing at it etc. 

Good luck!


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