# Just curious: does your dog like to play with a laser pointer?



## acover4422 (Oct 24, 2011)

I've never had a dog before, so I figured this belongs here. Baloo goes crazy for a laser pointer, and judging by how people react when they see him chasing it around the house and shoving his face into the wall to try to get to it; I'm guessing that's not normal!

Another funny thing is that he _knows _that the light is coming from the laser pointer, and he doesn't care. In fact, he's been known to pick it up and bring it to us. That has me curious: is that him being really smart, or really stupid?
Multiple choices allowed in the poll!


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## Niraya (Jun 30, 2011)

Dogs with high prey drives will chase laser pointers. Mine has discovered the pointer and she LOVES it.


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Cadence couldn't care less about the laser. When I tried to make him chase the light, all he did was stare at the laser pointer in my hand (he knew the light was coming from there), and he looked at me like "WTF? What are you trying to do with that?".

The foster kittens, on the other hand, LOVED LOVED LOVED the laser pointer.


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

Basil has no interest, he'd much rather chase the real live bunny, lol. :biggrin1:


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## CavallierFan21 (Nov 22, 2011)

Mine just LOVES laser pointers! Got a cute range here of doggy accessories. I love playing with my little darling


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## Avery (Nov 22, 2011)

My family dog (a Westie) is obsessed with the laser pointer. He's also aware that the light comes from the pen. In fact, if we need something from the cabinet that we keep the laser in, we have to try to get it without him noticing. If he sees us open the cabinet he starts frantically searching the ground for that little red dot.
He would chase it forever if we let him.


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## MafiaPrincess (Jul 1, 2009)

Yes mine like laser points, but they don't get to play with them. I've seen too many dogs obsessed with things like car lights at night after playing with them long term.


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## Elliebell (Mar 13, 2011)

My standard poodle only likes flashlights, not laser pointers. I know she knows it's coming from the flashlight because if we go pick up the flashlight she starts looking around on the ground for the light, but she likes it anyways.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

my orange dogs dont notice at all. my BCs, look at the light, follow it for half a second, then look up at the pointer itself and stand there staring at it like "well? you gonna throw it?"


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## pharrison05 (Nov 30, 2011)

Hey everyone, My name is Paul. I'm new to the forum and looking to share and gain some knowledge on the breed. A little about laser pointers, from what I've read, your dog can become fixated on games like these. Some can even become obsessed with it. I think a more healthy game would be something they can physically touch, like frisbee or a fetch.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

pharrison05 said:


> Hey everyone, My name is Paul. I'm new to the forum and looking to share and gain some knowledge on the breed. A little about laser pointers, from what I've read, your dog can become fixated on games like these. Some can even become obsessed with it. I think a more healthy game would be something they can physically touch, like frisbee or a fetch.


Bingo! This was the reply I was waiting to see. I've banned laser pointers from my house for this reason. Too much potential for harm.


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## acover4422 (Oct 24, 2011)

Can I ask what's so bad about a laser pointer? I don't mean to sound snippy or rude, I just don't see what's so bad about a dog chasing a light. I've never had a dog before this one, so forgive me.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

Niraya said:


> Dogs with high prey drives will chase laser pointers. Mine has discovered the pointer and she LOVES it.


 Heaven help me! 0/0 .... All mine love that thing. I just do not use it very often.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

> Can I ask what's so bad about a laser pointer? I don't mean to sound snippy or rude, I just don't see what's so bad about a dog chasing a light. I've never had a dog before this one, so forgive me


dogs can become obbsessed to the point of hurting themselves. I dont own a laser pointer myself and will not, I only know my dogs reaction because we have one at work and some co-workers tried it on my dogs..my managers dog is banned from the laser pointer because he got so fixated that he was crashing into walls, started obsessivly looking for the light at all hours, the pointer caused a fixation on all lights, till he saw the reflection of the sun on someones watch and would lose it. it took his owner months to stop the behaviour that ONE try with a laser pointer caused.


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## AugiesMomn (Nov 19, 2011)

My last dog, a border collie, LOVED it.

I'm sure it depends on the dog though, just like some dogs liek or don't like other kinds of toys and games.



Niraya said:


> Dogs with high prey drives will chase laser pointers. Mine has discovered the pointer and she LOVES it.


I found mine in a drawer just last night. My new dogs are hounds so I should really remember to buy new batteries and try it out with them. Especially since they're so full of energy and love chasing anything that moves.


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## Red Fraggle (Nov 23, 2011)

I was curious what my dog would think, so I tried it out. He looked at it for a couple minutes, then my 7yo human child bounced along and started following it (I'm pretty sure he was a cat in a past life). The dog started following the human child and fun was had by all. I may bring it out again next time I want the human child to burn off some steam.


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## AugiesMomn (Nov 19, 2011)

Haha, yes. Fun for young humans, too. I need to get myself to the drugstore later and get some batteries for mine. My dogs have been being destructive today, despite multiple walks and playtimes.

Re: obsession: While it's true dogs can become fixated on things, I don't think it's fair to make it seem like a laser is going to be "unhealthy" for all dogs. My border collie liked chasing it around, batting at it with her paw like a cat, and then would lose interest after a few minutes and move on to something else. It seemed like a perfectly healthy activity to me. I don't know that a laser is any more likely to cause a fixation than anything else.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

I don't ever let my dog play with laser pointers because in the breed (Papillons), they get obsessed pretty easily actually and then it turns into neurotic behavior. So she's never been allowed to play with laser pointers or flashlight beams or anything like that.


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## Daseru (Nov 30, 2011)

Well, we have an American Bulldog who loves to chase the laser around the house. She knows that it comes from the laster pointer, but doesn't care. She'll still chase it and try to catch it with her mouth while it's on the wall. It never turns into an obsession, though. After about 5 minutes she'll settle down and go to one of her stuffed animals and lay with it in front of the fireplace.

I think it all depends on your dog and how it reacts to different things. It's unfair to say that a laser pointer is completely unhealthy for every dog because every dog is different from each other. I think it also depends on how often you decide to play with the dog and the laster pointer. We don't mess around with it all the time, but every once in a great while we do. It's safe to say that dogs have their simularities to humans.


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## hamandeggs (Aug 11, 2011)

Oh man, Biscuit (herder/retriever mix) got a laser pointer from my husband's mother in her Christmas stocking last night and I briefly thought we had ruined the dog! She was pouncing on the red dot all over the place, which was pretty cute, but then when we put it away she sniffed around the living room for about half an hour looking for the missing red dot. She didn't snap out of it until I took her outside for a walk, and even today she's being less obedient than usual - like her mind is somewhere else. She's not the type to obsess about things, but this is no good. Never again!


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

My two love laser pointers. Haven't tried it on my pup yet.

My shy dog adores it totally. I maybe use the laser once every month or two just for fun. I combine it with a new trick. I use the light as a reinforcer. She learned "roll over" on a hand cue in a single session. The laser is a powerful reinforcer for her! She will obsess, so I have to be mindful about usage.

My bold dog LOVES the laser pointer. However, he goes right to the source to get at the light. He will RIP YOUR ARM OFF to get to the "dot" which is clearly in the aparatus!!! No laser play for him. Not worth the training it would take to teach him to be reasonable and safe around it. The laser brings out his inner moron! 

I think lasers are very, very, very bad. But so is booze, caffeine, and chocolate. I am just a weak person.


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## Tofu_pup (Dec 8, 2008)

Miss Bugs said:


> my orange dogs dont notice at all. my BCs, look at the light, follow it for half a second, then look up at the pointer itself and stand there staring at it like "well? you gonna throw it?"


Lmao.

I haven't tried with Kaki or Kennedy. I'm guessing that Kaki wouldn't notice. If she did, she'd probably ignore it. Kennedy could probably get down on some laser chasing though.


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