# Chasing shadows/reflections



## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

I'm getting worried about Ruby. For the past couple of weeks she's started to develop an interest with chasing shadows and reflections (like from metal objects casting light on walls, or a car driving by your house and the lights coming in through the window making a shadow on the wall).

Is this normal behaviour or do I need to discourage it? It's only an issue in the evening when the lighting in our house is just right for these conditions. I've made sure to not play with her using a laser pointer, etc. because I've heard of issues like these developing. 

Thoughts?


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## Kdwyer915 (Oct 23, 2012)

Milo does this as well. Not shadows but reflections on walls and the floors from shiny objects. I'm not sure if it is something that should be stopped. He knows what the light is coming from, I think he just sees it as a game. For example, if my cell phone is making a reflection on the wall or floor and it suddenly goes away, he comes over to me and pushes my hand or looks at the phone. The whole chasing thing makes him look like an idiot but if he's smart enough to know where it comes from, I guess that makes him smart enough to invent his own games 😄


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

My friend's V does this. She is very obsessive about reflections from metal and lights. My friend taught her "Leave it" because if not her pup will dig at the reflection and obsess about it.


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## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

Ester also chases reflections and lights. She scans the room looking for them, day or night, caused by sunlight, lamps iphone/ipad, watches, jewellery etc. She also gets obsessed by blades of grass, and will touch them with her nose, and watch them move! She does this at night usually, when the outside light comes on. Her latest game is to get under the dining table (wood frame, glass top), and watch for relections from the cutlery being used, then tries to get them, by attacking the wooden frame. It's hard to stop her doing this, and we don't want her to get too obsessive about it. She also has a similar obsession looking for insects on the walls and ceilings! Is it just a vizsla thing, as none of my previous dogs have ever been so loony?!!!


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## Valgal (Mar 5, 2013)

I had a black lab who would go crazy over reflections..There is a episode of it's me or the dog, with Victoria Stillwell (I think that is her name) that you can watch that addresses this and how to try to deal with it.

Valerie


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Did someone play with a laser pointer or a mirror? 

Do not allow this behavior to continue any longer, please discourage as soon as you see it. Otherwise, it will develop more and generalized to all sorts of strange things. 

Just my opinion


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## pippylongstocking (May 21, 2012)

datacan said:


> Did someone play with a laser pointer or a mirror?
> 
> Do not allow this behavior to continue any longer, please discourage as soon as you see it. Otherwise, it will develop more and generalized to all sorts of strange things.
> 
> Just my opinion


 yes that's what I am concerned about. Ester never used to be this bad. We always try and discourage this behaviour, and we don't have any laser things. I think she started on a sunny day in the dining room, with reflections on the walls, and it grew from there. We are very mindful of using things that reflect or cast light onto Walls/floors etc now. We don't even eat in the dining room much! As for the grass - really don't know how she started with that, or how to stop it.


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## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

We don't play with Ruby using a mirror or laser pointer, but one of our friends a while ago had a flashlight and was letting her chase the light from it. I asked him to stop, so it didn't really last more than a few seconds.

I'm definitely going to try to discourage the behavior. The last thing I want to happen is for her to become obsessed with it.


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## Pdt3113 (Apr 21, 2012)

My Viszla presents with the same behavior as Ruby's exactly. He's fifteen months, started with staring at reflected light on the wall and two weeks later is real hyperfocused on this nutty behavior. Will try redirection and see how it goes. Gets plenty of exercise, but seemingly just got obsessed with this compulsive light watching.


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