Tennis Ball Frustration

Tucker is driving me NUTS with his tennis balls. He'll grab one, go on the couch or the bed, and then nudge it off with his nose. Then he'll whine and grunt at me to go get it for him.

So I'll be nice and retrieve it for him... and he'll nudge it AGAIN. Often he'll nudge it and it will roll under a coffee table/bureau and he'll frantically try to get it out... but of course, I'll have to reach under and grab it for him.

I joke he's "playing fetch" with me, since we play fetch together a lot... so maybe he thinks that I enjoy having him nudge the ball off a high surface and having to retrieve it :rofl1:

He kept doing it last night when I was trying to fall asleep... he'd nudge it off the bed, and look at me with his sad eyes and whine. I think I'm trained

Haha, he definitely has you trained, I can just picture his amused face as he realizes he can control you. Tucker used to do that, we had to stop picking it up, sometimes he'll still stare at it on the floor and look all pathetic reaching a paw down and waving it at the ball, or bouncing up and down on the couch like a polar bear trying to break ice. Poor creature actually has to jump off to get it.

Haha! He's teaching you a new variation on the game. I have sometimes the same game going on with Jose`. I swear he purposely shoves it under the couch and then whines for me to come fetch it out for him. He says, "Mom! I can't reach it. You have longer arms. Pleeeeeeeze come get it for me so we can play fetch." So, I comply and throw it for him, go back to stirring the pot on the stove and whaddyaknow...it's under the couch again. I really wonder if they're figuring out a new game or new rules on a variation of the game we typically play with them...where THEY fetch the ball. LOL. And they say Chihuahuas are dumb. Harumph!

Yah hes using you. Teagan tries to play that game once in a while and I've learned not to fall for it. She's a big girl and can jump off the couch and get her ball herself. HA HA!!

When Steve does that, I put it away. It makes me crazy. Last night he kept rolling it under my bed where it is really hard to get. Three strikes, the ball goes away. Jerkface.

Nia does that sometimes too!! After 4 or 5 fetches on my part, I just ignore her afterwards lol and eventually she goes to get it herself. Unless it's really stuck somewhere, then I'll help her out.

Auggie used to do that as a puppy... roll his ball under the coffee table and then cry. At first I would get it for him because I thought it was a mistake, but then I watched him deliberately roll it under there one day and was like "Oh I see how it is."
After that, no more. I actually got wooden blocks and put them up under the coffee table so he couldn't roll the ball under there anymore. He was VERY distressed by this. Like was trying to shove it under and it kept hitting the block and bouncing back to him. HAHAHA. I fixed your wagon you little brat.

of course then he just found like a million other ways to terrorize me. but I won THAT battle.

Mia does that a lot. Unfortunately if you don't go get it, she turns to attempting to destroy whatever it is that is blocking her access to the ball. I'm pretty good at not giving in although I haven't broken her of that habit, however other family will give in a lot and so it's a vicious cycle. Eventually she has no more tennis balls to play with because they're all shoved under furniture. Too bad, so sad.

He was doing that all the time with his eggs when I was there LOL it got really annoying, really fast

Yep I'd put it away too! That would annoy me to no end!

Oh, he's still just as obsessive about the eggs still. He loves to roll those things off the couch and bed just as much.

Crazy dog. He definitely has me trained.