Are laser pointers harmful?!

[Scooter]

We got a laser pointer for Zoe, and she seems to love to chase it. Recently, we met someone who said you shouldn't use them with dogs because it can make them nervous and ADD. He said there are two things that are negatives- the "dot" has no smell or sound, which confuses the dog as no other prey has this. Second, there is no reward. No matter how much they chase it they cannot catch it.

What do you think? Should we quit using it? I don't want to torture her!

 

[maxfox426]

Personally, I wouldn't be too worried about it. I'm not speaking from any scientific evidence, but Morgan also loves to play with the laser pointer, as well as my two cats. It's really just a "once in a while" toy at our house, because if we don't lock it up out of reach the cats will steal it.

I can see how no smell/sound could be confusing to a dog, but that may also be half the fun. I know that a lot of the way Morgan interacts with the laser pointer is also linked with how WE are reacting at the same time. If we are laughing and having fun, he gets even more excited. As for no reward, I dunno. Morgan gets rewarded just by our undivided attention as we all play the game together.

The only harm I'd be concerned about is shining it directly in their eyes, which I'm sure you know to avoid anyways. I don't think that a game of chase with a laser pointer here and there is going to make your dog neurotic, unless you have a dog already with those tendencies. Just my opinion!

 

[release the hounds]

I wouldn't use it. Some have used it to mark searches and it can be used in certain ways that are beneficial.

but just to use it to chase for fun? I wouldn't. Dogs chase to satisfy drive. They chase a ball, stick, rag, etc and in the end they can bite it and satisfy that drive. With a dot, there is none, just frustration.

and though it may not cause problems in a lot of dogs, why chance it? you can use a thousand other things that will be beneficial and not harm your dog, so why not use those?

 

[Kat09Tails]

Personally I don't encourage people to play with them. Light reactivity OCD isn't fun, and there is no tag on your dog that says "this dog will get ocd from playing with laser pointers, and this one won't."

There are no lack of animal appropriate toys in this world for dogs. Save the laser pointer for the cat.

 

[darkchild16]

We use them with Tytus when its been extremely rainy because he doesnt like toys he will chew a Nylabone but thats it and weve never had a issue.

 

[Psyfalcon]

It can be bad. A friends lab will stare at a wall for WEEKS if it saw the laser pointer. Some other dogs, particularly herding dogs can also end up a bit screwed up. Its a problem with dogs that have obsessive tendencies, especially visual ones.

I'm not sure smell or sound has anything to do with it, and no reward would typically make it LESS interesting, and therefore LESS or a problem.

Squirrels are a problem precisely because they do catch one occasionally. Send a hunting dog out into an area with nothing to hunt, and soon you wont have a hunting dog.

Personally, I think the problem is how it can instantly vanish, especially when they're highly involved in it.

 

[mrose_s]

i've heard the same. that they can become obsessive over it.
I've never used one just incase.

 

[elegy]

I wouldn't use one with Steve because he's so obsessive and motion-sensitive as it is, but I used to play with Luce from time to time.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Jackson won't even notice one, ever. But my aunts Pittie is crazy about the laser light... he will sit and stare at the wall for EVER and wait for it. It's kind of creepy.

 

[Kat09Tails]

I'm not sure smell or sound has anything to do with it, and no reward would typically make it LESS interesting, and therefore LESS or a problem.

Withholding items/rewards sometimes does increase drive and intensity of that drive.

For instance, if you take a typical 12 year old, give them a stick and a chain link fence with a dog on the other side you can turn an ordinary dog into a complete basket case. It has nothing to do with the kid, the stick, or the intent but everything to do with building drive and giving it no where to go. Frustration manifests into inappropriate behaviors.

I own a very light reactive cocker spaniel. This has put us in dangerous territory some times, she obsesses about car beams, she gets manic if a light prism forms on the floor from reflections from her tags, one time she attacked the steering wheel on the car because of the reflection from the keys. It would be funny if we weren't driving on the freeway at the time. If she sees a laser pointer she obsesses about finding it, for hours.

 

[Southpaw]

I play with one with Juno. If she's looking at the dot and I suddenly turn it off, she gets confused and starts looking around for it, but if I say "all done" and walk away, she moves on and forgets about it.

It took a while for her to even realize there was a light. She'd see it in my hand and try biting at it that way.

I wouldn't do it with a dog that has obsessive tendencies. And it's definitely not my "go to" toy. I rarely take it out.

 

[Saeleofu]

I play with one with Juno. If she's looking at the dot and I suddenly turn it off, she gets confused and starts looking around for it, but if I say "all done" and walk away, she moves on and forgets about it.

This is what I do with Gavroche. He'll chase flashlights, too, but again, I say done and we're done. He does not even notice other lights. We don't play it all the time, not every day, not even every week. But he loves it, so once in a while we play with it.

Logan is not allowed to play with it. I will be doing laser guided retrieves with him eventually so I want to save it for that. But he's never shown interest in it really, either. He'll watch Gavroche go after it and just look like "WTF is wrong with that dog o.0"

 

[Sit Stay]

I don't risk it with my dogs. I can easily see them getting frustrated, and Dally getting obsessive. Instead we do short fun clicker games and training, or play with one of the many toys they have that they can actually catch.

 

[smkie]

Victor loves his laser light. We use common sense, no more than a couple minutes at a time and if he seems to be getting to high it is time to put it away. ONe of the tools most used in the winter along with bubbles to busy him his first winter. I would run it up the door. He could jump to the top easy. He had to learn not to bark, or it wouldnt' come back on. That actually helped becuase he really really wanted it to come back on. I think it's all common sense.

 

[Xandra]

I play with one with Roman occasionally. He enjoys it and typically at the end I will "hide" the dot under the couch and say "enough" and he forgets about it immediately.

 

[sassafras]

I play with it with Pip very occasionally. None of my other dogs have ever even paid any attention to it, but he loves it. Like others have said, only for a few minutes and he gets an "all done" when we're done and it's never been a problem for him. Like anything, I'm sure it's ok for some dogs and not for others.

 

[Dekka]

I think it depends on your dog. On some of the JRT lists I am on, a single game can be enough to blow a dog's mind. I don't think how long you play, or giving it a cue to end it makes a big difference. If your dog is susceptible, then they are. And the only way you know is to play.

So no, I play with toys and balls, or people... no lasers.

 

[CharlieDog]

I think it depends on your dog. On some of the JRT lists I am on, a single game can be enough to blow a dog's mind. I don't think how long you play, or giving it a cue to end it makes a big difference. If your dog is susceptible, then they are. And the only way you know is to play.

So no, I play with toys and balls, or people... no lasers.

This. We brought one out four years ago to play with Ozzy. It was funny as hell watching him play with it and chase it. But long after we were done, he obsessed about it. For HOURS. And then, he discovered flashing lights off of his tags and he would chase those around the patio. He skinned his muzzle on the concrete trying to catch the light.

We took his collar off, blacked his tags out, and never ever played with the laser like that again. He STILL remembers it, and when we were remodeling the kitchen, we had a laser level. He instantly started going nuts over it, and we had to remove him immediately and put him in his crate. He was nuts about it for hours, and when they were turned off he would constantly search for them.


So, for some dogs, it's fine. Enzo and Remo could care less, but for Ozzy, it could definitely become a really really dangerous obsession that would not make living with him easy. If I hadn't know about dogs tendency to develop an OCD with the laser, we could have ruined him permanently. Luckily, I saw, and recognized, and put a stop to it before it became a major problem.

 

[RD]

I let my puppy chase lasers. She's one of those "wheeeee, shiny!" type dogs who will flail around on the floor for the red dot, then forget that it ever existed as soon as it vanishes. My Papillon was the same way.

My adult dog doesn't even seem to realize that there IS a red dot on the ground, it only catches her eye for a split second. She has had 0 interest in it since puppyhood, I almost wonder if she is incapable of seeing it.

My parents' dogs are both obsessed with the red dot. Irritatingly so, but they're irritating dogs at times. The few games of laser that we played with them as puppies stuck with them, and they definitely watch reflections, flashlights and projected shadows very closely. My dad's dog began watching TV obsessively.

I've tried the laser pointer out with all my dogs. It doesn't worry me if my dog is aware of/interested in light projections, so I'll probably continue to try it with future dogs. If they like it and don't turn it into a freakish, crippling obsession, I think it's fun to play with.

 

[lizzybeth727]

My adult dog doesn't even seem to realize that there IS a red dot on the ground, it only catches her eye for a split second. She has had 0 interest in it since puppyhood, I almost wonder if she is incapable of seeing it.

Luna's the same way. Her visual tracking isn't very good (she's hopeless at catching treats, for one thing), so I do wonder too if she just literally can't see it.

I will be doing laser guided retrieves with him eventually so I want to save it for that.

Oooh! I'd love to see some training videos about how to teach laser guided retrieves (and pushes, and anything else), you'll have to get some of Logan! I've only tried it once back when I was an apprentice (and my senior trainer was incredibly unhelpful on this particular task.... I think she'd never taught it before and didn't want to admit that she didn't know how), and I didn't get very far. Luckily we haven't had any clients need it since then.