Are laser pointers harmful?!
- Thread starter Scooter
- Start date
This is not true at all. I have known dogs who developed a lifelong OCD due to the owners playing with them with laser lights or flashlights. IMO and IME it has little to do with rewarding or signaling them that the game is over. It has to do with these games making dogs notice things they generally never would have and give these things abnormal value to the dog such as reflections coming through the windows, shadows moving on the ground, light spots reflecting off of something shiny. I suspect most people who have spent much time around dogs with light/shadow chasing OCDs would not play with laser lights or flashlights with their dog.
There is absolutely no way to know when you began playing these sorts of games with your dog if they will or will not develop an OCD from it and by time you know, it is already too late to do anything about it. It's never really safe to play these sorts of games with your dog, even with rules and rewards they can cause problems. The unfortunate thing is that these games seem to be highly rewarding for humans. This makes it hard for even generally knowledgeable and caring owners to stop such play and encourages the justification that "Well X dog played these sorts of games and was fine" or "I play by certain rules, so my dog will never have those problems".
Some more information:
"It is strongly recommended that you do not use the laser pointer to play games with your dog. Nearly every dog will enjoy chasing the laser dot, but it is not worth the risk. There are safer games to play, and dogs who enjoy chasing laser dots will probably be just as happy to chase a ball or play tug."
Are Laser Pointers Safe for Your Puppy Dog?
"You see, I'm the owner of a Border Collie who has developed obsessive-compulsive disorder due to our innocent use of a laser pointer as a toy. After the first few times we used it, we noticed that he'd keep looking for it for almost an hour after it had been put away. After a few more uses, he started noticing shadows or reflections on the walls. Now he'll stare at the walls for hours and chase shadows—it's even really hard to tear him away to eat or go outside - it's an extremely sad condition!
A quick web search will reveal some technical information - apparently the laser sets off something in their brains, similar to as it might cause an epileptic seizure in some people. Once "switched," this is all but impossible to turn off, and one can only hope to ease the symptoms with deliberate therapy. That same web search will turn up even sadder stories about OCD dogs who have become insomniacs and worse, all because of laser pointers. Apparently it's the active, attentive breeds that are affected the most."
https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=77978885595&topic=10812
http://www.showdogs.co.za/articles/wag_the_dog/qa19_shadow_chasing.htm
https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=77978885595&topic=10812
And a Google search for "laser OCD dogs" or "laser canine compulsive disorder dogs" will reveal page after page after page of discussion on this subject.
There is absolutely no way to know when you began playing these sorts of games with your dog if they will or will not develop an OCD from it and by time you know, it is already too late to do anything about it. It's never really safe to play these sorts of games with your dog, even with rules and rewards they can cause problems. The unfortunate thing is that these games seem to be highly rewarding for humans. This makes it hard for even generally knowledgeable and caring owners to stop such play and encourages the justification that "Well X dog played these sorts of games and was fine" or "I play by certain rules, so my dog will never have those problems".
Some more information:
"It is strongly recommended that you do not use the laser pointer to play games with your dog. Nearly every dog will enjoy chasing the laser dot, but it is not worth the risk. There are safer games to play, and dogs who enjoy chasing laser dots will probably be just as happy to chase a ball or play tug."
Are Laser Pointers Safe for Your Puppy Dog?
"You see, I'm the owner of a Border Collie who has developed obsessive-compulsive disorder due to our innocent use of a laser pointer as a toy. After the first few times we used it, we noticed that he'd keep looking for it for almost an hour after it had been put away. After a few more uses, he started noticing shadows or reflections on the walls. Now he'll stare at the walls for hours and chase shadows—it's even really hard to tear him away to eat or go outside - it's an extremely sad condition!
A quick web search will reveal some technical information - apparently the laser sets off something in their brains, similar to as it might cause an epileptic seizure in some people. Once "switched," this is all but impossible to turn off, and one can only hope to ease the symptoms with deliberate therapy. That same web search will turn up even sadder stories about OCD dogs who have become insomniacs and worse, all because of laser pointers. Apparently it's the active, attentive breeds that are affected the most."
https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=77978885595&topic=10812
http://www.showdogs.co.za/articles/wag_the_dog/qa19_shadow_chasing.htm
https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=77978885595&topic=10812
And a Google search for "laser OCD dogs" or "laser canine compulsive disorder dogs" will reveal page after page after page of discussion on this subject.
Guess it is up to the owner to discern for their dog how hyped they get by it. I found it to be a useful tool, but we never played more than a couple minutes tops. Bubbles were the same way. I would have not been able to reach my dog when he came because he was over the top hyper, over the top impossible to calm down, burning off that edge before we trained made it possible for me to manage his attention. I have one in my desk now and probably once a week or so, we play a game for a couple minutes and he is gloriously happy. So it does not destroy all dogs, and not all dogs care about, which would be my other dog who doesn't give a hoot about bubbles or lasers. I won't say it is a bad thing, for me it was not, I won' say it is a good thing, because of what was written above. Any thing used too much, consumed too much, is bad. Teasing is bad, I believe that was what was done to Victor with a frisbee before I got him, the anger that flared in his face and the force he threw himself after it was a giant red flag to never use this. So it is buyer beware, read your dog, see if doing this over stimulates and if it does don't do it. Common sense goes a long ways in everything.
I also had a lab that fixated on a tether ball. Watched it constantly, if the wind even slightly moved it you couldn't pull his 90 lbs away from it. He fixated on it and it had nothing to do with the light. Maybe that is something about the dog in the first place, i am not sure I buy the trigger only by light thing, some dogs are just ocd in the first place.
I also had a lab that fixated on a tether ball. Watched it constantly, if the wind even slightly moved it you couldn't pull his 90 lbs away from it. He fixated on it and it had nothing to do with the light. Maybe that is something about the dog in the first place, i am not sure I buy the trigger only by light thing, some dogs are just ocd in the first place.
My personal opinion is it depends on the owner and the dog. No way would I have thought of introducing a laser pointer to the JRTs my parents had (especially their first one). She was just too obsessive about things. That said, Caleb loves the laser. From the very beginning I've incorporated training into our play with it (just like I do with anything we play with). The closest we've come to having a problem with flashing lights was one of the firts times I had him at school. We had a fire drill and he tried to chase the stobe light that was flashing on the floor. Even at a little over 12 weeks, tho, once I told him "Leave it, let's go", he left it alone and walked with me. We've had emergency vehicles go by the house with their lights flashing and all Caleb did was look at it.
My sister's dog is OCD about light due to laser pointers. She will bark at light reflecting off water, light coming in windows, light bouncing off her tags, ANY light. It's both incredibly annoying and really depressing. We did that to her just by not knowing any better about laser pointers. I refuse to use them with my dogs (Tipper and Mu already have obsessive tendencies - altho Murphy couldn't care less) because for me the risk of doing permanent damage is not worth it. I think there are much less dangerous ways to play with a dog. All of the above is my opinion based on my personal experiences of course.
This thread reminds of the "Do you go into your fenced yard with your dogs?" thread. It's mostly opinion and experience based and it leads to a lot of disagreement.
This thread reminds of the "Do you go into your fenced yard with your dogs?" thread. It's mostly opinion and experience based and it leads to a lot of disagreement.
Thanks for sharing.