‘Ball junkie’: some dogs show signs of addiction, study finds | Animal behaviour

Whether it’s a spaniel with an insatiable love of ball or a flat-coat who can’t get enough of his squeaky bear, dogs can be very fond of their toys. Now, researchers say some may even show signs of addiction.

While humans can abuse a multitude of activities, from work to shopping, only gaming and internet gaming disorders are officially recognized as behavioral addictions, a primary characteristic of which is the repetition of initially rewarding acts, even though they may result in longer-term harm.

Scientists now say that some dogs may have a similar relationship with their toys.

Stefanie Riemer, co-author of the Vetmeduni Vienna study, said genetic and environmental factors were likely at play.

“We think the genetic component is quite strong,” she said, noting that the team found differences in prevalence between breeds, while follow-up work suggested that owners of dogs with high levels of addictive behavior did little to encourage it.

Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, Riemer and colleagues explained how they studied 56 male and 49 female dogs, aged one to 10 years, some of whom were known to show “excessive” motivation to play with toys.

Each owner had to carry out a number of tasks with their dog in a specially designed room, often using a toy chosen by the dog and sometimes with the help of a researcher. These tasks included playing with the dog, leaving the dog alone with the toy, throwing the toy, placing the toy in a box with a food puzzle nearby, and placing the toy on a shelf.

The researchers videotaped each exercise and rated the dogs on the intensity of various actions, such as jumping toward the toy, barking or whining when the toy was not accessible, trying to retrieve the toy when it was inaccessible, and not eating when food was available.

The results revealed that 33 of the 105 dogs had overall scores above half of the data range, suggesting that they were prone to such actions and therefore had a strong tendency toward addictive behavior, with the largest proportion of these dogs being terrier and shepherd breeds.

The team also analyzed the dogs’ behavior in terms of four of the key criteria related to behavioral addiction in humans, finding that dogs exhibiting high levels of addictive behaviors scored higher on behaviors related to craving, lack of self-control, and perceiving the toy as very important. These dogs also tended to score higher on a scale-based questionnaire completed by owners about their dog’s addictive behavior toward toys.

Riemer said the results could not conclusively prove that the dogs suffered from behavioral addictions, while high levels of addictive behaviors were likely less common in the general dog population.

She also pointed out that not all “ball addicts” have something akin to an addiction.

“Addiction actually has negative consequences for the individual,” she said. “If the dog can’t handle the toy not being available, it may be more of an addictive type behavior.”

Dr Serge Ahmed, an addiction expert at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Bordeaux, welcomed the study but said that – as the authors acknowledged – there was little evidence that dogs with “excessive toy motivation” suffered adverse consequences, while further work was needed to determine how chronic the behavior was.

“So, at this stage of the research, it is difficult to use this study to advise a dog owner [about]what is best for their dog.