Ball crazy

Question
My name is Angie, I have a Rough Collie, I am not sure of her age as I found her wondering the neighbourhood, later to find out that her owners had immigrated and left her.  She is just amazing and come a long way in so many ways.  We play all the time, walk, go to the beach, camp, different things just to keep her from getting bored because I understand that her breed needs "a Job",  well no matter what we are doing, where we are, since she learnt about playing she is gradually becoming more and more obsessed with her ball/balls, she has loads of toys, oh my, but always chooses the ball, she will wait forever for someone to throw it and if you don't she wines like she is dying, (precious thing), she is definitely not lacking attention or exercise and has a little terrier companion.  I am not sure if this sort of obsession is healthy, I am not sure weather to encourage or not to and if not, I wouldn't know how to go about it, I really just want her to be happy all the time and she is when someone is throwing a ball for her, but is this right?



Please help, thank you for taking the time to read this.



Kind Regards



Angie and CD  

Answer
Hi, Angie.

I don't think this is an unhealthy obsession. After all, would you rather have your dog obsessed with chewing up the couch? Kudos to you for channeling your collie's energy into some positive areas. It seems your dog just has a major preference to balls rather than her other toys. However, if ALL she wants to do is play with the ball, then it's become too much. If this happens, I would advise you to seek professional help, as I would not know what to do in a situation like that, either.

Hope this helps!
Katie