[Abbygrl]

I have a 3 year old female that is obsessed with the telephone. From the house phone to our cell phones she's always carrying one around. This all started about two weeks ago. I didn't think anything of it at first but now I'm starting to wonder if there is a problem. It started with the house phone. We have a cordless phone that we keep in the bedroom on top of my desk on the charger. I thought at first maybe it had fallen on the floor and she just picked it up. So I took it from her and placed it back on the charger. As soon as I came back downstairs she went right back up into my bedroom and brought it downstairs again. For over 5 minutes I kept walking the phone upstairs and she brought it back to me every time. I thought it was cute at first until she started with the cell phones. We have three different cell phones in our house and she's been caught carrying around all three. She does not chew on the phones, just carries them around. When any of the phones in the house start to ring Abby runs right over to it and picks it up. We tried replacing the phones with a small stuffed animal but she goes right back to carrying the phones.  I thought maybe she was in heat but she just went through her cycle about 5 weeks ago and I'm 100% positive that she's not pregnant. When I catch her with the phone I make her sit down and I take the phone from her and give her a stern "NO". And like I said before, we've tried giving her something else to carry around but she wants nothing to do with it. Why all the sudden telephones? I'm completely puzzled and I hope this forum can give me some help.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post,

Becka
Mom to Abby 7-25-04  

 

[mylittledeers]

Sorry I'm chuckling but at first I wondered if we were talking 3 yr old skin kid or fur baby, could apply to either  :rofl: Honestly I have no idea why the phone obsession?? Does she associate you being on the phone with something positive?Just a thought : I never realized until our last boxer Sophie started barking EVERY time I was on the  phone that I was giving her a cookie and having her lay down so I could chat in peace for a couple minutes. She learned pretty quick that the phone = cookie For now I'd make sure all phones were out of reach, batteries are very dangerous if swallowed.

 

[iheartmyboxer]

Hahahaha. That's a pretty cute visual.

Maybe she is mimicking human behavior? I'm no dog expert, but my dog now gives people full on hugs because he's seen everyone around him do it.

Do you carry around the phone a lot?

 

[Abbygrl]

It's ok we laugh too  I never use the house phone and I'm rarely on my cell phone. When I do use the phone I've never had any problems with her. I thought maybe she was feeling like she wasn't getting any attention and this was her way of doing that but I have 4 children so there's never a moment during the day she's not getting attention. She's definitely the princess in the house. We now have the house phone sitting on top of my armoire in the bedroom and when we aren't using our cell phones we keep them in the top drawer of our dressers. I feel like a have a toddler all over again, lol!

Becka
Mom to Abby 7-25-04

 

[mylittledeers]

Kinda to bad you couldn't treat it as a rewarded behavior like bringing the phone JUST when it rings, and treat! Blitzen is obsessed lately by carrying my slippers, no damage, just carrying. I'd like to work on having her bring them to me........good trick if we can do it  :lol: I don't know though, I'd probably still worry about the phone batteries, we don't even leave our remotes within dog reach  

 

[Abbygrl]

Until today and being on the forum I've never even thought about the batteries and what they could do to her. Now I'm even more determined to find a solution to this problem for Abby's safety.

Becka
Mom to Abby 7-25-04

 

[48Dodge]

Have you tried bitter apple spray?  With the electronics, it'd probably be best to just wipe it on with a cloth.

 

[Abbygrl]

That is something that I definitely haven't tried or even thought of. Thanks for the suggestion!

Becka
Mom to Abby 7-25-04