Idiosyncratic Behavior from a Rescue Pit

[tinytina]

I adopted a 2 y/o female pitbull mix from a local organization this February. She was found abandoned in the South Bronx at the height of the winter's historic cold spell. She was undernourished, weighed 27 lbs. and was extremely passive. I am happy to report that she is now an active,  happy, healthy 39 lbs. She is an absolute joy- cheerful, outgoing and very affectionate. Although normally very docile she becomes HIGHLY agitated by bouncing basketballs, to the point where she has bitten me and another walker (on separate occasions) in an attempt to get off the leash and at the ball. How can we control this impulse? Is it inherent prey drive or something that she was trained to do by previous owners? Please advise

[emilys]

Don't worry about "why". It's a behavior you can re-condition. Look into something like BAT
empoweredanimals.com

[RealPitBull]

Hard to say why, some dogs are just nuts for balls (probably not taught it, it's just her). The link Emily posted above has some GREAT information, I would really go ahead and browse that a bit and if you have any questions, feel free to ask here in the training session.

Welcome to the forum, btw!

[melonie]

I work w/ a shelter dog that is nuts over balls as well, but not to the out of control level as yours.
Through training, patience and lots of fun he has calmed down, and no longer tries to remove your fingers. He can still get pretty aggressive during play though, so we still have work to do!