I am having a problem with my dog and possessiveness over balls. She is a 2.5 year old GSD mix. She gets a lot of exercise including a long walk in the morning. After work I take her to a small (one block-size) off-leash park before dinner. We usually play fetch with a tennis ball there.

Over the past year she has become more possessive of her balls when it comes to other dogs. If another dog tries to catch or fetch her ball she will growl and pounce on the dog. It has become worse and in the last 2 weeks she has gotten into 3 fights with other dogs who have tried to get her ball. All 3 of these dogs have been non-aggressive and just trying to play with her.

She doesn't have any other possession issues. She is not possessive of her food at all. She is not possessive towards people - if fact she likes it when people get her ball because they will throw it for her. When she was younger she actually liked it when other dogs wanted her ball because it meant she could play chase.

She will not take a ball directly from another dog, although she will steal their ball if they drop it. Outside of this issue she gets along with other dogs fine. She plays off-leash with other dogs on her longer walks and is generally a well-behaved social dog. The ball issue is a great concern as it is now leading to fights.

I know I can stop playing ball with her, but I want more of a solution to the problem. Even if I don't bring a ball to the park she will often get other dog's balls if they aren't interested, and she has an uncanny ability to find balls in bushes, etc.

I am going to work on her general obedience and discipline more and I will stop bringing balls to the park. Does anyone have any other advice for dealing with the problem directly?

ummm... When she gets aggressive, I would go and claim the ball and then give the ball to the dog she is aggressing toward. I would not let her have a ball she has attacked over. There may be other things you can do, but that's what came to mind for me.

Well may be i'll try to catch her attention by introducing some other dog toys because it seems that his ball possessiveness is leading him to be aggressive and into fights, which is not good at all. You can also try to walk her into other parks which do not have much dogs because maybe in time she will forget about the balls and then eventually stop being possessive of that thing. That's just my opinion. Good luck!