Laser Pointers And Dogs

[TackyDriver]

My life presents me with interesting situations. There are times when our dogs need exercise but I would be too tired to go run them. I bought a cheap laser pointer because I found that they liked chasing the laser from my bore sighter. It was a laugh watching them chase it around our house and back yard. They even recognize a new hand signal. When I use the quote mark hand gesture, as used by Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies, they start looking around for the laser spot.

However, I'm wondering what would happen if there was an intruder in my house and I wanted to use a laser designator like those sold by Crimson Trace, Inc., and others. With all hell breaking loose, the last thing I'd want is to have one of my dogs run into the line of fire. Can dogs see green laser light?

Normally, I'd prefer using red lasers because of cost, battery life and night vision issues. However I'd get one to prevent an accidental hit on one of the dogs. Otherwise, I'll just have to untrain them to chase lasers. Any advice would be appreciated.

[North Bay Guy]

Cats and little dogs seem to go the most nuts over laser pointers or TLR's. My friends mature male pit would go pretty crazy when he saw a laser. Nothing like the little yappers and cats though, they go completely Yeager. My friends male pit would try to scratch, bite, pounce on it while barking and spinning around in circles. My mature female would show intense interest, turn her head sideways and watch and follow the dot but that's about it. I gotta admit it's fun to play with them a little bit.

I think your dog is going to know there's an intruder before you. Hopefully your dog will make the judgement the intruder is bad, inherently dogs do this very well. Obviously I would never want to shoot my dog, but that's gonna be the last thing on my mind if someone is breaking into my house. My laser light combo selector is set on light and laser.

[Arkangel86]

You can really screw up your dogs psych with a laser pointer


Research it

[jaymz]

According to this: http://m.psychologytoday.com/blog/ca...ogs-see-colors, dogs see green as gray. It might be harder for them to see a green laser, but they probably can.

[heyjerr]

Nevertheless you have now trained your dog exactly who to jump on.
The new "point and bite" interface!

[Rotgut]

Yeah laser pointers can screw with a dog. Can make them really neurotic to the point where they are always running around the house looking for the dot, chasing reflections and shadows, etc. It then takes some work to get them stop chasing every little imagined thing.

[Jimi Jah]

I got tired of playing with my cat. I got one of those "Cat's Meow" things.

[madsend81]

My dog could care less about the laser dot, but my two boys go bonkers. I can have them running all over the yard chasing that thing. It's a good way to tire them out before bed!

[hermosabeach]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4U5y5N6YlA

[Decoligny]

Yeah laser pointers can screw with a dog. Can make them really neurotic to the point where they are always running around the house looking for the dot, chasing reflections and shadows, etc. It then takes some work to get them stop chasing every little imagined thing.

Dogs are wired to go on several senses at once when hunting.
Sight, Hearing, and Smell.

When a dog targets on something without a sound or a smell associated with it, it throws off their hunting insticts and they focus more on sight triggers.

Also, it is a target/prey/toy that they can never catch, so it frustrates their play/hunting drive. Dogs need to be able to catch a ball, or pull on a tug toy in order for them to be able to complete their play/hunt. Without closure of the game, they stay wound up and on edge in the hopes of actually finally catching the little glowing bug that is flying around.

[Sticky]

I have a GSP that is wired for red lasers too.. made the mistake of letting him see a laser on my HBAR when I was setting it up and bore sighting it. LOL

He chases the light reflections off his dog collar on a sunny day too.. it's actually quite comical, but I don't think it will be an issue if I ever 'put the dot' on the chest of a perp, as the dog will be near me, facing him and barking like hell, so I don't really worry about it from that standpoint and.... I will also have them lit up with a bright white light, so the red dot will be less visible on center mass if that time ever came.

With a dog as a first line of defense, I doubt that I will ever face that situation. He is big and barks like it, so if an intruder hears him, I suspect they will exit stage left before I get out of bed..

[TackyDriver]

Thanks everyone. Jaymz, that's a great article. I also appreciate the warnings about dogs getting neurotic. If laser play was the only kind of play I did with them, it might be more of an issue. They give me quite a work out and I only resort to the laser when I'm too fragged. I also have them chase a R/C car out back but have to replace the tires and rig a leader that pulls a toy because they were too good at catching the car.

Hermosabeach, that is a hilarious video. You and heyjerr gave me some ideas about "point and bite". I wonder what would be more intimidating: a laser spot on the crotch or my two dogs running at the intruder? One is a Malinois and the other is a Bluenose Staff mix. Both weigh over 100 lbs.

Appreciate the words everyone. Take care.