For some dogs, the thrill of the chase doesn't fade when the ball stops rolling. They'll paw at the couch cushions, skip dinner, and wait at the door for another shot. It's a funny quirk to many, but scientists say it could be more than that.
In the new Scientific reports studyResearchers have found that some dogs exhibit addictive-like behavior towards their toys—traits that mirror human behavioral addictions such as gambling or internet gaming. About a third of the 105 dogs studied that were highly motivated to play met several criteria for addiction, including cravings, lack of self-control and agitation when toys were taken away.
Dogs appear to be the only non-human species known to spontaneously develop this behavior without experimental induction, giving scientists a rare opportunity to study the biological roots of compulsion.
First Look at Dog Play That's Similar to Addiction
Play is a sign of emotional health and learning in mammals. It activates the same brain systems, including dopamine, opioids and cannabinoids, that make activities like eating, exercise and play rewarding for people. However, as with people, what starts out as a game can sometimes become obsessive.
This is the first published scientific assessment of addiction-like behavior in dogs. press release.
Previous studies have examined addiction-like behavior in laboratory animals, but the behavior had to be artificially induced. However, dogs play throughout their lives and sometimes exhibit extreme fixation with toys—an observation that inspired researchers to explore whether “excessive toy motivation” might naturally fit the criteria for behavioral addiction.
Read more: Do dogs have long-term memory?
Testing Excessive Toy Motivation in Dogs
The team recruited 105 dogs whose owners said they were highly motivated by toys. Each dog chose a favorite toy, such as a ball, tug, or stuffed animal, and then took a series of 14 subtests designed to measure four key criteria for behavioral addiction: craving, conspicuousness, mood changes, and loss of self-control.
In some subtests, dogs played freely; in others, their toy was placed out of reach and instead offered food or social interaction. The researchers observed whether the dogs ignored these alternatives, how long they focused on the inaccessible toy, and how quickly they calmed down afterward.
Owner questionnaires added another layer by assessing daily living behavior. Together, these results constituted the Addictive Behavior Test (AB-T) score. Dogs scoring above the average (33 out of 105) were classified as exhibiting a high propensity for addictive behavior.
Toy fixation results
Dogs with high levels of AB showed strong signs of fixation. When the toys were put away, they continued to stare, walk or make sounds, often ignoring the food or their owners. Some remained agitated until 15 minutes after the game ended. These dogs met several criteria for addiction, exhibiting cravings, conspicuousness, and loss of control, although the game no longer lifted their mood.
This difference—less enjoyment of the game, although they strive for it more—resembles the transition from pleasure to compulsion observed in human addictions. Breeds often selected for work and play, such as Malinois and border collies, were overrepresented among dogs exhibiting these tendencies, hinting at a possible genetic influence, the researchers noted.
Read more: How do dogs tell time?
What Dog Behavior Can Teach Us About Addiction
As the first formal evidence of natural behavioral addiction in another species, this study opens new avenues for studying the psychological and neurobiological roots of addiction.
The authors conclude that future work could deepen our understanding of how this behavior arises and what it can teach us about common mechanisms of enforcement across species.
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