Why Some Dogs Can’t Stop Playing With Their Toys, and How It’s Similar to Gambling Addiction
For some dogs, the thrill of the chase doesn’t fade when the ball stops rolling. They’ll paw at couch cushions, skip dinner, and wait by the door for one more throw. To many, it’s an amusing quirk — but scientists say it may be something more.
In a new Scientific Reports study, researchers found that some dogs show addiction-like behaviors toward their toys — traits that mirror human behavioral addictions, such as gambling or internet gaming. About one-third of the 105 highly play-motivated dogs studied met several criteria for addiction, including craving, lack of self-control, and agitation when toys were taken away.
Dogs appear to be the only non-human species known to spontaneously develop such behaviors without experimental induction, giving scientists a rare opportunity to study the biological roots of compulsion.
A First Look at Addiction-Like Play in Dogs
Play is a hallmark of emotional health and learning in mammals. It activates the same brain systems — involving dopamine, opioids, and cannabinoids — that make activities like food, exercise, and gaming rewarding in humans. Yet, as with people, what begins as play can sometimes turn compulsive.
This is the first published scientific evaluation of addiction-like behavior in dogs — a phenomenon previously supported only by anecdotal reports from dog owners, according to a press release.
Previous studies have explored addiction-like behaviors in laboratory animals, but those behaviors had to be artificially induced. Dogs, however, play throughout life and sometimes display extreme fixation on toys — an observation that inspired the researchers to investigate whether “excessive toy motivation” could naturally meet the criteria for behavioral addiction.
Read More: Do Dogs Have Long-Term Memory?
Testing for Excessive Toy Motivation in Dogs
The team recruited 105 dogs that owners described as strongly motivated by toys. Each dog selected a favorite toy, such as a ball, tug, or plush, before undergoing a series of 14 subtests designed to measure the four key behavioral addiction criteria: craving, salience, mood modification, and loss of self-control.
In some subtests, dogs played freely; in others, their toy was placed out of reach while food or social interaction was offered instead. The researchers observed whether dogs ignored these alternatives, how long they focused on the inaccessible toy, and how quickly they calmed down afterward.
Owner questionnaires added another layer, assessing behaviors in daily life. Together, these results formed an “Addictive-like Behaviour Test” (AB-T) score. Dogs scoring above the midpoint — 33 of the 105 — were classified as showing a high tendency for addictive-like behavior.
Toy Fixation Findings
High-AB dogs displayed strong signs of fixation. When toys were removed, they continued to stare, pace, or vocalize, often ignoring food or their owners. Some remained agitated for up to 15 minutes after play ended. These dogs fulfilled several addiction criteria, showing craving, salience, and loss of control, even though the act of playing no longer appeared to elevate their mood.
This distinction — enjoying play less even as they seek it more — resembles the shift from pleasure to compulsion seen in human addictions. The researchers note that breeds often selected for high work and play drives, such as malinois and border collies, were overrepresented among dogs showing these tendencies, hinting at a possible genetic influence.
Read More: How do Dogs Tell Time?
What This Dog Behavior Could Teach Us About Addiction
As the first formal evidence of naturally occurring behavioral addiction in another species, this research opens new avenues for studying the psychological and neurobiological roots of addiction.
The authors conclude that future work could deepen understanding of how such behaviors arise — and what they can teach us about the shared mechanisms of compulsion across species.
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article: