Collies, Kelpies, Heelers, Shepherds
Your Dog Isn't Destroying Your House. It's Finishing A Job You Never Gave It.
A fence, a door frame, a doormat, a hose. Different dog, different damage, and the same 90-second explanation every time. This is the long version, and what to do about it.
You've probably just read a story. A Collie who went under a concrete gate footing. A Shepherd on his third doormat. A Heeler and four garden hoses. Two Collies in one hole. A Border Collie and a lost rental bond.
Different dog. Different mess. And in every one, someone who works dogs for a living explained the whole thing in about 90 seconds.
This page is the long version of those 90 seconds. What's going on in your dog, why the usual advice misses it, and what fixed it for the owners above.
Three things first.
- Your dog isn't bad. A Collie, a Kelpie, a Heeler, a Shepherd or a Staffy pulling your house apart is a working dog with no work.
- The standard advice treats the symptom. Walks, crates, fencing and bitter spray deal with the damage. None of them deal with why.
- Most toys were designed to sell, not to work. They look great on a shelf and do nothing the moment you leave the room.
The same story, with the names changed
If you've got your own version of this list, you're in the right place.
From the stories
What it usually looks like
- The yard. A hole under the fence. Then a second hole. Then under the new concrete footing.
- The door. The corner of the laundry door chewed to bare timber. A metre of skirting in the hallway.
- The stuff by the door. Work boots, a hi-vis vest, three doormats in five months.
- The garden. Four hoses in six weeks, plus the brass fitting and the irrigation line underneath.
- Anything that moves. The robot vacuum, herded into a wall until it broke.
A rental bond, withheld in full. Others paid in hoses, doormats, concrete and a $130-an-hour trainer.
None of those owners were angry at the dog. Most were embarrassed. Some had grown up with working dogs, or trained them for a living, and still got caught. This isn't a training problem, and it isn't a you problem.
What every trainer said
If you've done the list, you already know it. Two walks a day. Fetch until an arm gave out. A crate, then the howling, then the neighbour. Bitter spray, chewed through or dug around. Puzzle feeders, solved in two minutes. Twenty-plus toys, shredded or gutted. Two "smart balls" off Amazon that rolled in a straight line and stalled on the carpet or the grass.
Then a trainer at $130 an hour who said "more exercise." Every one of those dogs was getting more exercise than anyone else in the house. And every one was still at the fence, the frame or the hose.
The advice isn't wrong. It's aimed at the wrong thing.
The 90 seconds
The explanation came from a different person every time. A dad who's run working dogs for 40 years. A farmer at a market. A landlord who breeds Kelpies. A stockman at a dog trial. A shearer at a barbecue. They all said the same thing, near enough word for word.
Nothing. That was every owner's answer, and it's the whole problem.
The job, in five steps
Eye, stalk, chase, grab, shake.
Every dog has this sequence built in. Working breeds run it harder than anyone.
- Eye
Lock on to something that moves.
- Stalk
Low, slow, creeping. The crouch.
- Chase
The part they were bred for.
- Grab
Teeth on it.
- Shake
Job done. Now they sleep.
Why walking doesn't count. A walk is step one, at best. He sees things. He never gets to stalk, chase or grab them. To a working breed that's not exercise. That's a commute.
Why fetch doesn't count either. A thrown ball is three seconds of chase in a straight line, then a wait. He knows where it lands before it leaves your hand. No stalk, no surprise, no job.
Why the fence, the frame and the hose. With nothing to chase, a working dog finds its own job. The fence is a puzzle, and every fix is a new level. The hose is the only thing in the yard that moves. The door frame is grab and shake with nothing in front of it. "He's not being bad," they all said. "He's finishing a job you never gave him."
Why a second dog doesn't fix it. Two Collies with nothing to chase isn't twice as tired. It's twice as bored. That's how one hole under the fence becomes two.
Why the toy basket doesn't help
Every owner above tipped out the basket with that sentence in their head.
Pile one
20+Wait for you
Ropes, plush, balls and puzzles. Every one needs a person to make it move.
Pile two
2Move on their own
The Amazon smart balls. Straight line, one speed, stalled on carpet and grass.
Passive toys only run the sequence while you're standing there, and the damage happens when you're not. Puzzles are solved by day two, and then they're furniture. Cheap smart balls roll in a straight line at one speed, so the dog works them out in two goes. Then they stall on the carpet, or the lawn, and sit there whirring.
Ropes and puzzles are fine as extras. They just aren't the chase, and the chase is the bit that's missing.
The five-point checklist
Every owner above turned the 90 seconds into the same list before they bought anything else.
- Does it move on its own, with nobody in the room?
- Is the movement random, so the dog can't work it out?
- Does it stop and start when the dog touches it, like a sheep?
- Does it work where the damage happens? Carpet inside, grass outside.
- Will it survive a Collie, a Shepherd or a Heeler?
Try it on a toy you already own.
My dog couldn't stop playing with it. Every time it would move or tweet he would go on another round of chasing it all over the house. He was completely pooped afterwards. But it was just the thing I needed to give him exercise and stimulation during the winter months when walks aren't as frequent. Having two toys means one is always ready while the other is charging.
I have an American Staffy. This is a game changer. She LOVES IT. Plus has given her an afternoon workout. She chews this, but has not broken the outer shell.
The basket scores zero. The Amazon balls score one. One toy scored five, and every owner above found it the same way: a video in a breed owners' group, of a dog doing laps of a lounge room after a blue ball with rope arms.
The one that scored five
It's called The Chase Buddy, from a small Australian brand called FloofyPups. They call it "the first dog toy engineered around prey-drive science," which is a big claim. Here's how it lines up against the 90 seconds, point by point.
Three ways to get the game going.
Gentle rolling and pauses for the first introduction.
Quicker movement, turns and changes of direction.
Touch reactivation gets the movement going again.
"Moves without you." Three modes. Slow Mode for the first few days. Fast Mode for the full chase. Interactive Mode, the one that matters most. None of them need a person in the room.
"Moves wrong so he can't work it out." The movement is properly randomised. It cuts sideways, spins, stops dead, bolts. Owners tell me their dog still can't predict it six months in. A working dog that can predict a toy is done with it.
"Stops and starts, like a sheep does." This is Interactive Mode. When your dog stops, it powers down. When he nudges it, it takes off again. FloofyPups call it touch reactivation. The stockman would call it a sheep.
"Works where he does the damage." Carpet, tile and hardwood inside. Grass, dirt and concrete outside. That last part is what separates it from every ball that stalled on the lawn next to the gate.
"Survives the breed." Chew-resistant ABS and TPU shell, reinforced for heavy chewers. The rope arms take a beating. The shell keeps going. Safe for small, medium and large breeds.
USB-C, about 90 minutes to charge, up to 24 hours of play. Twenty to thirty minutes a day burns off the zoomies, even in a Collie.
I said this on FloofyPups' product page earlier this year, and I'll stand by it here.
"The Chase Buddy is one of the most thoughtfully designed dog products I've seen this year. It actually addresses the underlying behavioural issue, not just the symptom."
Dr. Sarah Bennett, Veterinary Behaviourist, 2026
Free shipping · Ships within 24 hours · 30-Day Happy Dog Guarantee
What the first month looked like, in every story
The dogs were different. The first month wasn't.
Day 1
Slow Mode, on the carpet or the lawn. The crouch for a full minute. Then it cuts sideways and he loses his mind.
Twenty minutes later he's asleep, in the daytime.
Week 1
Nothing chewed. Nothing dug.
Owners check the fence line every night and find nothing.
Week 2
Fast Mode. He's worked out that nudging it wakes it up.
"I hear it start up from the other room."
Week 4
A partner says it first.
"He hasn't been near the gate in a week."
Month 5 to 6
Rope arms chewed to bits, shell fine, charged twice a week.
Not a mark on anything.
Drawn from the stories above. Every dog is different, and yours may take longer or less time.
The maths
The Chase Buddy is $54.99 AUD. Put that next to a rental bond, four hoses, or a weekend of concrete that didn't hold.
Right now it's Buy 1 Get 1 Free. Two for $54.99 AUD. One for the lounge, one for the yard, wherever the damage used to happen. Two dogs? One each. Don't make them share. Buy 2 Get 2 Free is $109.98 AUD.
Free shipping on every order. They ship within 24 hours, to the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Not just those dogs
"This toy has been a lifesaver for tiring our boy out."
"Our Staffy loves his new toy."
"Our boy loves it, quick delivery too!"
"A friend told us about this and it hasn't disappointed."
If you think your dog is the extreme case, it isn't. Your dog is not being naughty. They are under-stimulated.
4.7/5 from 1,422 reviews · Not sold on Amazon
The guarantee, in plain words
FloofyPups call it the 30-Day Happy Dog Guarantee. If your dog isn't happier, email them within 30 days of delivery and send the toy back in its original packaging. Once it arrives, they refund the product price. Return postage is the only cost to you. Full terms here.
Fewer than 1 in 50 people ever use it. If it doesn't work for your dog, you've lost nothing. If it does, you get your house, your yard or your bond back.
Not happier in 30 days? Send it back for a refund.
Two ways this goes
The first way, you keep doing what the trainer said. Walk further. Buy another rope, another doormat, another hose. Pour more concrete. And a dog still finishing a job at 2pm on a Tuesday with whatever's nearest.
The second way, you give him the job. Slow Mode, five minutes, day one. Watch for the crouch. Then see what your house, or your fence line, looks like in 30 days.
Every owner above picked the second way. Most of them ordered standing next to the damage.
$54.99 AUD incl. GST · Buy 1 Get 1 Free · Free shipping
Common questions
Will it survive a heavy chewer?
The shell is chew-resistant ABS and TPU, reinforced for heavy chewers. The owners above have Collies, Shepherds and Heelers who chewed through doors, hoses and boots. Months in, the rope arms are worn and the shell still works. If it doesn't survive your dog, the guarantee covers you.
Does it work outside, on grass?
Yes. It runs on carpet, tile and hardwood inside, and on grass, dirt and concrete outside. If your dog does the damage in the yard, that's where it lives. Owners keep one on the lawn next to the gate that used to get dug under.
We've got two dogs. Do they share?
Don't make them share. The Buy 1 Get 1 Free offer is one each. Two dogs with nothing to chase is twice as bored, not twice as tired. Two Chase Buddies at opposite ends of the lounge is how one owner got both Collies asleep on the rug for the first time in months.
How do I introduce it?
Slow Mode for five minutes on day one, even if your dog is a maniac. The first session is about letting them work out that it reacts to them. Watch for the crouch. Most dogs engage within minutes. Move up to Fast and Interactive Mode over the first week.
What if my dog doesn't like it?
You're covered by the 30-Day Happy Dog Guarantee. If your dog isn't happier, email FloofyPups within 30 days of delivery, send the toy back in its original packaging, and they refund the product price. Fewer than 1 in 50 ever use it.
P.S. Three things. It's Buy 1 Get 1 Free right now, so two Chase Buddies for $54.99 AUD incl. GST with free shipping, one for the lounge and one for the yard. It comes with the 30-Day Happy Dog Guarantee, so if your dog isn't happier you can send it back within 30 days for a refund. And it isn't sold on Amazon. The cheap copies there are the straight-line, one-speed, dies-on-carpet balls that nearly every owner above bought first. The real one only comes from floofypups.com.
Bring Home a Job Worth Chasing →Buy 1 Get 1 Free + free shipping
2 for 1
The Chase Buddy
$109.98 AUD
$54.99 AUD
for two incl. GST
- Moves on its own, at random, with nobody in the room
- Stops when your dog stops. A nudge starts it again
- Runs on carpet, tile and hardwood, grass, dirt and concrete
- Chew-resistant shell. USB-C, up to 24 hours of play
- Free shipping on every order
- 30-Day Happy Dog Guarantee. Not happier? Send it back for a refund
- Not sold on Amazon. The real one only comes from floofypups.com