Chasing cars constantly!!

[GoldenCollie]

Sinse day 1, Megan has took a real interest in cars! She would 'eye' them and do the collie stalking. Now, at almost 16 weeks old, things are getting a little more serious. She's really going for it! She will give them the collie eye as they drive past, then get right down low, and before the pass, strike and try running out for them! Now of course, when anywhere near roads, she is on the leash.. But this is really hurting my arm and hand when she pulls and pulls like this to get to the cars. She's not just doing it with 1 or 2 cars that pass - shes doing it with every single one! So its just like a constant battle with the leash. Even at 16 weeks old, shes really pulling very hard when she tries to get the car. And constant pulling at the leash is really starting to ware at my hands, and its getting sore! She goes absolutely frantic, squeeling and twirling about as i continue to walk with her. She makes one hell of a scene and people have really started to stare when she's on the leash. It gets me really upset, and to be honest, it's getting to the point where i'd much rather just not put her on the leash, and walk her out in the fields out the front of my house. (I have lots of fields out front where its safe for her to be off-leash, so quite lucky in that respect)

 

I have been trying to get her interested in her ball, as to divert her energy on to this, instead of moving traffic.. but nope.. she much prefers the cars, and takes very little interest in balls of any sort! I have also tried the "sit" method. where, as a car passes, you have the dog sit while it passes, and have their focus on you... It doesn't work. She gets sooo worked up about the car passing that she just cannot seem to focus on me. Even with food treats, she takes absolutely no interest in the food or what i'm asking her to do. I ask for a "sit" and she just completely ignores me when there is cars about. She knows the command as she does it for me in the fields, in the house etc.. But when there are cars about, she just gets into that "zone".

I then started trying to get her to focus on me before the car appraoched and passed us, but the thing is... as soon as she even hears the car, she goes into that "zone"... and with ears the size of hers, she hears the car well before me. lol. As soon as she hears it, the pulling starts.. She tugs and lunges in the direction its coming from, and if i continue walking with her in the opposite direction.. She starts screeming and crying and twirling about on the leash.. making a whole big scene! To be honest, when people pass, they give me a funny horrible look as if i'm hurting my dog or something! But i'm not doing anything of the sort!! Trust me, its the dog who gets herself in such a state on the leash, twisting and turning and whining etc. It really upsets and worries me, but i just don't know what else to do now. I'm running out of ideas. I'm just not sure what to do. I only want whats best for my pup as she means everything to me.

 

Any advice or ideas would be greatly recieved! x

[bailey44]

I can see where this could be a challenge. I think I would stop all contact with traffic and cars for now, Megan is only 4 months and the stimulation of the movement and noise might be too much for her right now. It seems to be such a nightmare for you to try to walk her near traffic, why even bother to put you both through it? You could walk her at a park or field to cut down on the distractions while you address this problem. If she would happen to get away from you, she could not only hurt herself, but the drivers and passengers of the vehicles are also at risk.

 

My cousin was at her wits end about this problem and used aversion therapy with her dog. Consider taking her to an empty parking lot--high school on a Sunday?, with two other people to act as your training partners. Have her on a good, STRONG leash. Bring her some distance away from the vehicle and put her in a sit. Have the driver bring the car s-low-ly by her and watch her response. Try to initially work with treats, distractions, etc. if she shows any indication that she is able to ignore the car and focus on you. If that seems to be working, up the ante, start walking her on the leash and have the car come up past you and assess her response. This could take many sessions, and I would only work for 5-10 minutes on this at a time to keep her, (and your) stress level down. Just having her in a controlled situation and working with her might solve the problem. Just remember that she is very young, and this might take some time. BUT, if after many sessions, she is still unable to control herself and lunges for the car, have the driver slow the car down and allow the passenger to scare her with a can of pennies or a cup of water, or by throwing a shoe near her. Good timing is crucial. The desired result to Megan? Chasing Cars=Scary Noises or Stuff Thrown at Me. I have found with my dog that undesired behaviors that seem to be resolved sometimes pop up again and we have to re-train. So if you get her to the point where you can walk with her next to traffic, and then she backslides, go back to the parking lot and re-teach.

 

I know these problems can be frustrating, but just keep thinking that the goal is safety and fun walks for you! I hope this helps and I'm sure others will come along with suggestions, but this worked for my cousin and her dog.

 

Charlene

[bc4pack]

I would keep her away from all vehicles for a LONG while and do a lot of 'focus on me' work before even trying to countercondition...any opportunity she has to react is self-rewarding and self-reinforcing. Any time she doesn't take treats you are waaaay 'over threshhold'.

 

The best book I know of to give you a step by step guide to desensitization and counterconditioning is 'The Cautious Canine' by Patricia McConnell.

 

It's going to take quite a while as she's responding so intensely at such a young age.

 

Does she do any of this in the house if vehicles can be heard?

 

You may also want to scout around for a positive trainer in your area that has experience with reactive dogs,that uses counterconditioning and desensitization, that can help you out.

 

I KNOW it's tough to not take your dog down the street BUT EVERY time you do it now, it will only get worse.

I honestly think you could use some experienced help with this.

 

Hopefully someone can chime in with the APDT trainer link???

 

In the meantime,you can also do leash work with her in those open fields...

 

Tara

[Pippin's person]

Sounds like she's giving you a run for your money. I think this is probably similar to what you were describing with her nuttiness in the house. You need to teach her that it's her job to respond to you even when there's something more exciting in the vicinity--in other words, part of what she has to learn is impulse control.

 

To do that, you have to really proof commands liks sit in less distracting environments and slowly work up to the more distracting ones. You also have to reinforce that you mean what you say. There are lots of ways to do that, but your pup needs to understand that you call the shots and it's in her best interest to listen.

 

The cars are revving up her prey drive and unless she learns alternative behaviors, she'll continue to ignore you. Rather than using a ball, you could also try teaching her to tug on a tug toy--when we trained for flyball, we first trained the puppies to channel their energy to the tug while they were watching rather than getting into that spinning, nutty mania. The tug will also satisfy the prey drive and might be enough of a diversion from the cars. But, for that to work, you have to first build the desire for the tug in a lower key environment (e.g. she won't pick the tug over a car at this point, but she might in a month of so if you can train her that the tug is the way to relieve her stress and drive). You have to make yourself and whatever distraction you might be using so interesting that you get her attention away from the traffic. Teaching a really solid recall is another strategy that can work here. Another possibility would be using a head halter until she has better leash manners.

 

You also will benefit from an effective means of letting her know she's not doing the right thing--what do you do now to let her know that she's not doing what you want?

 

I have a dog who can get into a barking frenzy--if he doesn't listen when we tell him "quiet", we pick him up and physically move him somewhere else. We have a rescue who was a real car/bicycle chaser. She is also extremely responsive to signs of displeasure and using those consistenly broke her of paying attention to cars--as did teaching her a rock solid recall--so, she got nutty on the leash, "Tansy, here" and bingo she was sitting in front of whoever was walking her. With all the dogs, I use every walk as an opportunity to reinforce and proof "down", "sit", "stay", "that'll do/leave it" and "come/here"--since you walk her three times a day, you could easily get in 10-15 repetitions of each of those. All of that gives her alternatives for getting nutty on the leash and reinforces that you are the boss.

 

YOu might find the book "The dog listener" by Jan Fennel useful for various strategies for showing the puppy that you're the boss. Suzanne Clothier also has some good suggestions in some of her articles that you can get at her website

[Allie Oop]

Good suggestions above. Allie was extremely interested in (i.e. barking, lunging, etc.) cars, motorcycles, bicycles, etc. when we got her at 6 mos. We live in the city and so this was a big problem. Flying monkeys didn't have a thing on Allie when we would go for walks on the leash.

 

We combatted the problem by extensive obedience training and desensitization. You have to be extremely diligent dealing with a dog who is interested in moving vehicles and make sure never to let them get in a situation where they can endanger themselves. However, we took the "flying monkey" on leash walks at least twice a day and always gave a firm "no" or "no barking" when she went into her routine with the cars. We also used the "sit", "heel" and "down" a lot while walking. Changing direction abruptly is also a good technique. (Distraction by making the dog pay attention to you works well.) We also used a 4 ft. leash and even took up slack if she was really acting up. She only kept up the issue with the moving vehicles for about 2 weeks and then gradually got to the point she showed no more interest. A perfect recall is essential.

 

Your pup is very young and I suspect you will lick this issue quickly. Good luck!

[GoldenCollie]

Thank you for the replies I very much appreciate all the advice!