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He's obsessed with squirrels!!!!


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My 10 month old BC Jackson is obsessed with squirrels!!! I think it started out with boredom, since he LOVES to be outside and we would go out and play with him for quite a while then come in he would want to be outside still so we would let him out while we were inside (we have a pretty large fenced in back yard) He noticed the squirrels climbing the poles, and trees and running across the yards so naturally he would try and get at them. It has gotten to the point that my boyfriend has had to put pieces of wood down along the fence because he has worn all the grass down and when it rains (or snow melts this time of year) he will be a mud caked dog after being outside for a few minutes. When we first let him out he will walk out on the back porch and he would scan the back yard, and we thought it was a cute little thing he was looking for "bad guys" in the yard or something but as we watched him we realized he was scanning the trees for the squirrels!!! If he spots one he will sprint out toward it. He will stop dead in his tracks if we yell at him though. He knows he isn't supposed to be running along the fence or jumping when they get close (we all know those darn things just tease the dogs anyway) When he is doing any of his obsessive behaviors and we open the door he will immediately lay down and give us his "what I wasn't doing anything" look. We spend time playing with him and now even have a 2nd dog, a 3 month old boxer for him to play with but he still obsesses over the squirrels even when our boxer Tyson is wanting to play. He also tries to get raindrops. When they drip off the back porch he will pounce on them and used to dig holes trying to find them. My boyfriend cured this too by putting plywood down so he can't dig. We are going to do some landscaping this spring and get rid of the plywood obvously..... :rolleyes: So..... Does anyone have any suggestions to get him over his squirrel obsession????

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My dogs have always run out back to chase off squirrels before they went about their business. Most of the dogs I know at the park will give chase if they see a reasonably close squirrel. Seems like pretty normal behavior, and I've always kind of thought it was good physical and mental exercise, since none of my dogs has ever come close to catching one. I don't know what you would do when it becomes obsessive - the yard thing is tough. Might you be able to wait a couple years for the landscaping? Most dogs I've owned have gotten less runny, jumpy, chasy as they've gotten older.

 

Good luck!

 

Mary

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If you feel he is becoming obsessed and don't like what he is doing to your yard, then don't let him practice those behaviors. Make it a hard and fast rule that going into the backyard is to play with you or to potty (with you nearby). If you want him to play with your other dog, you should stay outside with them. If Jackson doesn't want to play and doesn't need to potty, then bring him in.

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Now that I am in a new development- no squirrels attached-LOL. Reminds me of the "enough" command. Yes, teach them to bark- so easy.......take one step forward and give that dreadful "cross-sign" and say enough- then treat (or click-for you that are into clickers) keep doing this again and again and again and again- LOL...........you all know border collies!!! They will soon learn "enough" same goes for barking. JMO- taken with a grain of salt.

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Toby is also obsessed with squirrels. He almost went through the sliding glass patio doors yesterday. Earlier he had noticed a squirrel running along the top of our back fence and he was jumping at the door and barking. I was working on getting him to listen to me when I told him 'enough', but he gets so focused on the squirrel that it is very difficult. A little later he was in the front hall and somehow managed to see another squirrel going along the fence and he took off like a bullet but he didn't stop at the door, at least not until his face hit the glass at mach 10. If it hadn't been so scary I would have laughed. The way he hit that door, OY! I don't know why the glass didn't break. I guess I will have to put curtains on those doors now even though I don't need them for anything else.

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Samson use to be very obsessed with squirels and whenever I'd take him out for walks when he was a puppy (3-7 months old) I'd actually kind of encourage it until it got to the point where I'd tried riding a bike with him and he'd pull me off the bike because of the squirels.

 

The way that I got him to stop (he's almost a year old now) took a little while but whenver we'd go on a walk and he'd see a squirel and start to crouch down I'd give the leash a quick snap and say HEY or Stop or something along those lines. After many weeks of doing so (quick snap with a HEY or STOP) he got good enough to where now I don't have to have him on a leash when we walk and if he see's a squirel, as he starts to stoop low (or even before) I give him a loud HEY before he can get into his squirel zone and he snaps out of it. If I dont say anything he'll still try to chase them, but only if they are really close or they run right out in front of us, but whenver I say HEY or STOP, he does and comes back to me.

 

So moral of the story is to associate some sort of discomfort (quick snap of the leash) along with a verbal command, even accompanied with a treat if you use them whenver you see him start to get zoned into a squirel. Eventually he'll get the idea and will not get too obsessed over them but it takes a month or two before it really works. Hope this helps!

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I actually use squirrels as rewards for good behavior (on leash or safe area only of course). When I spot a squirrel, I ask both girls to sit and when they do they are released to stalk or chase (on leash until I'm confident that they won't go after them until released). If I'm not in the mood to run around after squirrels I just use my "leave it" command and continue walking, there's no chance for them to obsess as I'm moving forward and won't stop moving until they turn their attention to me. Make the good thing easy and the "bad" thing difficult or impossible. :rolleyes:

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Seems like pretty normal behavior, and I've always kind of thought it was good physical and mental exercise, since none of my dogs has ever come close to catching one.

 

Woo says the dogs you know must suck, as he catches them all the time.

 

He is completely obsessed with squirrels. But we don't have a yard, so he only obsesses at the park:

 

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RDM

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Does anyone have any suggestions to get him over his squirrel obsession????

Good luck! Missy hates squirrels, and is obviously out to terminate their existence; Annie, on the other hand, tries to herd them. Based on my simple observations, I would surmise that, being descended from wolves, a dog will respond to a running animal as prey, and will act accordingly, whether it be a squirrel or a deer.

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More than not liking what it's doing to the yard, I like even less what it's doing to Jackson! I know that BCs are very obsessive, but this has become an inappropriate form of obsession (even the vet says so). There are so many other activities that we do together in which Jackson acts obsessively and it's ok with me, but this one just doesn't seem right. It's already a hard and fast rule that outside time is for play and potty. Believe me, on a bad day he's reprimanded every few seconds when it comes to the squirrel issues and rewarded for the good stuff of course. I've had to "ground" him indoors before simply because he wouldn't obey and just give up the squirrel obsession for that particular day. I really hate doing this though since he loves the outdoors so much. I believe he's too smart of a breed to have to be grounded inside, tied up, or caged his whole life because of an obsession gone bad. He can learn how to behave appropriately...I know he can! He's a BC...of course he can!! We're just searching for that one key to get this guy to direct his attention elsewhere. I just want the day to come when I can come inside from playing with the boys and actually stand there in my kitchen, make dinner and watch them from my window continue to play and not have to stop and reprimand every two seconds because they are acting inappropriately. I can't always be every single place where my boys are, but I believe whole-heartedly that they can still behave when I'm not right there beside them. We just have to find the key to make it happen! Thanks so much for your comments, tips, and encouragements :rolleyes:

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Lizzie's (even though she's probably only party BC) is, too, obsessed with squirrels. She loves to stalk/stare at them, then take off running till they are treed.

 

She's never actually caught one, and I don't think she wants too. It's a game to her and the squirrels - or I have really stupid squirrels. :rolleyes:

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I feel your pain.

I am trying to work with Nisa on outdoors obsessions.

Hers is anything that moves outside.

Squirrels, birds, moths, wasps, ashes and cinders from a brushfire, you get the picture.

I have been trying to redirect her obsessions to doing things like Frisbee and balls with limited success.

It has been recommended to me to try a mild training collar (shock collar) by some trainers.

PLEASE NOTE: I am not recommending this and have never used a shock collar on a dog for any behavior modification.

I am still thinking that over.

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My boyfriend actually ordered a shock collar and said it is a possible option (a last resort for us) to stop him from this behavior. As I mentioned before he loves being outside and I don't want to keep him indoors just because of this. Not only is it tearing up the yard but he will quite frequently jump and bark really high pitched bark while next to the fence and i'm afraid he is going to injure himself by possibly getting his foot caught in the fence or land wrong after a jump. I really really don't want to have to do this to him but my boyfriend has pointed out that bc's are extremely intelligent and it won't take long at all for him to associate the shock with the squirrels and give up on them. It has 4 "correction levels" along with a "good and bad tone" Once again this is a last resort for us and hopefully we can find some other way to divert his attention away from those darn squirrels!!!

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Where I live now I dont see to many squirells in the yard so Im not sure how Koda would react. However, my late BC Skyler loved them. We had a phone or power cable coming in to our last house that ran through several large trees that made a nice bridge for the critters. It hung rather low (15 ft maybe?) and the squirrels would just torment him from there.

 

Its funny to hear squirrels "bark" and it would drive him nuts. They would even drop, or rather throw, stuff at him. The only way I could possibly change his behavior was to engage him in something he liked more - FRISBEE!!!! Sometimes they are like kids in that you have to distract them. Try running around the yard like a banshee and when you have his attention direct it to something more useful. I would look at this as an opportunity for training with distractions.

 

And all I have to say about this pup is WOW.....What a beauuuuuuutiful boy!

 

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I think all Bc's are obsessed with something I have one that when we had goats, he ran around the pin so much he banked the sides. He would do it for hours on hours. It sure kept his weight down. When we let the goats out, they were afraid of him and, as God is my witiness I did not know goats could swim, because the goats jumped off the dock into the lake. HAHA :rolleyes::D

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