Car Chasing "oh fun!"

[ArtTalKat]

So Talon has had a bad impulse to chase moving objects since he was a puppy. We've started impulse control behaviors as soon as we got him. He waits to get his food. He stays while we throw toys, roll balls, and other distracting things and only gets them when we tell him "ok" (his release word) "get it." We've been giving him an outlet for his chasing needs with balls and frisbee etc. These are all things that really helped out other dog (not a BC, but had movement sensitivities as well) but with Talon it seemed like nothing helped him with cars or bikes.

 

We've got to the point he is fine with little kids running, with toys of any kind moving, other dogs running (he get's excited sometimes, but can redirect), birds, and cats. The problem is cars and bikes. I've made *some* progress with cars.

 

What will happen is he will crouch, stare, then try to chase. We tried a few different thing, but I finally found something that worked. I'd go to my local baseball field which was next to a somewhat busy road and a very busy interesction. I stood at a distance at first, had him down and reward heavily as the car would approach and pass. This got rid of his "chase" part. We worked out way closer to the road this way, then changed the game. We then moved back and only rewarded when he looked back at me after the car moved on. I rewarded more when he looked before the car had gone all the way past and got excited. We again got closer and closer until we were on the sidewalk. And then we changed it to him down, the car would come, he'd look at me and I'd reward him but he'd have to get up and walk towards me (away from the car) to get the reward. This morphed into walking along the road rewarding him as we would walk and he'd give me attention.

 

It seemed to work really well. We've been doing this for 4 days andhe's responding remarkibly fast, however I've been using kibble as a reward and I've run into a huge problem. The bee's are everywhere! If the bag is left open then they are immediatley four bee's inside the kibble bag. O_o I've had previously had allergic reactions to bee stings were I'd go into anapholactic shock (sp?). On the way homme from our last training trip a wasp got on my palm, likely from the food crumbs, and stung me. I ran away screaming lol as it flew around trying to sting me again. Luckily no reaction past the pain, hand swelling etc.

 

But now I need a new training reward. I'm afraid of the bee's, too much to use food reward. I've always heard toys can cause more excitement when training for a calmer behavior. What is your guys experience? How did you work on the car/motion issues? What was your reward? Did toys help or hinder?

 

Also, did training with one thing help another? so training for cars help with bike training easier?

[GentleLake]

What about switching to something like canned spray cheese for a reward?

 

Or you could get a refillable GoToob (you can find them on Amazon) or another type of tube (available on Clean Run) that you can fill with watered down peanut butter, liverwurst, baby food, etc.

 

My trainer also suggested the screw top pouches of baby food, too, especially if the dog like fruits & veggies. There may be meat based ones, too, though I haven't checked.

 

These options would eliminate the food's being an attractant for the bees, I'd think.

[ArtTalKat]

We've been limiting the types of food/treats he gets as he get's overexcited about foods easily. Then I'm left with no fingers and his eyes are bulging out of his head and his brain oozes out of his ears. LOL But that is a great idea! I just need to find something that won't attract the bee's as easily and that doesn't get Talon too overly excited. We've used other treats before in the past, maybe a hard cookie type thing might work!

 

Thanks!!

[GentleLake]

Well, another advantage with both the spray cheese and the GoToob (and similar dispensers) is that they offer a little space between finger tips and crocodile teeth!

 

And I can relate to that since I have a food obsessed snapping crocodile myself. But she doesn't get my fingers when I'm using one of these for rewards. She figured out quickly that it was all about licking instead of grabbing . . . and she can work that tongue at tremendous speed! :lol:

[Donald McCaig]

Dear Doggers,

 

It isn't clear to me if anyone has told Talon "Don't chase cars."

 

Donald McCaig

[BCjetta]

Mine had the similar crouch, stare and then try to chase/lunge with cars, motorcycles, bikes, but only if we were fairly close to them and they were coming head on.

For the bikes, she actually stopped stalking them when I took her out with my bike. I had to walk the bike with her on a leash on the far side of it at first, then had my hubby go slowly on his bike while I had her on leash redirecting her if she started staring, and then graduated to me on the bike and a verbal leave it would work if she started staring. Once she was leaving the bike alone, she had to learn to not get in the way which happened more as an accident (her stopping to sniff something in front of me and me letting the front wheel touch her as opposed to stopping before I touched her). Now when she sees bikes she steers clear of their path unless she doesn't hear it coming (she's deaf in one ear).

[Amy467]

Hello ..... my quandary is this ..... we have a rescued BC, Zoee. Horrible prior situation but too long to get into here. I posted it a few months ago seeking potty training support and had some wonderful and kind results! When I walk Zoee and our other dog (male 4 year old Aussie/Blue Heeler mix) on our country roads, she will crouch when a car is approaching from either direction and lunge with a bark as it passes. I have gotten her to NOT try and drag both Racer and I out in to the road which feels like progress. I have tried just talking calmly when I hear a car approaching and saying things like, "Silly car just keep walking" and tried to keep our pace. Zoee is ALWAYS on the inside of the two dogs. I have a harness for her walks as she was choking herself on her leash. I walk her 4 to 5 days a week and we might see 3 or 4 cars on our walks. She doesn't chase or bark at cars that come down our road but we have quite a bit of acreage between our house and the road. I am bringing string cheese on our walks but don't know how to start a reward system. Any advice??????? Amy

[gcv-border]

Hello ..... my quandary is this ..... we have a rescued BC, Zoee. Horrible prior situation but too long to get into here. I posted it a few months ago seeking potty training support and had some wonderful and kind results! When I walk Zoee and our other dog (male 4 year old Aussie/Blue Heeler mix) on our country roads, she will crouch when a car is approaching from either direction and lunge with a bark as it passes. I have gotten her to NOT try and drag both Racer and I out in to the road which feels like progress. I have tried just talking calmly when I hear a car approaching and saying things like, "Silly car just keep walking" and tried to keep our pace. Zoee is ALWAYS on the inside of the two dogs. I have a harness for her walks as she was choking herself on her leash. I walk her 4 to 5 days a week and we might see 3 or 4 cars on our walks. She doesn't chase or bark at cars that come down our road but we have quite a bit of acreage between our house and the road. I am bringing string cheese on our walks but don't know how to start a reward system. Any advice??????? Amy

The answer is in what you described. When you are walking, I assume you are very close to the road (sidewalk? or shoulder?). She lunges at the 'close' cars. She doesn't lunge at the cars from her vantage point at your house since there is a much longer distance between dog and road.

 

When you are walking so close to the road, she is over threshold and reacts. When she is at the house, she is not over threshold.

 

I would try walking her gradually (very gradually) closer to the road and treating for remaining calm. You may have to find an area where you can walk parallel to the road for a few hundred feet, but vary the distance from the road.

 

Good Luck,

Jovi

[Amy467]

Hi Jovi ~

 

Thanks for the reply! My problem is we live in the country ..... dirt roads, no shoulders just a dirt road about a car and a half width with either irrigation gullies or fenced pastures on the sides .... no room to really move ... I was hopeful that by keeping her on my inside and my other dog on the outside, Zoee might feel more secure. I will pondering having my husband drive back and forth so I could be more consistent with the training .... having him go at varying speeds etc.. ???? Some days we see no cars (just cows) and other days we might be passed by 3 or 4. Thoughts????

The answer is in what you described. When you are walking, I assume you are very close to the road (sidewalk? or shoulder?). She lunges at the 'close' cars. She doesn't lunge at the cars from her vantage point at your house since there is a much longer distance between dog and road.

When you are walking so close to the road, she is over threshold and reacts. When she is at the house, she is not over threshold.

I would try walking her gradually (very gradually) closer to the road and treating for remaining calm. You may have to find an area where you can walk parallel to the road for a few hundred feet, but vary the distance from the road.

Good Luck,
Jovi

[Howling Farmer]

Hi Amy,

 

You might have to drive somewhere to do the training. I live in the country too, and it seems like I am always having to drive somewhere to get the right training set up! It's a huge pain, but it's worth it.

 

Is there someplace you could go where you could get far enough away from the cars to be under threshold (she's noticing cars but not trying to chase them)? Ideally, this is someplace where a car passes every minute or two (this way she won't be overwhelmed, but you won't have to wait forever to see one.) It sounds like this won't work so well at your property because you'd be waiting too long between cars.

 

Wait until she sees the approaching car, then feed her while she is looking at the car (it's really important that she sees the car before you start feeding. The car has to predict food.) As soon as the car is out of view, stop feeding. No food until she sees the next car. Keep repeating. Gradually move closer to the road as she becomes more comfortable. After a bit, she will hopefully start to look to you for a treat when she sees a car, instead of chasing. If she starts to react to a car, it means you're too close, so back up.

 

You could also try the same thing at your property, but have your husband drive back and forth as you gradually work closer to the road. We're doing this with bikes and runners right now, having my daughter bike/run across the road as I work Tucker on the driveway, gradually getting closer.

 

This method has worked well for us. Our Mini Aussie also used to try to chase cars, and now he doesn't. If he's worried about a car, he looks to me for a treat instead. Sometimes he doesn't even notice the cars anymore.

 

Best,

Leslie

[gcv-border]

Hi Amy,

 

You might have to drive somewhere to do the training. I live in the country too, and it seems like I am always having to drive somewhere to get the right training set up! It's a huge pain, but it's worth it.

 

Is there someplace you could go where you could get far enough away from the cars to be under threshold (she's noticing cars but not trying to chase them)? Ideally, this is someplace where a car passes every minute or two (this way she won't be overwhelmed, but you won't have to wait forever to see one.) It sounds like this won't work so well at your property because you'd be waiting too long between cars.

 

Wait until she sees the approaching car, then feed her while she is looking at the car (it's really important that she sees the car before you start feeding. The car has to predict food.)

Yes, what Leslie says. ^^^

 

I live in the country too. In the past, I have had to go somewhere to set up a training situation. PITA, but it needs to be done.

 

Having your family or friends help is one idea. Another approach is to find an area - maybe a public park or quiet public parking lot or athletic field at a school that is near a road or a friend's house that might fit the scenario you are trying to set up - where you can walk her back and forth along the road, but at a distance where she is not over threshold and can respond to treats or toys or whatever will reinforce calm behavior.

 

Good Luck,

Jovi

[Amy467]

Thank you all! I have informed my husband that he is going to be driving the truck aot over the next couple of weeks! I am going with the spray cheese treat as trying to get string cheese out of my pocket, with two dogs on a leash while a car approaches, sounds highly dangerous for ME! I love this forum .... thank you so much for all of your support!!!!!!!! Amy

[ArtTalKat]

Thanks for the replie, I haven't had a chance to read them. We are having a major medical crisis with Talon right now. So for now this is on the back-burner until we can get him healthy.