Off leash & Bicycles

[Loginasme]

Strax our border collie (8 months) is taken to bicycle free off leashes a couple of times a day, the third time we walk him leashed in a off leash unfenced park to help him to be less reactive to bicycles, he is fine when they are close, but his collie eye catches anything over 30 meters away & takes chase, thankfully I have a loud voice & yell asking the biker to slow or stop. Strax's recall is perfect & will drop/stop even in chase, We noticed the take chase mode a couple of weeks ago & have leashed him in this park since & he is understands the leave it command anytime excepts he sees bikes at a distance. Is there anything I'm missing doing in this situation?

To be clear he has shown no interest in scooters, skateboarders, runners only Bikes.

[D'Elle]

I hope you meant it 100% when you say that your dog has been leashed at all times in this area recently.  It is not fair to the people on bicycles to suddenly have someone loudly yelling at them to slow or stop, while a dog rushes at them, even if the dog follows the cue to stop and drop. This is disruptive to the people on bicycles and could also be very frightening. Additionally, it is rude to yell at someone who is only doing their own business and is innocently riding by when it is your dog that is the problem, not them.

Keep your dog on leash at all times and work on techniques to get the dog to focus on you instead of the bicycles. This is not something you can train while the dog is off leash, in any case.

The "Look At That game" is an excellent protocol for this. You can find it online. I also recommend looking up the training videos on the website KIKOPUP.

this is something you can train your dog not to do. But I would strongly recommend planning not ever to allow your dog off leash when there are bicycles around. If it is a strong temptation for him, you cannot expect any training to be 100%

Best of luck.

[urge to herd]

Being an 'always look at the dark side' person, I'd also be concerned 1) that the bike rider could be startled by your yelling at them and/or your dog barking at them. Being startled on a bike can lead to collisions, etc. You could be held liable for any damages that might occur, particularly since this is something that the dog has done repeatedly. 2) That your dog might escalate in his over-the-top response to bikes at a distance. 3) It's not good for your dog to learn that he can chase/bark at bikes AT ALL. There might be situations where he can't hear you. He might start chasing other moving things, like people running. Border collies are a breed that has some quirks. Escalating behavior is common. 3) Some people are afraid of dogs, some people don't like dogs and won't be kind to your dog if he barks at them. 4) If you haven't already check leash laws in your area. If there's any regulation that dogs must be leashed along public trails, you could face a penalty. Anyone who has seen/heard your dog running and barking might report you.

Ruth & Gibbs

[Loginasme]

Thanks folks, appreciate the feedback. Strax is trained not to bark. 

[urge to herd]

17 minutes ago, Loginasme said:

Thanks folks, appreciate the feedback. Strax is trained not to bark. 

You didn't mention barking at all in your post. My apologies.

R & G

[SS Cressa]

I taught my border collies to run with me while biking. I’m guessing just the constant exposure to bikes and having to be a team while biking but my borders are not faze by them anymore, or gets that urge to chase unless your my terrier who has his own idea of fun so has to be leashed.

[Nuance]

Off leash.

Horizon line ,control the length of time he can go before checking in.

Bad weather (rain) reduces the amount of traffic  and distractions ,  use it to your advantage.

I would just do shorter trips less often and grow into it.(for another 16 months)

"If your trying to do better than your already awesome!"

 

[D'Elle]

10 hours ago, Nuance said:

Off leash.

Horizon line ,control the length of time he can go before checking in.

Bad weather (rain) reduces the amount of traffic  and distractions ,  use it to your advantage.

I would just do shorter trips less often and grow into it.(for another 16 months)

"If your trying to do better than your already awesome!"

 

As has already been noted, letting the dog off leash when there are bicycles present and the dog has an urge to chase them is a bad way to do this because it is potentially dangerous to the dog and the cyclists, and is also rude to the folks on bicycles.

[Nuance]

On 5/31/2021 at 9:08 AM, D'Elle said:

As has already been noted, letting the dog off leash when there are bicycles present and the dog has an urge to chase them is a bad way to do this because it is potentially dangerous to the dog and the cyclists, and is also rude to the folks on bicycles.

Do you do off leash training? 

An opinion about something you don't do, is misplaced(twice).

Re reading the original post may provide further enlightenment for you( on the quoted comment )

 

If you have questions ask them, high jacking a thread with negativity helps no one.

 

 

 

[Rosalee]

I am glad you are doing your training with the bikes on leash. I am a jogger and I don’t appreciate off leash dogs chasing me. Even if they are “friendly”. I love dogs, but it can be scary. Last week someone was training their 2 Italian mastiffs off leash on the trail I was running on. The dogs kept chasing after me, the owner would call “down” and the dogs would down, but then one second later were up in pursuit again. Not fun. I see your dog doesn’t chase joggers, so not quite the same, but I am guessing the cyclists might feel the same I do. So I am glad to hear you are doing the training for this on leash around the bikes. I always appreciate when I am jogging when someone calls their off leash dog over when they see me coming, even clicking on a leash for the time it to takes to pass by if they think their dog might give chase. I always thank them for their consideration.

[D'Elle]

13 hours ago, Nuance said:

Do you do off leash training? 

An opinion about something you don't do, is misplaced(twice).

Re reading the original post may provide further enlightenment for you( on the quoted comment )

 

If you have questions ask them, high jacking a thread with negativity helps no one.

 

 

 

Yes, I do off leash training. And have had dogs who were excellent when off leash. So this not something I "don't do" .

This is not an opinion about something I know nothing about, and your statement that it is, is making a huge assumption about someone you don't know anything about.

Your comment seemed to advocate for allowing the dog to go off leash, which if it is in an area with cyclists, is not a good idea, and that is what I commented on.

I did not have any questions. 

I did not "hijack" the thread, but was commenting specifically on the topic the OP started the thread with, and replying to your advice on it which, unless I misunderstood it, advocated for letting the dog off leash. I disagree, and said so. And I was not the only one who suggested that letting the dog off leash was not a good idea.

There is nothing in my post that could be called "negativity", although your reply to me could possibly be called that.

And your post above has nothing to do with the thread topic, but was rather a negative comment on my post, so is is more along the lines of "hijacking". 

Let us not continue this conversation, as it adds nothing to the information that the OP is seeking.

 

[Enzsound]

I've been charged twice while cycling, both dogs turned out to be on leashes, one a long line, another it was just a surprised/ excited lunge on a 2m. I can tell you, at speed (35-40kmh), you can't see the leash. If they are behind you, you can out bike them, but coming from any other angle the options for a cyclist are limited to the path, and shouting at a cyclist always means something has gone/ will go wrong. I pulled over once, the long liner, apologized and was in fact training off leash reactions to cyclists. I was too exhausted/ shocked to really fuss in the moment, but that did not amuse me, nor did I feel at all sympathetic. Just an outside experience to consider while you work through stuff, good luck!

[adadrian]

I have my bc off leash all the time. But she's 7 and never ever leaves my side, when she was 2 I would never have her off a leash. And I wouldn't have a dog off leash unless I could trust them 100 percent of the time. It took over 2 years for zara to be trusted and be a "good dog"