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Car herding!

Discussion in 'Behavior' started by Sheltie.Mama, Mar 6, 2014.

  1. danisgoat

    danisgoat Moderator

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    I can't help you, as I would never "chain" a sheltie outside by themselves in the first place. Especially a little pup. Yikes!

    Nor would I trust a puppy off lead where it has the chance to chase a car.
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2014
  2. BarbV

    BarbV Forums Celebrity

    The day that I picked Bacca at 8 weeks old, my breeder was sitting on the front lawn with him watching traffic go by.

    Everytime he seemed inclined to move to bark or chase a car, she had him back down in a sit. Bacca was never a car, squirrel or dog chaser after that.

    I had completely forgotton about this until now.

    Some of puppy 101 is coming back to me. Must try to try this again with Indy at 6 years.....btw its never too late to train!

    I now have Indy doing a sit again at dinner time!
     
  3. Toffee's Mom

    Toffee's Mom Forums Sage

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    use a long leash when you're out with her, a long line, keep her attached to it, if you turn your head or busy doing something else you can ensure you step on it before you take ur eyes off her.
    NOW is the time to work on it with her, have high value treats with you all the time, generally run the other way call her name, never EVER chase her yourself, always have HER chase you.
    Make it a FUN and fast game, clearly she loves chase, so use that to make her chase youuuuu and laugh and play and reward when she catches up with you!

    Recall recall recall and more recall training

    Never use her name or use come for something that's no fun to her (for example I use a command for LEASH ON, so I don't have to call them to me for a boring having to go on leash again, lol)
    Sit with her outside near cars, reward her reallllly fast at first once she looks at a car you say GOOD and reward (fast). She looks at it again, you repeat! This will help immensely later once herding instinct with cars reallly kick in... it will get her to redirect to you first when seeing a car, since will then have been conditioned to see them as magic that makes you drop yummy pieces of cheese into her mouth ;)
    After a while of doing that I was able to get Toffee to ask me if he could chase something, or I can say WAIT, then sometimes (rarely) I used to be lucky enough to actually let him chase (18 wheeler trucks, in safe fenced area) I use that for birds also.
    I was out of my mind for a while because Toffee would NOT stop chasing cars or lunging on leash, ESPECIALLY if he was surprised by one.. NOW I have moved and I live on a super busy road with Oil tanker trucks roaring by my street all day long, we can go for a walk right by it and he doesn't bat an eyelash, or if he does get surprised he looks at me first as if to ask, hey did you see that truck! You owe me a piece of cheese lol
    always be diligent it's super scary, but you can help a lot by training for it, too
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2014
  4. Sheltie4

    Sheltie4 Forums Enthusiast

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    I have a fenced yard, but Tres will run the fence whenever a car goes by. I have no doubt that he would try to herd a car if he were allowed.

    He loses all focus on me when a vehicle goes by, so he is never off leash when outside the yard.

    My others are so oblivious that they would probably just wander into the path of a vehicle, so they are never off leash outside of the fenced yard either.

    Shelties are herders, and instinctively want to herd anything, including cars.

    Keep her safe.
     
  5. Shelby's mom

    Shelby's mom Forums Enthusiast

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    Shelby does the same as Tres. But she doesn't do it to every car. I can't figure it out. She also runs the fence when a train goes by. She does not do it on leash or on the house. Only outside in the fenced yard.

    I gave up on trying to stop it. I just let her run. I know she will stop as soon as they are by or if the train she will stop when she gets tired of running. I figure chasing the trains is good exercise for her!!

    Now as for her carrying on when kids are playing outside that is still a big work in progress. I don't know if that will ever get resolved. I work on it everything my neighbors are out playing with their kids. They know that we are working with her and surprisingly they aren't bothered in the least when she barks.
     
  6. Sheltie.Mama

    Sheltie.Mama Forums Enthusiast

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    I will have a fence by the end of May. I don't have her on a chain for long periods of time, and I do watch her. She just used to not have any problem with it so it was never a big deal until she surprised me by chasing a Grand Prix down the street.:eek2:
     
  7. Mom2Melli

    Mom2Melli Forums Enthusiast

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    I like the long-line play/training sessions as mentioned below. Never too early to start with the comes for treats and run away come games. It will also work on leash manners. Just make sure she is on a harness that is unslippable. I would hate to see her bolt and choke or bolt and slip right out of the collar.
     

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