My sheltie + cars

[Piper's mom]

One of my current shelties is afraid of or reacts to smoke. We had the fire pit going the other day and she was terrified and wanted desperately back into the house. The other day when we started the wood stove and it was a big smoky in the house she flew around the place barking and was very upset??? I have never had a dog react this way to smoke not sure what that is all about. Also when we walk our dogs I keep them on a very short leash, I stop if they want but I don't give them free rein and they are close to me and under control when a car comes by..so far they have been very good. Even when I haul wood into the house I don't get herded like I used to with the other shelties.

Finnie does something similar and it’s because of something that happened when he was just under a year old. I’d turned the stove element on but had to run upstairs for a second. When I went back down it was smoking a bit and I had to rush which with the smell spooked him. After that anytime I was cooking something he’d run upstairs! I had a heck of a time but I managed to desensitize him of it by giving him lots of treats for staying in the kitchen. Every now and then if something burns or smokes a bit in the oven or on the stove he does it again but it’s much easier to get him over it.

 

[Caro]

Hi and welcome.

First let me say, your pup is an adolescent and her behaviour is pretty normal. Dog's brains change around this age and they do become forgetful, have regressions and appear to be willful. But actually it's just them having trouble focusing because of the changes in their brains. They are still taking things in and will still be learning. Your girl will also be struggling with hormone surges too. Fortunately, doggy adolescence does not last as long as human ones. In smaller dogs and females it can be shorter, but it can last up to 18mths old in various forms. Their jaw is also growing so, although they have their adult teeth now, those teeth are settling into their jaw and so can still be painful. Make sure she has lot of things available to chew on to help.

Sometimes car reactivity can the excitement of the movement and noise, typical of an adolescent, but other times it can be a really strong herding instinct. If it's the latter, it's impossible to train out. I've had an instinctive car chaser, he could never be trusted. You'd be surprised how often car reactivity had come up on SF over the years.

For car reactivity, I prefer to use a squeaky toy and not food. Shelties are pretty food focused and if you don't get your timing right you could increase the value of reacting to the car. It doesn't take long for them to know 1) they have to react at the car first to get the treat (they 'backchain'), 2) cars = treats so I should always be on the look out for cars - a disaster if you've got an instinctive chaser. As you walk along the road, have a play with your dog, make focusing on you more fun than focusing on the cars. That's why a squeaky toy is handy, that sound really gets into their head. Also do things like u-turns, walk fast, jog, walk slow, turn in a circle. These are all designed as fun distracters, and they get the dog to focus on you - they don't know what to expect next. We walk linear and look about, that's not natural for a dog, so she's making her own entertainment.

I've got to head to an appointment so I'll type up some more later.

 

[woof]

Hi and welcome.

First let me say, your pup is an adolescent and her behaviour is pretty normal. Dog's brains change around this age and they do become forgetful, have regressions and appear to be willful. But actually it's just them having trouble focusing because of the changes in their brains. They are still taking things in and will still be learning. Your girl will also be struggling with hormone surges too. Fortunately, doggy adolescence does not last as long as human ones. In smaller dogs and females it can be shorter, but it can last up to 18mths old in various forms. Their jaw is also growing so, although they have their adult teeth now, those teeth are settling into their jaw and so can still be painful. Make sure she has lot of things available to chew on to help.

Sometimes car reactivity can the excitement of the movement and noise, typical of an adolescent, but other times it can be a really strong herding instinct. If it's the latter, it's impossible to train out. I've had an instinctive car chaser, he could never be trusted. You'd be surprised how often car reactivity had come up on SF over the years.

For car reactivity, I prefer to use a squeaky toy and not food. Shelties are pretty food focused and if you don't get your timing right you could increase the value of reacting to the car. It doesn't take long for them to know 1) they have to react at the car first to get the treat (they 'backchain'), 2) cars = treats so I should always be on the look out for cars - a disaster if you've got an instinctive chaser. As you walk along the road, have a play with your dog, make focusing on you more fun than focusing on the cars. That's why a squeaky toy is handy, that sound really gets into their head. Also do things like u-turns, walk fast, jog, walk slow, turn in a circle. These are all designed as fun distracters, and they get the dog to focus on you - they don't know what to expect next. We walk linear and look about, that's not natural for a dog, so she's making her own entertainment.

I've got to head to an appointment so I'll type up some more later.

I agree. If you use treats for any behavior timing is everything and exactly what are you treating for-- the classic clicker training routine. When I walk the dogs and a car is coming I get them off the road and into the barrow ditch by about a yard or so and then I talk to them and if they don't react praise them. Then after the car is gone I wait a second and say OK and off we go.. Shelties love routines so I give them a routine when cars come along..

 

[woof]

One of my current shelties is afraid of or reacts to smoke. We had the fire pit going the other day and she was terrified and wanted desperately back into the house. The other day when we started the wood stove and it was a big smoky in the house she flew around the place barking and was very upset??? I have never had a dog react this way to smoke not sure what that is all about. Also when we walk our dogs I keep them on a very short leash, I stop if they want but I don't give them free rein and they are close to me and under control when a car comes by..so far they have been very good. Even when I haul wood into the house I don't get herded like I used to with the other shelties.

I appologize for not editing this a little better and smoothing out the wrinkles..

 

[JacqueZ]

This is about the age where I actually liked to use some of the "dominating" behavior with my puppies, nothing aggressive of course, but I found
a) making them sit when I'm putting their food down.
b) When exiting or entering a room or house together block them with your body so you go first.
c) if giving them a treat make them wait for you to say a release command before they can have it (this is the first step of balancing something on the dogs nose and though I've never gotten to that point, being able to shove fresh turkey under the dogs nose and have them turn away until you say ok, is the most important trick I've ever trained them in)
Work these into your daily routines, have them sit before you throw a toy, stop on walks and make them give you their paw, or touch an object, jump on a bench ... Its just constantly working training into your daily activities, making sure they're looking to you for direction. Both of our dogs had to go all the way back to being on a leash continuously (even in the house) for different reasons. One got over stimulated over changes in our living situations when we bought a house and the other had a rough hormone patch before being fixed that led to aggression. Don't be afraid to go back to basics.

There are a lot of things to try, with the reaction to cars; I will say in my experience it is something that will need constant reinforcement, even after you get past the initial hurdle. We had to find a location to walk our sheltie that was on a road but pretty far away. It was a parkway so the cars were a little slower, and there was a good 5 to 8 ft between us and road. We started with really high value treats, fresh turkey so even in the midst of her excitement she was able to focus on them. Whenever we heard a car, we'd have her sit down, focus on the turkey until it passed and then if she stayed calm she could get the treat. We worked our way down to lesser treats (my coat pockets are always full of dog biscuits) and worked up to being closer or on the road. At 11 Honey almost never barks or lunges anymore, but as soon as she hears one, she does move off the road into the yard, and sit and wait for it to pass so she can get her treat.

The most important thing to remember is that anything can be trained/managed with our companions, even when we feel like it's not getting any better, their brains are working and they are learning. There were times I had to physically sit down and wrap myself around the dogs to hold them still, times walking them made me want to cry. Keep at it though, keep trying new things, and you'll eventually find what works for the two of you.

 

[Caro]

BBQ - it sounds like she's being 'silly', humping is often and excited or play behaviour. It may have been you laughed once at something she did as a puppy when there was a BBQ and she's just never forgotten. One thought I had is to close the behaviour down. So when she does this, put her lead on and take her inside without any fanfare, just a simple no. Withdraw your attention until she settles down.

Walks - never think you can tire out a sheepdog! I made that mistake, walked 4 hours a day and still had crazy antics coming home. They'd settle when eventually their adrenalin levels settled.

Here's some notes from the classes I teach, much of which focuses on walking nicely.
- my number one rule is do not yank or pull on leads. We are teaching the dogs it's okay to pull by doing this.
- take meandering walks, change directions, stop and do things on the walk (like obedience commands or play), we are linear walkers, dogs are not. Stopping and standing still often doesn't work to stop pulling, changing direction is a better option. Left turns in particular requires the dog has to keep in tight - although you may want to do right turns more until you get better focus so you don't trip. I teach my dogs 'turn' as they are little Shelties (Kismet is 11lb) and I don't want to step on them, I just say turn as I'm turning left. I also use 'let's go' for when we are moving off and 'this way' when we change direction. Dogs enjoy the feed back.
- use u-turns and walking in circles when you are losing your dog's focus or there is potential for reactivity (know your dog's 'red zone')
- switch on your dog's brain before you leave home. The idea of a walk tends to ratchet up the excitement and you're just asking for crazy antics. Do some obedience and focus commands before you leave the perimeter so your dog isn't operating on instinct alone. They can still have fun, but in a more thoughtful way.
- talk to your dog, or touch your dog (for bigger dogs) keep the connection going so that it's more than just a lead connecting you. Remember dogs don't understand leashes like we (or birds) do, they don't get the connectivity, that is up to you.
- all treats should come from your side, and the hand on that side (if they walk on the left then treat from your left hand to a dog on the left side and keep your treats on the left). Dogs are more inclined to keep going in front to look at our faces and then we reinforce by treating them at the front (or with our right hands). Teach them the best place to be is by your side.
- know your 'leave-it' command. Leave it means you are never going to get what I'm telling you to leave. That could mean the food on the ground, that dog in the distance, the snake in the grass. I give this link to the AKC video on leave it for my class - www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylr6scuE2zY
- treat toss heel is the latest trend in getting your dog into a heel

. For my dogs I don't need in an obedience heel, or a left heel, I tap my leg and say 'close' to get them in tighter. Teaching a hand target is also a useful way to move your dog around, including getting them in tight. Handy for getting them in a car or on the scales at the vet too. Hand Target from Smart Dog University

Hope this helps. PS - sorry it looks like the videos may be out of order.