Need Help With Cars

Ann

Ann

Moderator
Posting this for Sheltielover17

I have an 'almost' 8 month old Sheltie puppy, Poppy, who has started to lunge and go crazy when cars pass. Usually it's the fast ones, but slow have caught her eye as well. I've tried to have her sit, I keep her on the inside on the road and close to my leg, I give her treats when she does the right thing, I used the clicker, etc. but nothing is snapping her out of 'the zone.' I live in a busy suburb and take long walks with her with other dogs, but she has gotten worse. I am discouraged since I realized today that the walk is no longer fun. I have her on a harness and am petrified she will break loose. A few months ago I was teaching her to go to the side and I'd say "watch out." She did it for a while - and randomly does it now, but today was the absolute worst. It's like a shark with a feeding frenzy. She actively looks for cars - I need to find a way to calm her down so she'll listen. I wondered if you've had success with Megan?? Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions. I saw that someone suggested a book called Chase and left a link, but the link said "error" when I clicked on it.
 
This happened with Brodie during Covid but started with a new neighbor who liked to drive up in front of our house instead of the opposing hill closer to his house. He would rev his car right in front of our home which caught Brodie's attention. When I talked to him going about it in the 'we're having a problem with our dog and cars and could you help us out' attitude - he got worse. I sought out all sorts of help.

What I have found least effective - making them sit and watch - keeps his attention ON the car, actually made him worse and was very, very frustrating to me. It is a wide spread training technique that I found utterly wrong for my dog.

What I have found most effective - I started with adding a Herm Sprenger micro-prong collar. I know it is controversial, but used properly it can be an effective tool. Brodie - even as a lighter coated sheltie, he has enough fur and the prongs really are small, that it's not harmful to him but does need to be sized properly. With him, when he first catches sight of something, his tail goes up and he starts to walk lightly on his tip toes - I can't rely on watching his ears because he is always on alert to some extent - the collar reminds him he needs to stay near me and keeps his excitement in check. We were visiting our son in NJ alot during this time and had tons of practice in a busy area. I found with the prong on in a city setting, walks became MORE relaxing as Brodie didn't ramp up. As time went on, I mixed things up - some walks with, some walks without. The goal was to get HIM to check himself. Without the prong collar on, practicing around our neighborhood, as soon as I saw or hear a trigger, I tossed treats on the road - goal is to keep his attention down and away from the exciting object, not making him watch his trigger, the goal was to keep him eating versus looking at the trigger. I ran across ONE trainer, who said to take the dog into a reactive setting, with Brodie this can be anywhere so the neighborhood is fine. The second I see him react, redirect his attention with food, for a car, keep it redirected, for another dog, turn around and walk the other way. If he doesn't lunge, bark, react, he gets a special treat from another pocket and praise. If he reacts in any way, no treat. He caught on quickly and it's a game for him now. Now the excitement is for the reward of a job well done. If he walks on the other side of the street from a neighborhood dog, he is all excited for mommy to tell him he did good and he gets yummy stuff. Deacon is our third wheel who is just along to enjoy the treats! There remains one neighborhood dog, a Staffie, that is passive aggressive, Brodie is scared of THAT dog who stares - owner thinks he is friendly and wouldn't hurt a flea and doesn't know why not a single neighborhood dog likes theirs - I'm like 'dude, keep your dog from exhibiting behavior!' but he doesn't understand staring is expressing dominance.

This has taken a LONG time - think years, not days. It required me to ban my husband from walking Brodie - hubby is NOT aware of his surroundings at all, he doesn't pay attention to what's on the other end of the leash and he completely sucks at consistency. He was ending up treating Brodie AFTER he reacted - and didn't get that he was rewarding bad behavior. For Poppy, step one is I would add on a micro-prong and practice with it in a quiet setting so Poppy understands this new thing. Owner MUST be responsible - this can be a hurtful item if used improperly. Walks should be with a loose-ish leash and where just a small change can be felt.

Is Brodie still reactive? Yes, at times. As an intense, highly aware of his surroundings dog - it's part of his make-up. Do I catch everything, nope. When we travel, I still carry the micro-prongs in my car with me. I do find in a high-stress environment, it allows him to relax and let ME be the one on look-out.
 
When Teddy was a puppy a neighbor who has a very well trained Lab came by to visit and I noticed his collar which was a split ring design in the middle is a solid brass ring. Was told it was a blessing if he got hung up on vegetation while hunting it kept him from hurting himself.
Because of my handicap,I prefer a harness for Teddy, but was always worried he would get out of it.
I bought Teddy a split ring collar and he wears his harness. I had a leather shop make a double clip short sturdy leather strap. One end clips to the split ring and the other end to the harness where I clip his leash.
This way if he ever undid his harness I still am connected to him at the collar. Adds just a little safety if they are prone to bolting. Never had to test it out for real but I am glad it's there for his safety.
 
I totally agree with Sandy. I used the prong collar on Zulu when he was a pup. He would pull on the lead and jump at vehicles. I saw a video on U Tube on how to properly use the collar. It only took a few weeks for Zulu to figure out he was the one causing the collar to tighten up. He now walks by my side on a 3' lead and harness. To this day, if he gets a little excited, and starts to pull on the lead, he feels the tension, and will fall back on pace. I still give him high praise when he does this on his own. He is not perfect, school buses, and loud vehicles are still a trigger, so I have to pay attention his level of excitement and get him to focus on me until the vehicle passes. Purchase a high-quality lead and harness for safety. The best thing about Shelties is they are super smart, and love to please you. Don't give up, with a little work, she will be on her best behavior shortly!
 
Sorry to hear about the car problem. I had a very nervous shelitie once that was the opposite-- tried to run from cars and trucks. I have had good success with the "off the road" command and then sit when cars approach- not easy on a busy street and I stand between the car and the dogs. Sounds like you are dong all the things I would do so no good advice. Maybe try to just go out and stand off the road and try to work with her without the walking..there may be something about the sound of cars that just will always get to her. Our crew barks at some cars going by when they are in the house but not on walks. The key is also to be calm yourself of course- hope she will grow out of it. My nervous nellie would sometimes pull on her lead when some cars came by but she did deal with it eventually. And I always praised her but never used treats just praise. Stuff like this has convinced me that Shelies need harnesses not collars where I walk. If it were me I would take a folding chair and go sit -safely away form the road with her and just try to desensitize her with each passing car, maybe at first a long way from the road and eventually closer???-- maybe in my lap--I know some dogs are just wired differently-- good luck.
 
I agree with the don't treat for distracting from cars - it just increases their value and is likely to make things worse and she'll start looking for cars to get the treat. On the plus side, it's something they often grow out of (or they can get worse and become a car chaser).

My recommendation is to always use a distractor, and unless she's ball obsessed then the best thing at that age is a squeaky toy. You need to be more exciting than the traffic. I'd suggest stopping and having play and keeping her focus with squeaking the toy - squeaks have an amazing ability to get through an adolescent brain when other things don't. I would mix that up with changes of walking direction - so if she looks like she's going to be silly, do a u-turn and walk back the other way, make her walk in a circle around you and generally keep her moving in an unpredictable pattern.

Also, before you leave the house you need to switch her brain on. When dogs are taken on walks they are often in such a heightened state of excitement that it doesn't take much to get them at a 10 level crazy where they brain is not functioning at all. Those obedience commands need to be done before you leave home - like 'look at me' or 'watch out' (do different ones each time so she doesn't fall into a pattern and not think again). On the first part of the walk if she wants to sniff, let her - that can also help them to think.
 
Caro said:
I agree with the don't treat for distracting from cars - it just increases their value and is likely to make things worse and she'll start looking for cars to get the treat. On the plus side, it's something they often grow out of (or they can get worse and become a car chaser).

My recommendation is to always use a distractor, and unless she's ball obsessed then the best thing at that age is a squeaky toy. You need to be more exciting than the traffic. I'd suggest stopping and having play and keeping her focus with squeaking the toy - squeaks have an amazing ability to get through an adolescent brain when other things don't. I would mix that up with changes of walking direction - so if she looks like she's going to be silly, do a u-turn and walk back the other way, make her walk in a circle around you and generally keep her moving in an unpredictable pattern.

Also, before you leave the house you need to switch her brain on. When dogs are taken on walks they are often in such a heightened state of excitement that it doesn't take much to get them at a 10 level crazy where they brain is not functioning at all. Those obedience commands need to be done before you leave home - like 'look at me' or 'watch out' (do different ones each time so she doesn't fall into a pattern and not think again). On the first part of the walk if she wants to sniff, let her - that can also help them to think.
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Ann said:
Posting this for Sheltielover17

I have an 'almost' 8 month old Sheltie puppy, Poppy, who has started to lunge and go crazy when cars pass. Usually it's the fast ones, but slow have caught her eye as well. I've tried to have her sit, I keep her on the inside on the road and close to my leg, I give her treats when she does the right thing, I used the clicker, etc. but nothing is snapping her out of 'the zone.' I live in a busy suburb and take long walks with her with other dogs, but she has gotten worse. I am discouraged since I realized today that the walk is no longer fun. I have her on a harness and am petrified she will break loose. A few months ago I was teaching her to go to the side and I'd say "watch out." She did it for a while - and randomly does it now, but today was the absolute worst. It's like a shark with a feeding frenzy. She actively looks for cars - I need to find a way to calm her down so she'll listen. I wondered if you've had success with Megan?? Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions. I saw that someone suggested a book called Chase and left a link, but the link said "error" when I clicked on it.
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I wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions for Poppy and car chasing! I tried a distractor, clicker, whistle - nothing worked BUT little pieces of steak tidbits worked like a charm - and continue to work!
 
So no help on the car but on the worry. Spitfire is on double leash probation for life. I put a collar and harness on him. Then attach a bungie to both and the leash (looked but cannot find the bungie for a link) That way when he decides to bolt I get a tug and two chances to grab him before he slips out of stuff. NEVER trust Spitfire is the motto.
 
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