Need help with chasing cars!

mcguiregirl2248 said:
Marlie doesn't do it when she is on a leash and we are out walking, she only does it in our fenced in yard when she is free. I think that is why it is hard for me to break her of it. Not to mention that I can't be outside with her all the time - that's why we got a fence. Believe me it scares me. Everyone knows to check the gates before letting the dogs out ever, I don't know if she would stop if it was open. I'm sure that there is something that I can do. We'll get it fixed - someday!
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Thats how Pepper was if she was on a leash she was fine but in the fenced yard she would go nuts spinning and barking. I was always worried about her getting out and getting hit by a car. Of course she was 8 mounths old when this happened. She now has a reliable recall and can be trusted not to chase anything while she is off leash.
 
If she is 'running the fence' to do this you will need to impede her being able to run along the fence line. I have an inner fence for my dogs so they cannot get to the fenceline (this was recommended to me by a vet psych). ALso - put obstacles in the way along the fenceline so she cannot run in a straight line (like pot plants, bicycles, anything she cannot jump over quickly).

Can she see through the fence to see the cars or is she running at the sound of cars. If it is the visual stimulation and she can see through the fence you can hang some shade cloth over the fence so she cannot see through it.

Be careful with this behaviour as it does translate into bad behaviour around cars when outside the yard too. My dogs were being stupid in the car at other cars going past and now they go stupid when a car goes past when we are walking.

Good luck
 
BarbV said:
The best advice I can give relates to leash-walking only.

When Bacca and I did puppy-school, they taught us two techniques. Neither of which were particularly harsh and still relied on positive reinforcement at the end.

1) If leash-walking and pup gets distracted with something - either a car going by or something nasty-smelling dead thing - keep on walking, even if you are almost dragging the pup, telling him to "leave it" - as soon as the pup decides to put his attention back on you or slackens back on the leash, even if it's just moving again and glancing at you, then treat and praise (I suppose it would work for clicker training too)

2) As already mentioned, the leash-tug - this is not a sharp snap, but more of a firm pull. It can also be used with "drag" method above - tug, then drag. And again, once pup acknowledges you again or slackens the leash, treat and praise.

I use the leash-tug when I'm walking the pups and they decide they want a faster pace then I'm prepared to go. I will slowly but firmly pull back on the leash until my arm is back at my side. As soon as I feel slack on the leash, then I praise them.

Hope this helps!

Barb
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I've tried to keep on walking, and praising, clicking when she is beside me and not being pulled or pulling me, but it does not work, as she just continues to lunge. She will lunge under my feet and almost trip me. I hold he right next to me, I mean right against my leg, with the leash tight the entire time and she still tries to lunge.

I also tried 'tugging' the leash, but no help there. She does not care as she is the one that lunges at the car and basically 'tugs' herself! Like I said, I am surprised that she has not hung herself. She will pull so hard, that it is hard for her to breathe and she hacks, yet she does not stop.

In the yard, she is fine. It's just outside the yard, on a leash and the other day at the dog park when she was off leash, but thank God that the car was much to far away for her to catch. She took off at full speed and kept running even when the car was out of sight. (needless to say, her off leash privelages were over for the day) I just don't want to ALWAYS have her leashed. I love going to the park and letting her run and play, but chasing cars is deadly. I might have to try the pinch or electric collars :( if I can't think of anything else to stop her.
 
When I took my Bichon, Spike, to training classes he was always lunging on the leash and I was afraid that he would choke himself to death. They told me that some dogs do choke to death and recommended that I use a pinch collar. I saw some of the other dogs wearing it and at first the dogs panicked, but by the time they had walked back and forth for 15 steps, the dogs quit pulling and were walking on a loose leash without panicking. If it's the only way to save your dog's from choking, go for it. Just make sure you take it off as soon as you get home.
 
*Caro said:
If she is 'running the fence' to do this you will need to impede her being able to run along the fence line. I have an inner fence for my dogs so they cannot get to the fenceline (this was recommended to me by a vet psych). ALso - put obstacles in the way along the fenceline so she cannot run in a straight line (like pot plants, bicycles, anything she cannot jump over quickly).

Can she see through the fence to see the cars or is she running at the sound of cars. If it is the visual stimulation and she can see through the fence you can hang some shade cloth over the fence so she cannot see through it.

Be careful with this behaviour as it does translate into bad behaviour around cars when outside the yard too. My dogs were being stupid in the car at other cars going past and now they go stupid when a car goes past when we are walking.

Good luck
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Thanks for the input. She is running the fence when she sees the cars. I actually have weed paper that I might be able to rig up over the ends of the fence on both sides of the yard that she can see out of. Like I said before, it's not as bad during the summer when the corn and the leaves are up, she can't see the cars coming. As far as her doing this outside of the fence, it has never been an issue. She is fine on the leash, actually she is afraid of bikes and cars moving when she is on the leash. And while she is in the car, she just lays on the front seat. Car rides make her sick. I'm really thinking that the weed paper will work!! Thanks again! :winkgrin:
 
That was cute! It reminded me of my last sheltie Dorian. I would take him rollerblading in this huge park (11 kms around the inner road) and he would run beside me or ahead of me, and then when car was coming he would race it on the grass, then run back to me, and he would do this the entire time we were there. In fact, to my dismay:(, my mom taught him to race our car home on the street!!!!:eek2: (ok residential but still - he would cry and whine for blocks before we got home because he knew that he would get to run - he would literally race the car home - (she taught him this while I was studying in the US, so I was not home to see this, by the time I got back, it was in his blood. If you did not let him out to race, he would howl and cry all the way home and jump all over the car :mad:))

And now I have Maia. I hope she will grow out of this, but right now, I just cannot trust her anywhere near cars.
 
I also have a big problem with car chasing. He would lunge, bark and go cazy when I can passes. I found these articles to help train my dog to stop.

http://www.dogadvice.co.uk/car-chasing-dogs-how-to-cure-car-your-car-chasing-dog/

http://www.perfectpaws.com/chase.html

I train him in the house with a ball like what written in the article. On our walks, when a car approach I say "off" and lure him with a treat to sit. It wouldn't always work. It took almost 2 months before I saw any improvements. Now I can say "off" and he will watch the car go by and then I give him a treat. I hope this helps.
 
Why some dogs chase

This report on the Austn catalyst (scientific) program showed some recent research into dog vision which helps explain why some dogs chase. It is a fascinating finding - that long nose dogs have a 'visual streak', seeing movement across a wide area but not so well at the top and bottom as animals with 'area centralis' or central vision like us (and pugs). For example - long nose dogs dont see the whole bicycle well but they see the bicycle wheels moving from a distance. Anyway, it is pretty interesting. Here is the transcript.

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s953902.htm
 
Milo knows the 'leave it' command, which is essentially the same thing as the 'off' command but as far as he's concerned it doesn't apply to cars.

Milo is not just attracted to the movement of cars, but he's attracted to the sound. He lives in an area where he can hear traffic all of the time yet it still makes him very excited. No amount of decensitising has worked. If he hears traffic, even from a mile or more away he'll still try and take off to find it.

I only have one critisism about the tennis ball training techniques mentioned. My dogs both love to play fetch, so does this mean you can never play fetch with them again, since they're not allowed to chase the ball? For my dog's I'm not sure that I'd want to try this kind of training technique, since fetch is one of their all time favorite pass times as well as a means of bonding with them. I'm not sure it's something I'd want to take away from them.

I'm also not sure I believe those training techniques take into account the natural herding instinct of some dogs. I believe that in some the drive to herd/chase is just too high. Milo was bad with cars right from day one, no one thing brought it on. As much as I'd love for him to change, I don't think he ever will. To try and take away the instinct to herd/chase is to try and take away a huge part of what makes a sheltie a sheltie. I'm not sure it can be done.
 
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