12 Week Old Car Lunging??
Does anyone else have a sheepie that does this? Is there any way I can discourage it?? |
|
|
| Actually I have two who went through phases. Their interest in cars stemmed from a fear of them. the boy got over it with me using re-orientation - I would turn away from the car and walk the other direction so he couldn't chase it (hard to do int he city I know) and the girl I finally had to use an aversive technique to get her to stop. Now they both just "watch the cars go by".
Not unusual in Sheep dogs. Great job on keeping him leashed - its is easier to fix issues and keep him safe that way. |
| I'd appreciate some tips on this, too. Our 9 month old was ignoring cars (she, too, would lunge toward them when she was younger) but the other evening when we were out walking, she lunged so forcefully that she almost got away from me. As I lunged at the leash, pop. Pulled a hamstring. OUCH.
She doesn't do it all the time, but she seems to either want to chase or herd cars. Helpful techniques appreciated. We've tried stopping when we see cars coming and making her sit; walking the other way (as much as we can in the city); and stepping on her leash. |
| Any particular types? ie style, colour, engine sound?
If you can work this out then if you detect the type before the pup lunges then you can reign in the lead and take more control, add some calming words and distract. If all cars, then maybe a bit more exposure could help, deliberately walking along the busiest roads until they simply are boring, obviously, with a dog that goes after every car maybe two collars and two leads as a precaution until the pup gets over this phase. One lead or collar may give way eventually, but two won't at the same time. Do to try taking out the excess energy before starting the walk with a bit of play in the yard first? It may sound obvious to some or maybe a little over protective, but when I am walking my boy - that is the main aim of the walk - walking the dog not being distracted by other jobs I have to do, i try to soley concentrate on him and his well being. The first thing I did with Archie when we got him at four months was walk him on paths next to busy roads in our small town, to get him used to all these strange and interesting sites and sounds, I also enforce in him that he has to stay on the pavements and not walk on the road until I expressly say so that it is safe to do so. I always walk him on the lead near roads. Like a lot of these things it just a case of consistantly re-enforcing good behaviour gently bit by bit everyday. Good luck |
Archies Slave wrote: Like a lot of these things it just a case of consistantly re-enforcing good behaviour gently bit by bit everyday.
Good luck Alternatively (and this is what finally worked for me with my girl) you can actively correct Bad behavior with a leash correction. I had had it with her car lunging and we took a walk about three weeks ago in our little developpment. We saw a total of five cars in a mile walk. Each time she tried lunging she got a leash correction (we use a micro prong collar which is a very slight aversive correction) by the fourth car, no more lunging. We have been walking since and though she looks at the cars, she no longer drops into her border collie wannabe stance (which to me indicates something frightens her) and she doesn't lunge. Now she is going to be four in September so I can truthfully say we tried practically everything else. this approach was fair, it was quick and best of all - it worked!!! But I also work with a trainer who has trained me in the correct way to use the leash corrections and fitted her with the baby prong. Just a thought. |
| Mags did the same thing when we got her, we think she was about 1-1/2 to 2 yrs old). We finally got her into obedience training and it seemed to work. Maybe puppy-kindergarten would help?
Now, she has her "moments" with lunging at cars, but it isn't nearly as bad as last year. During walks now, if she starts to revert back to her pulling and lunging ways, we make her sit and watch them for a minute or 3. Sometimes she needs to be told, reminded, and praised more then once, but it gives my arms, shoulders, knees and hips a break. We also started using a prong-collar and that has helped a ton! If you look into using one, make sure you know how to use it for training and walking properly. You can really hurt your dog if you do not use it correctly. The only problem with using it at this point is that she is so hairy that it doesn't really bother her as much as it did/does when she is shaved....thank goodness that she will be shaved in a week! Although any moving vehicle has her attention, we have noticed a strong correlation with her behavior being more aggressive when the vehicle is WHITE (that's white if it doesn't work). Maybe she thinks they are stray sheep? Not sure! |
wendycz23 wrote: Although any moving vehicle has her attention, we have noticed a strong correlation with her behavior being more aggressive when the vehicle is WHITE (that's white if it doesn't work). Maybe she thinks they are stray sheep? Not sure!
Funny, that crossed my mind (jokingly!) as I was reading what you wrote. Next thought was: we really need to get more of our guys out there to show them what actual sheep look like 
Kristine |
| ^^^
except not all sheep are white? and you hardly ever see one as white as a chevy  |
kerry wrote: ^^^
except not all sheep are white? and you hardly ever see one as white as a chevy Yes, at our house you do. We have a chevy-ot (cheviot) and her name is Snowflake!!!! |
| Ah Dawn I knew you would catch my ill conceived pun |
kerry wrote: Ah Dawn I knew you would catch my ill conceived pun
sorry - I could have held off on my response a bit longer....... 
Snowflake is the ewe on the left - with one of her twins. 
 |
| I would so love to have my own sheep...a few goats. <sigh>
That is way cool, Dawn. Love the pics. What are you doing with the lambs and can they be potty trained? 
Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: I would so love to have my own sheep...a few goats. <sigh>
That is way cool, Dawn. Love the pics. What are you doing with the lambs and can they be potty trained? Kristine I think we need to test your stock raising skills with ducks 1st..... |
| Casey was terrible for this, but we were able to correct it. Unfortunately it was not fast. It took about 6 weeks, we walked about 40 minutes to an hour a day in a soccer field by a fairly busy road. Started at a distance he could tolerate and everytime he ignored a car, I used a clicker and clicked and treated.
Once he successfully ignored 3 cars we moved closer and if he failed 3 times in a row we backed up again. I used pieces of chicken hot dog for treats, which he really liked but were not nearly as expensive as Freeze dried liver or other high value goodies. The whole process was time consuming but it worked. I remember hoping there was some simple way to get the job done but now that we are through it I'm glad we did it. Also one thing to note, it works best on a fairly busy road. If there is too much time between the cars I think it's harder for them to get desensitized but you don't want to overwhelm them. |
| I must say Kirby also tried to go after cars and motorcycles when he was younger also. We corrected his behavior every time. Now, he almost always ignores them. Once in a while, especially with motorcycles he will try but only half heartly, but his still get corrected.
It really worried me a lot when he was a puppy and I am very happy the situation has improved. |
| MO has never outgrown her need to herd the cars down the road. Fence herding has given her great exercise and the nick name, Thunder Thighs.
On a walk, lunging is a problem, but not great (anymore). When quick correction failed, we took to putting her in a sit/stay. Obviously we don't walk on buy roads or we'd get nowhere
Still there are dogs that never really grow out of it. Sam tolerated all cars and trucks except the "knacker"....the dead animal disposal truck. The idiot driver used to honk at him so between the honking stimulus and the smell, Sam would go ballistic. While others have debated the sheep angle, I still get a kick out of your title for this discussion. (12 week old car lunging).........car is lunging? |
| We had an OES that loved to herd cars. It was her pride and joy of the day. After trying several different techniques that failed, our trainer put her in a prong collar temporarily to make herding cars uncomfortable. We didn't have to use it for long. She learned quickly that it wasn't fun when walking and stopped. So we only had to use it for a few weeks. It broke my heart to use one but it worked quickly and then we were able to stop using it. We were able to walk with both us and the dog safely. Good luck. |
Lucy/Gertie wrote: We had an OES that loved to herd cars. It was her pride and joy of the day. After trying several different techniques that failed, our trainer put her in a prong collar temporarily to make herding cars uncomfortable. We didn't have to use it for long. She learned quickly that it wasn't fun when walking and stopped. So we only had to use it for a few weeks. It broke my heart to use one but it worked quickly and then we were able to stop using it.
If used properly it shouldn't be painful or "mean" dogs have a different sense of right and wrong - it took me a long time ot come to terms with this, but you have to think of things form the dog's point of view, don't humanize them. My guys will snap severely at each other to make a point, and then curl up to sleep together. thery live in a very black and white world. |
| Yes you are correct. It didn't hurt and it wasn't mean. I put it on my own neck and it didn't hurt. Like you, I hate when people put human feelings on animals. They feel deeply but don't think like humans. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|