How do you stop this?
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| This is typical "sheepie" behavior! They have that herding instinct - and that includes herding cars, motorcycles, children - anything that seems to them that it is "out of order".
You've done what is suggested - having him sit - I would lure him to "STAY" with some treats! You can also try using a prong collar and/or gentle leader (so he won't be apt to pull). Try and distract him away from the cars (if possible). Good Luck - I know how scary that can be! Kristen |
| Deskwench,
I know all about this. After a few months of completely ignoring cars, Henry began to lunge at cars and it was terrifying. I am surprised and thankful that Henry is still alive as I don't outweigh him by much. This is what I did: we went out the garage every day and sat in the driveway to watch the cars go by. We inched closer to the street each day, and when Henry reacted we backed up until he was far enough back to just watch. He got a treat each time a car went by and he did not stand. When we got to the edge of the road, he got to stand quietly by my side and watch the cars go by without reacting. Each time he reacted, we backed up the training until he could be calm. After he learned to stand, we walked the width of the driveway, along the shoulder of the road and he got a treat for not reacting. We walked a little further each day, until we got to a busy intersection and sat and watched the cars go by. Again, any reaction and we went backwards in the training to get him to a calm point. I am sorry to tell you, this process took months of going out every day for 15-30 minutes. I used "calm puppy" along with quiet stroking as my signal, and now if he is disturbed by an especially loud motor or truck, I can usually get him to lean against me calmly with "calm puppy" and stroking. My dog trainer told me it is very important that you be calm during this training. You can't tighten up your arms or change the way you hold the leash. Your stress is communicated directly down the leash to your dog. The good news is that this worked, and Henry (knock wood) ignores cars now. The bad news is that we couldn't do anything else during this training--we did not walk at all. Thank god for doggy day care and the dog park, you will want to find another place for exercise if you try this. Good luck! |
| I'm glad to find this post, as Dancer has recently started doing this as well. She's almost 21 weeks old, and very protective. She's not yappy, but will definitely let us know if someone is on the property, or she''ll bark once or twice at her own reflection. Then she settles. She doesn't really bark like crazy at other people, but she will give one or two quiet woofs at someone walking down the street when we go for walks. She doesn't bark or lunge at cars, but she does seem to want to chase them. When I walk her I just tell her good girl when she is quiet when I see someone or something that I think she is going to bark at or pull towards. So she is getting positive reinforcement when she is behaving, and then if she does bark or pull I say 'no, quiet'' And she does seem to listen. Then I praise her and after a few minutes on our walk she shows less of a reaction to things. But we go through that every day, so I'm not sure if she is just a little more anxious at the beginning of our walks or what.
If someone wants to pet her, or is someone approaches us (they always do, saying oh that's so cute, what is it?) I tell her to sit and stay and tell the person who is greeting her to only pet her as long as she stays sitting. If she jumps up I tell her to sit again and make sure the person doesn't pet her till she is again sitting. I've noticed Dancer really doesn't like things óut of place'a sheepie instinct for sure, but it can also signal problems. I make sure I put something in the house ''not right'' at least once every couple days, like a chair upside down, or put something on the floor that isn;t supposed to be there like the coffee maker. She used to bark at it like crazy until I put it back., but she is getting used to it. I just want her to get used to strange things so that she isn't anxious about going to dog shows in another month or so. |
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I am with brittpressyd I think a prong collar would help I used to think they were horrable things until I talked at long langth with my trainer who uses them she actually put one on her own neck.I nows use a prong collar on Grizzy and it is amazing he is getting so much better about jumping on strangers. He Loves People. I do think you need to work with a positive trainer before you use a prong collar though. If it is used incorrectly it can hurt you dog. Good luck.Gentle Leaders are a good tool as well but they are only useful while on the dog you can't really wean them off they head collars like you can a prong collar.  |
| Thanks for this post. Especially Henry's Mom. I think I will need to try that approach with my Lola. She is just 4 mos. and when I walk her she wants to go after the cars too. Sometimes she doesn't bother, and she's getting a little better with the "leave it" command, but I'd like her to be more calm.
Willowsprite, boy do you have your hands full! It think Dancer should meet my Lola.  I read your posts about house training and such. I'm having the same issues with Lola, but not quite as bad.
I know she'll be find once she adjusts more to her new home and I know she is terribly smart. If I could just get past those stubborn streaks
Thanks everyone, it's good to know this is somewhat normal and I'm not alone. Sue |
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