German Shepherds Forum banner

How to shut off my dogs drive?

2K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  Doc 
#1 ·
Basically my dog has a strong prey drive. She chases down sun reflections, then chases the cats around. The most interesting thing is she barks at intruders. When the kids play in the street she's fine until they come on the grass, or when this stray cat comes on the grass. I don't mind it, and when I tell her enough she backs off but 5 seconds later she's back running window to window barking at them. I don't mind when she barks but once I verify there's no real threat and give her the "enough" command id like her to stop and not keep going on the protect mode.

Is there any way to desensitize her to the reflections, and the guarding her yard? If some one came on the property like an intruder then great, id like to be alerted but once I give the command I want her to just chill out.

Can anyone give me some insight to this?
 
#4 ·
You have to give your dog positive, constructive outlets for all that prey drive.

As others have said, tug is a great game to channel all that drive into constructive activities. Play fetch until her tongue hangs to the ground, and up your leadership through formal obedience training, structured play activities, and NILF. Once she is secure with the knowledge that you are a strong pack leader, you checking out what she alerting to and saying enough should be enough to convince her that her job is done.

One thing you can try, is when she does alert you, and you check it out, praise her for the alert. If she continues to bark and go nuts, send her to a spot and make her stay there until you release her.
The ongoing barking at people and noises is because she feels that the whole responsibility of keeping the property safe is on her shoulders, and she feels overwhelmed by it, and puts on a great big show to scare the potential threat away. She needs to know that you can step up and take control, so act in a matter that communicates this to her. I'm not sure exactly how to achieve this, some people have it naturally, others have to work at it, but the end result is the same.

As for chasing light reflections, does this come from laser play? Very addictive behaviour that can turn into serious OCD - stop all games where she is chasing light and/or shadows, and stop and redirect and such behaviour. You'll have to watch her and be on top of this and be very consistent in absolutely not allowing her to chase lights and shadows - redirect her need to chase light to playing tug with you - make other activities more fun and rewarding - play lots with her, so she looks to you to satisfy her prey drive, not kids, strangers, or moving light flashes.
 
#5 ·
We did play lazer at first we have since stopped as she could jump half way up the wall in pursuit of the red dot. She has been through alot of training. She loves Frisbee and I put her in the down position before I throw it. I make her wait until released. Shes a very smart pup. I will try working her harder and the putting her in a spot when she gets too crazy.
 
#6 ·
Unfortunately the chasing the light comes from the laser pointer. It can be difficult to desensitize. I'm actually not sure where you'd start on that one.

As for the barking. Is there anyway to block her visual access? That would be where I'd start. Then work on rewarding her for watching and not barking...but during training she can't be allowed to all out bark at any point because that will set you back.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App
 
#9 ·
SHE HAS SUPER POWERS. Either her ears are super good or her smell. She knows when people or stray cats come with in our area. I dont know how she does but even in the crate I look outside and identify the issue. Thank god its not a real intruder but I still need to check every time she reacts.

I have been doing the crate thing when she gets too crazy and I let her out when shes calm. That has worked alot honestly but Ill do some more reading. Shes a great dog and protective.
 
#7 · (Edited)
You cannot turn off prey drive but you can teach her better impulse control and leadership. practice the NILIF (check out the threads on this). Use crate time to calm her down after exercise.
I sounds like she has to much freed on and free time, leading to her making the decisions.
Regarding the light chasing: as soon as you see that she sees the dreaded light, everything stops and you remove her from the situation. No payoff in any way; no talking, treats, touch, eye contact until she is calm again. This requires leash work for a while.
 
#8 ·
The manual I have, shows the switch to turn on and off the drive located under the right rear leg next to the soft of the stomach. If you are unable to locate, perhaps desensitization and counterconditioning might work....if you choose to use counterconditioning..you have to be fast on the draw with the positive reward...real fast.

SuperG
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top