Chasing cars....

[valreegrl]

Good job
Patience and positivity work every time.

[AgileGSD]

Originally Posted by Chowgal

I've decided that I would wait to use a prong collar as a last resort and got a gently leader head collar, and it has worked well thus far(as much as Dixie hates it...). But seeing as I wanna be able to ween her off of the head collar at some point I might go to the prong to do that.

You may want to read this article about head collars: Flying Dog Press - Suzanne Clothier - The Problems With Head Halters

[Chowgal]

Thank y'all!

Originally Posted by AgileGSD

You may want to read this article about head collars: Flying Dog Press - Suzanne Clothier - The Problems With Head Halters

Thanks for the article. However, there's a few points in there that I don't agree with. My girl doesn't get anxious or nervous when it comes to the halti. She actually RUNS to it when time to go for a walk, and she carries herself even more confidently with it on than she does without it. And she actually doesn't pull without it, I just wanted a way to turn her attention away from the vehicles and to me because not even treats could avert her attention.

[MrLeadFoot]

This might be too much for a venue like this, but you might want to consider TEACHING the dog WHY he needs to be wary of cars, and not limit your efforts to just employing prevention or re-direction techniques, as those will not be all that effective in helping keep your dog from getting in the path of an oncoming car if he happens to get loose, nor will they help if we finds himself in the path of an oncoming car. Just a thought.

[jaggirl47]

Originally Posted by Good_Karma

I put Niko in a sit when I hear a car coming. I have treats, and I keep his attention on me by tossing them into his mouth. We do the "Look At That" game too, so when he looks at the car, he knows he should look at me next because I'll have a treat for him. The closer the car gets, the more treats I throw, so as the car is going by us, I am literally stuffing treats in his mouth. He gets a few more treats after the car has gone by, and then we are on our way again.

It has taken a while for us to get to this point, but he no longer lunges at the passing cars. Instead, he goes into a sit and looks at me for treats.

Good luck, I know how scary it is when that happens.

This is how I taught Leyna as well. I would actually take her near cars just to work on it. After about a week she stopped lunging.

[Castlemaid]

Originally Posted by MrLeadFoot

This might be too much for a venue like this, but you might want to consider TEACHING the dog WHY he needs to be wary of cars, and not limit your efforts to just employing prevention or re-direction techniques, as those will not be all that effective in helping keep your dog from getting in the path of an oncoming car if he happens to get loose, nor will they help if we finds himself in the path of an oncoming car. Just a thought.

Keeta went from being afraid of cars to wanting to chase them - my solution? Extreme obedience! Never put her in a situation where she could chase a car, worked on control, control, control! Did the sit and focus, but overall lots and lots and lots of obedience work - until she was reliable. If she so much as looked at a car, she got to do obedience drills - at the point now that she has absolutely ZERO interest in chasing a car. She never not once got the chance, so that behaviour never developed, and she is primed and ready to listen and heed me because of the work we have done.

I think it would be a false security to set up a scenario where the dog "almost" gets hit to teach the dog to stay away from cars - the dog may not generalize that lesson to other environments and situations.

[MrLeadFoot]

Read my other post where I describe how to do it. You'd be amazed at the results you can achieve by simply EDUCATING a dog, just like we educate people, only different. How's that for an oxymoron? :-) Seriously, try it. It can be a real life-saver. Of course, that doesn't mean you should later send your dog for his own walk in a metropolis. And, they learn it quick, instead of you toiling for months with re-direction and what-not, and at the end, while you dog may obediently be not chasing cars, you're STILL employing prevention, and your dog still doesn't know the danger of a car. I made a suggestion of something that's PROVEN to work; it's up to the reader whether or not he/she wants to try it. If anything, t's a wonderful sense of relief not having to be paranoid ALL THE TIME when your reactive dog gets in the vicinity of car, let me tell you.

Originally Posted by Castlemaid

Keeta went from being afraid of cars to wanting to chase them - my solution? Extreme obedience! Never put her in a situation where she could chase a car, worked on control, control, control! Did the sit and focus, but overall lots and lots and lots of obedience work - until she was reliable. If she so much as looked at a car, she got to do obedience drills - at the point now that she has absolutely ZERO interest in chasing a car. She never not once got the chance, so that behaviour never developed, and she is primed and ready to listen and heed me because of the work we have done.

I think it would be a false security to set up a scenario where the dog "almost" gets hit to teach the dog to stay away from cars - the dog may not generalize that lesson to other environments and situations.

[GSKnight]

The "search" button is my friend

On our walk last night, Viktor started lunging at passing cars

In the 18 days I have had him, we have walked this road everyday, with no issues related to passing cars whatsoever. Last night, he lunged at at passing car. Took me by surprise. I corrected with a firm leash tug. He did it again... a stronger leash tug and a verbal repremand. By the 3rd time, it was starting to pi$$ me off... now he was getting a warning before the car got to him. I purposfully walked him longer, to get this out of his system, and fast. Made him sit by the road as cars passed. he seemed to be getting the idea by the time we went in. I will be keeping a close eye on him tonight and see if it is still an issue.

The advice given here and in other "lunging at cars" threads has been helpful.

[Chowgal]

Originally Posted by GSKnight

The "search" button is my friend

On our walk last night, Viktor started lunging at passing cars

In the 18 days I have had him, we have walked this road everyday, with no issues related to passing cars whatsoever. Last night, he lunged at at passing car. Took me by surprise. I corrected with a firm leash tug. He did it again... a stronger leash tug and a verbal repremand. By the 3rd time, it was starting to pi$$ me off... now he was getting a warning before the car got to him. I purposfully walked him longer, to get this out of his system, and fast. Made him sit by the road as cars passed. he seemed to be getting the idea by the time we went in. I will be keeping a close eye on him tonight and see if it is still an issue.

The advice given here and in other "lunging at cars" threads has been helpful.

I'm glad this has been helpful for you. My girl is now to the point I can have her sit at the end of my driveway or in the front (un-fenced) yard with me, unleashed, and she completely ignores the passing cars, even if she's looking dead at them.