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chasing cars

1663 Views 5 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Castlemaid
I have a problem with my 2yr old G.Shep chasing anything on wheels...kids bikes, gold cart, lawn mower, cars going up/down road. I could live with all of them except the car chasing.

We have invisible fencing for him because of this very problem. He has ran away repeatedly when he was younger because he would chase cars. Now he will sit at the very edge of his boundary, patiently wait for a car, get in the "on your mark, get set, GO!" position, and start running as soon as the car gets near him. He of course stops because of the fence. And then sits to wait for another to come by.

As per my trainer, I have repeatedly tried him w/ collar and leash, so that as soon as he makes a move, I correct him. My problem is, he won't make a move on the leash. He is very obedient on the leash. I have tried a LONG lead (30ft?), he still knows its attached to him. I have tried just hooking either lead to a normal flat collars vs. pinch, still nothing.

My next move is buying a remote shock collar and be able to shock him from a distance. I just don't think that is going to do the trick.

He is a working schutzhund dog, so of course I want him to chase, but not cars.

Any suggestions?
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I did the shock collar with both of mine
neither one has a fear of Autos. It worked but you have to keep doing it. they usually come charging when a car pulls in out driveway. Shock worked but then my trainer took it back they still go running up to cars
I don't know if you'd want to do it with this particular dog,
but getting a friend to drive by and throw out noise makers
might help. Noise makers being pots, pans, cans filled with
pebbles, etc.

Check with someone first, I only suggest this because it
worked for me with a non-gsd YEARS ago but I don't
know about the schutzhund aspect. Because of that, you
might not want to do this particular method. I know if I
had needed to do something with my last gsd, this totally
would not have bothered her, she was pretty fearless even
with fireworks, etc.
My GSD only chases after cars, unfortunately. He has no fear whatsoever. I am presently using the e-collar when I walk him. He has improved but still has the urge randomly. This is a horrible, dangerous habit and I hope the e-collar will eventually get rid of this problem. Good luck,
Debbie
Remote training would probably work, but I don't know if it's necessary. You could try lou castles crittering protocol, but again, a fence would solve the problem, or if you're using invisible fencing, move the boundaries behind the house away from the street. And supervision. And a frisbee or a ball. Your dog is amusing himself. Cars are fun. Big fun. He doesn't know cars kill. Turn that drive into frisbee or ball retrieving. Don't use noise to scare the dog, or he'll end up afraid of thunderstorms and fireworks (and that really sucks).
I'd really worry about relying on an invisible fence to contain a high-drive Schutzhund dog. There may be a time when his drives overcome all his training and he blows by the fence and gets killed.
It does happen.

And though no real danger to himself if he chases passerbys I would not tolerate that either. I just dont' think it is any more acceptable for my dog to run up to strangers and bark at them (even if he can't get at them) than it is acceptable for me to run out of the house yelling and threatening people that walk innocently by.

He knows when he is on a long line and won't try to chase? I'd stick with the long line then. He can spend time outside, and stay safe. And the supervision part makes a bit difference. My dog is like yours, good as gold when I'm around, but if I ever let her out on her own, I'm sure she would find some very interesting ways to entertain herself. So I'm always out with her, or I tie her out, but with supervision.

Some of the suggestions are worth a try. I think maybe keeping him in the back yard would be the best compromise?
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