Car chasing

M

madmiller57

Forums Novice
Anybody have any advice on stopping our pup from chasing cars when we're out for a walk? She is on a leash and I have tried stopping when I hear a car approaching from behind and luring her into a sit with a treat. I won't give her the treat if she chases the car but so far the pull of the car seems to be stronger than the pull of the treat (which amazes me because she REALLY likes the treats!)
 
when I was growing up we had a car chaser. We lived in the country and this dog (6 year old male) began chasing cars that went past and would not stop until the car was way down the street 1\4 mile or so. My parents heard that one way to break them was to:

Throw water balloons out the window to get them to stop. It's a worth a try!
 
I have a similar problem - except my male will chase a car far in the distance when he is off lead - quite scary.

Re the chasing when she is with you - get a whistle and blow it hard. The dogs will instantly look at you and not the car. It will start associating the loud noise with the car and stop being so enticed by it. I use this method to get Deska off cars he is chasing - my only problem is he can be at quite a distance before I get the whistle out and have to blow it really hard and loud. I have a dog whistle but havent found a sound that is as annoying to him as a normal whistle. It works so well I am looking for a remote dog collar with a whistle or beeping sound now - not having much luck though.

Also rather than luring her into a sit - try a 'look at me' instead. When I did one-on-one training for the car and bike chasing I was advised to do this instead so my dog will always look at me first. Of course he does look at me now but if I am not quick enough with the treat he goes after the bicycle, darn shelties are too smart.
 
My sheltie from my childhood used to chase cars. My parents had a hard time with her. My male Sheltie that I have now hates bicycles. When kids ride one by our house he goes crazy. Im lucky though he does stop when I yell at him to! I just wonder though if hes just guarding our yard from them maye he is really frightened by them?
 
Mine loves Harley's and loud pipes on cars. I actually walk my dog on a short leash that has a bungee cord built in to where it hooks up. So when she becomes agitated I tap her with my foot in the butt and give her a quick tug on the leash. And we continue to walk. With the bungee effect it doesn't jerk her like a solid leash. Also, at that time I give her my Ah-Ah sound. The Ah-Ah sound I use for anything I don't want her doing. I also use this method if she's getting too excited around dogs. She's finally quit being a helicopter dog.:lol:

And living in the country, we didn't use water balloons, but a bucket full of water. A water gun, such as the ones built like the type used to drain water from boats, would be a safer way. When you hit them with water, you don't want them running INTO the moving vehicle.
 
Your lucky your dogs stops - Deska becomes so fixated on the car its really hard to break thru. I have had several people at the local oval (whose car he has chase) volunteer to shoot at Deska with a high powered water pistol :wink2: - but I think D would just think it was fun. Plus he tends to run round and then in front of the car in a true herding formation so he would be hard to catch.

I was told by another sheltie trainer to be careful about using water guns on a dog when you also use water guns for groomer.
 
Sadie will only chase cars if there is a barrier such as a fence or if she's on leash. When I yell her name loudly she snaps out of it and stops chasing. When she's off leash in front of our house with us, she completely ignores cars. She does lunge at them on leash occasionally and watches cars go by us but I've never had too much trouble with her. I give her a small tug and a no and she'll stop.

Milo is another story. He is not to be trusted off leash in any area where he can hear traffic. He's taken off out of my parents yard to chase cars...VERY scary. Thankfully we got to him before he got to the REALLY busy road. He is very excited by loud vehicles like big trucks, buses and especially motorcycles. Even if there's traffic miles away, if he can hear it even a little, he fixates on it and tries to find it. It's an obsession with him, when he here's it he hears nothing else. I've taken him to places where I thought we were far enough away that he wouldn't hear traffic sounds but have always ended up leashing him to keep him safe. One place I took him I thought there was no way he could get the traffic. I didn't realize you could even hear it until I saw Milo considering jumping off of the Niagara Escarpment (max. height is 335 Metres, its a cliff) to get to it!

For some shelties its just in their nature. I honestly think that with some, you can't train it out of them
 
If you go the water route on a loose car chasing dog, you want to soak/drench the dog. A regular water gun would not work. You would probably want a super soaker with the end removed. The thing they use for boats is like a cannon. It sucks water up a large tube then you plunge it out. They are used to remove vast amounts of water from inside a boat, kind of like a bilge pump. The buckets we used were like 5 gallons.

We always had at least one dog that would chase cars. Heck my Dad had a horse that would chase them if he was out in the front area. :eek2:
 
chasing cars question

I'm new here-and I have a question about the whistle. What do you do after you blow it? Do you call the dog, because ours doesn't always come when she's in the "chase mode." Seems like she gets crazy and doesn't pay attention to us (or the treats) at all. We need help!
 
My Lucy chases cars too. I can tell you the exact day it started too. She doesn't chase all cars, just loud ones, fast ones, and trucks and motorcycles. If the car is going the speed limit or under, she couldn't be bothered. She even chases them inside the house by throwing herself at the door or couch to try to get them.

When we're outside and I hear a fast/loud car coming, I put Lucy between my legs, hold her and tell her "No" in a firm but quiet voice. She tenses and growls a bit, but when the car passes, I always tell her "Good Girl" and give her a treat. It's been a year now, and she's better. We still stick to side streets when walking her, and I can never imagine her being off lead. There's an 8 year old Sheltie down the street and he doesn't even use a leash. I can't imagine it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top