Car herding!

S

Sheltie.Mama

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Little Shay has been trying to herd cars lately. Most of the time she would stay in the backyard but run back and forth by the house.. But today I was going to put her on her chain and it was stuck in the ground and all tangled up. While I was taking care of that, someone decides to run in the middle of the road and almost got hit by a car. This is just slowly escalating. How can I turn her herding instinct over to the bunnies? (I have four that Tarra loves to herd!)
 
Both of my Shelties have been car herders on walks. I thought it was just a fluke with Jenna, but a few months ago Emmy started barking at them while on walks. My mom asked me, "What are you doing to these dogs?" :hide :lol:

Seriously, though, don't ever let her off leash. Ever. I've had to come to terms that Emmy will never be one of those dogs that will follow me around the unfenced front yard to do yard work or get the mail. Just not worth it.

One thing that has helped tremendously is bringing high value treats (mainly cheese!) with me on walks and having her sit and stay every time we see a car. She still really wants to herd the cars, but she's getting the point now.

I really would love to see other folks' advice on this. I'm sure there's more I could do.
 
I don't really know what to say other than keep her on a lead. It's an instinct. You can try to focus her on the bunnies.. but keep in mind, the cars are bigger and moving much faster than the bunnies.. so they're going to be much more fun to herd. Movement is what is going to catch her eye.

If my dog ever showed interest in chasing cars, she would never be allowed off leash unless she was in a fenced in area. You just don't want to risk it.
 
I don't have a fenced yard either ( not allowed where we are) so Hanna is never outside without us and these days that means on leash even though a typical day here would have less than 5 cars coming down our cul-de-sac ( some days we get no-one at all). We're at the very end so by the time they get here they are going pretty slowly - I'm more worried about her getting stolen than run over. She does get out alone on the deck ( about 35 X12 feet, so pretty big) because we can contain her there. My suggestion is that she never be allowed to run free in your yard unless it's fenced. I'm not a fan of using tie outs either - she's still small enough to need to be under constant supervision, so that means indoor when you are. It wouldn't take long for someone to steal her or for another dog or animal to attack her while tied up. :no:
 
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Jess041 said:
If my dog ever showed interest in chasing cars, she would never be allowed off leash unless she was in a fenced in area. You just don't want to risk it.
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Even then, I would try to limit her access to this type of behavior. As a puppy the more often she does it the more rewarding it will become. I would try to put an end to it before it becomes a habit. Keep her on a long line and when she starts, call her to you, run away, grab an entire turkey, whatever it takes to get her attention. Once you have it, REWARD and PARTY.
 
Ditto what the others said. She should not be off lead until highly trained. She's a puppy with little to no recall, let alone some or a lot of specialized off-lead training.

I don't even walk from my gated deck to the car 10 feet away without being on lead. Never know if there could be prey or a predator or our neighbor zipping down the road.

Any possibility of making a potty pen? A small fenced area she can play in? Maybe a large x-pen staked well to the ground or no-climb and T-posts?

I like fences. We have one around our deck, one around the dog potty area which is inside a goat/train area, which is inside a 100 ft fire clearing/top pasture, which is inside our whole acreage fence.

Remember -- she is also still little enough to be taken by a hawk or vulture! Tie-outs are meals on a rope! Much better to use a long line and supervise. Plus you observe what goes in and what goes out of her and that is safer and better on potty training.
 
Casey does this too. My first sheltie also ran cars when on-leash. Fortunately he eventually outgrew it, but nearly dislocated my body a few times. I don't recall Randy doing that too much but he did the sheltie twist at the gate whenever loud cars went by, and chased cars from the back yard.
 
This is the first time she has actually LEFT the yard.. SO I had no idea this was coming. I hate to put her on the chain, because she doesn't have near enough room to play, and it gets all tangled out. Whenever she is not on her chain I am out there with her. I just try hard not to follow her because then she thinks its a game and REALLY runs!
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You would do well to heed what the others are saying and be sure your Shay is on a leash AT ALL TIMES when outside. She is a baby and will do what baby's do, they test momma to the extreme limits and push to boundaries just like your human children to see just what they can get away with. They are baby's and do not yet understand the consequences of their actions and depend on you to keep them safe. Letting Shay stay off leash and tend to her own devices is just asking for trouble. A prime example is a very dear friend of mine let her baby's have the freedom to run when she first came home from work and let them out to go to the mail box with her, her smallest baby went after the car, the driver did not see him and he crossed the Bridge before she could get him to the vet.
 
My sheltie angels never cared about cars, and neither does Koko. But Fillion wanted to chase cars starting at 4 months old. Walking him on lead near cars is a constant battle, but he's getting better. I think taking him for bike rides is helping. He is never allowed off lead anywhere that he can see a car!
 
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