Kester Found the Potted Plants

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Diana Mccly

Forums Regular
Well I sat down at the table this morning with my coffee and cereal. Hadn’t taken a sip of the coffee yet when *whack, whack, whack* something starts hitting my pant leg. I look down... oh good lord is that dirt?! Turn around to find Kester digging in my potted plants. He was pretty proud of himself too. :lol:

also, fun new behavior... he started chasing cars through our back yard fence (well the cars are on a road that’s elevated so he can see them). It’s pretty funny to watch, but (possibly a dumb question) I am a little worried it’s going to make him anxious or frustrated. Anyone have a pup that chases cars in an enclosed yard? Herding breeds are new for me, our spaniels would have been more concerned with the squirrels.:confused2:
 
Diana Mccly said:
Anyone have a pup that chases cars in an enclosed yard?
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Not in an enclosed yard, but yes.... We did really, really well with Brodie and cars and people and socializing, until Covid came and we were locked down. Then a new neighbor moved into our small community of homes and he liked to drive up the hill in front of our house gunning his car. I asked nicely, I stood in the road one day to get him to stop and again him asked to slow down, and finally yelled at him one day - he's hockey buds with my husband who finally got our point across. In the meantime, in a VERY short period of time, this guy 'taught' Brodie to chase loud engines and red cars.

Obedience comes in here, and LOTS of time, consistancy, treats. You want to teach the 'look' command where pupper makes eye contact with you. You hold a treat up to your face, treat when he makes eye contact. We have a confirmation word "YES!' with whatever command repeated. Another command to work on is 'LEAVE IT!!!!' - uber, uber important one. We used toys, an opened can of cat food in spots, on a leash walked around, 'LEAVE IT!' and then the 'YES! Leave it!' confirmation with a treat if it was obeyed - a soft correction with the leash if not. On walks, we constantly practice 'LEAVE IT' and 'LOOK'. Walks require alot of attention on your pupper because your goal is to grab his attention before he sees something he will react to, you watch head, tail, body lanquage.

Once we got those, we taught 'WATCH'. Where 'LOOK' is eye contact with me, 'WATCH' is hey, you can look but walk, sit or stand calmly with me. That one took a really long time. We continue our practice now with the one school bus that comes around. I know what time, so I can be outside with him and we can practice 'WATCH' with the big, noisy yellow thing.

With all these commands, you also want a good, solid recall command - we use 'HERE' in a VERY strong voice, we are not asking, we are giving a command. This is practiced all the time, because even when strong, it only takes 1 slip up to have an issue.

Puppy classes and at least beginner obedience classes go a long way. Some here might have videos that might be online that you could refer to if not available.
 
Sandy in CT said:
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Thank you for such an in depth response. We have a trainer we’re working with and you’ve made me feel so much better about the process as we are using “yes” as a verbal marker, focus (look at me) though I could work with him more on this and leave it which is basically stop what you are doing and look at me. My trainers husband was exposed to COVID last week when he stared this behavior so she hasn’t been available as they’ve quarantined until he gets his results. I’ll text her and see if maybe he should go out on a leash to discourage this, I’ll ask about watch too. He does great on his long line recall and we’ve built in sit and let us touch your collar, but it needs more practice as it goes out the window with the cars. We try and practice every day and I’ve moved to our cup-de-sac from the backyard to up the distraction factor, although today I think we’ll do it in the back yard and see how it goes with the cars. The fascinating thing is that it gets EXPONENTIALLY worse (on leash and in yard) if my son is present which my trainer thinks may be because Kester is protecting him. He has definitely given himself the job of guarding my 4 year old which is pretty sweet except for this particular element.
 
Definitely try and nip the car chasing in the bud. It could be fatal if he ever got out of your yard somehow. Lots of Shelties chase anything that moves - cars, bikes, people, critters. It can be a compulsive habit. I've been very fortunate none of mine have ever been interested in cars. Good luck and hopefully your trainer can help.
 
Diana Mccly said:
Well I sat down at the table this morning with my coffee and cereal. Hadn’t taken a sip of the coffee yet when *whack, whack, whack* something starts hitting my pant leg. I look down... oh good lord is that dirt?! Turn around to find Kester digging in my potted plants. He was pretty proud of himself too. :lol:

also, fun new behavior... he started chasing cars through our back yard fence (well the cars are on a road that’s elevated so he can see them). It’s pretty funny to watch, but (possibly a dumb question) I am a little worried it’s going to make him anxious or frustrated. Anyone have a pup that chases cars in an enclosed yard? Herding breeds are new for me, our spaniels would have been more concerned with the squirrels.:confused2:
Click to expand...
Diana Mccly said:
Well I sat down at the table this morning with my coffee and cereal. Hadn’t taken a sip of the coffee yet when *whack, whack, whack* something starts hitting my pant leg. I look down... oh good lord is that dirt?! Turn around to find Kester digging in my potted plants. He was pretty proud of himself too. :lol:

also, fun new behavior... he started chasing cars through our back yard fence (well the cars are on a road that’s elevated so he can see them). It’s pretty funny to watch, but (possibly a dumb question) I am a little worried it’s going to make him anxious or frustrated. Anyone have a pup that chases cars in an enclosed yard? Herding breeds are new for me, our spaniels would have been more concerned with the squirrels.:confused2:
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We live beside a road and as you can see have a raised patio. Cooper runs back and forth and barks only at motor cycles and really loud trucks! We figure it’s extra exercise! :). He has never done digging though.
 
Mine have never chased cars just people lol. And only in the yard fortunately!
I agree, nip that one fast. Piper, when he was a pup used to chase the birds and geese that'd fly over the house. He outgrew that.
 
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