Puppy and moving vehicles

[EdwardSiedlecki]

My pup is an 11 month old Lab.  She is learning real quick but on our daily walks when a car approaches she watches it and once is goes past us she want to run after it.  I am working on her sitting when the car approaches but once it is past us she wants to  chase it.  I guess it is due to her Prey instinct but this is all she tries to chase.  Any I on the right track or is there something else I should do?

Thank you

[Adrienne]

Hi there, 

Welcome to the forums!

From your description, it sounds like you are on the right track. You are training your dog to perform an alternate behavior to the chasing (a dog who sits can't chase a car!), only that you may need to tweak your technique up a notch to prevent this from happening. Here are a few ideas that come to mind based on your description. 

 

Increase Distance

For example, if your dog feels still compelled to chase despite asking for a sit, this is often a sign that your dog may still be a little too over threshold. Here is an important read on dog thresholds, so that we can take steps to keep our dogs under so they're better able to listen, thus, opening the lines for learning and communication:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

So next time, try to walk farther away from the road where the cars are passing.  The more you can stick to the roadside, the better (and the safer, of course!).Also, it may help for you to walk on the side that's closer to the cars so that you are between the cars and your dog. Your dog should be the closest to the roadside. This gives your dog a little extra distance from the cars while also allowing you to use your body to block a bit of view, making the car a bit less salient. Below is just an example of what I am talking about. Once a little more distant, you can then try to ask your dog to sit or engage in any alternate behavior to chasing when you see a car approaching.  

Add More Duration

When you ask your dog to sit, try not to give the treat right away. If your dog can't sit for too long, you will need to to teach your dog a sit-stay.  Here's how to train stays: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/stay/ Practice a lot at home in a quiet area, then in the yard, then on walks away from cars and try at a distance from cars only once your dog has learned this very fluently. 

So ask for the sit-stay,  wait that the car has almost passed by (at a distance you know your dog won't feel compelled to chase) and simultaneously toss the treat the opposite way so your dog will be too busy to go get the treat rather than care about chasing the car. Even better, rather than just tossing a treat, toss several treats so that your dog has to go on a fun treasure hunt. Rep after rep you may get what's known as a conditioned emotional response where your dog will look at you in anticipation for his treasure hunt rather than the car. 

Ask For More Dynamic Behaviors

A sit may be a too stationary behavior, which can be unfulfilling to a dog with high prey drive who is quivering in anticipation. A better choice may be doing something more dynamic such as several steps of attention heeling (dog heeling with his head up looking at you) or weaving through your legs or asking her to tug a toy if that's something she goes bonkers for. Make sure you reward all these activities with high-value treats.

Here how to train attention heeling:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/

Improvise a Hand-Held Kong

When you must reward your dog for engaging in an alternate behavior to the chasing, it may help to improvise a hand-held Kong so that she's kept busy trying to get the tasty treats from your closed hand. Basically, place an irresistible treat inside your hand and then close your hand in a fist and let your dog try to get to the treat. This may distract her long enough to ignore the car leaving.  If she is used to using Kongs at home, she'll learn rather quickly. A picture is worth 1000 words. 

Some further things that come to mind:

-At 11 months, she's in full doggy adolescence, so she may need some training to learn how to gain a little more impulse control. Here are some reads on doggy adolescence and impulse control:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/

And here is a general read about dogs prone to chasing stuff out of prey drive:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/chasing-things/

-And finally, of course, provide exercise, training and mental stimulation (brain games!) to keep her body and mind busy.  The more we satisfy these needs, the less she may become interested in chasing things as we provide some outlets for her instinctive behaviors. 

I hope this helps, 

Happy training!

Adrienne 

[EdwardSiedlecki]

I made a boo boo  she is 11 weeks old not 11 months old.  Miss Chloe says  thanks for the advice

[Adrienne]

Awww...here I was imagining a large Labrador pulling with all her force and acting as a nutty rebellious teenager!

Well, 11 weeks is good news as you can get her started on the right paw at an early age before things put roots and get out of hand. She might not be able yet to hold longer sit-stays or do too many steps of attention heeling, so you may have to stick to baby steps for now. A hand-held Kong may work best since we want to avoid tossing treats on the ground for now since she's at such a vulnerable age where she hasn't finished her vaccinations.

So since she's so young, please make sure with your vet that it's safe for her to go on walks on trails (or other areas frequented by dogs) as we have to watch for infectious diseases such as parvo. These guidelines may vary from one place and another, but most vets seem to agree on avoiding areas with high likelihood of unvaccinated dogs such as dog parks and grassy areas that dogs frequent and rather sticking to safer locations. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior recommends puppy socialization classes held with other similar aged puppies and vaccinated puppies.