Help-A sheltie who chases

K

KimDW

Cathlete
I have a sheltie who is 6 years old. She is part of the herding group of dogs and so part of her instinct is that she likes to chase. She's a house dog - never outside except to potty and for exercise. We have a fenced yard and when she's out there and a car goes by she'll run the length of the fence spin a couple times and then run back barking the whole time. She even barks and chases after the vaccum. How can I break her of this? I've tried having her on the leash and when a car comes by I'll firmly hold the leash and say stay. If she doesn't move or try to take off I tell her good girl. Should I just try to keep doing this? Any suggestions?
Kim

PS. I know it's bad but I always end up laughing when she's spinning in circles and running.
 
Okay, I spoil my dogs rotten, so I'll just ask it...why try to break her from it? If she's in a fenced area, with no chance of getting out and hurting herself or anyone else, I don't see the harm. Since she is indoors so much (which I COMPLETELY understand), when she gets out, she really wants to have some FUN!!! I'd just let her enjoy it, and you seem to enjoy watching her have such a good time!

Maybe when you're vacuuming, you could put her in a different room or outside. I don't have that problem since our dogs leave the room the minute they SEE the vacuum cleaner!

:) :)
 
She does it when she's outside the fence also. Even though she's always on a leash then I don't want her to get hit if she gets loose from me. Also, in the morning when I take her out to potty (still in the fence) I put her on the leash so I don't have to chase her all over the yard to get her back inside. So when she see's, or hears, a car coming she takes off and well... you know what happens when a dog gets to the end of her leash. I'm always thinking she hurts herself doing that.

If your asking why I take her out myself to potty when we have a fenced yard - if I just let her out by herself she won't leave the front porch. She just stands there and stares at the door wondering where I am.

Kim
 
I agree with TeTe. Herding dogs need lots of exercise, and with a fenced in yard you don't have to worry about her escaping. Why do you feel you need to break her of this? Also with the vacuum. Unless you are afraid you might somehow accidentally injure her with the thing, I don't see this as a problem. I have had dogs in the past that did that, and I just let them. The two I have now are afraid of anything that's loud and will run from it. In fact, I call my vacuum "the Big Noisy," as well as any other thing that makes a lot of noise and scares them.

On the other hand, if you do think it is necessary, you are on the right track with putting her on the leash and praising her when she stays. But the thing about training is that you have to be consistent. Just letting her run along the fence one time after numerous times of restraining her will reinforce that old behavior. So you are probably in for a long battle. Same with the vacuum. There it would be helpful to recruit someone else. One of you run the vacuum while the other restrains her and works with her until she gets it.

. . . or you could just call Cesar Millan and see if he will come help you out :)

MissL
 
LOL TeTe, I was thinking the same thing (about spoiling my dogs and letting them do things some wouldn't)! My dog follows me around everywhere I go and is always on my heels waiting for a command so she can please me - she is a typical doberman. It gets my nerves sometimes, especially when I am cleaning and trying to fix dinner, but I know that it is built into her; it is just who she is. Plus, I do benefit from it! Who doesn't want someone completely adoring them, making them the center of their universe? Plus, when we run, she likes to RUN!, so I always go on the country roads and let her loose - she is sooooo happy to have free reign and go FAST. I know I shouldn't take her off of her leash but: she doesn't chase other animals (birds, squirrels, cats, etc), she stays close to me, there are no cars, no people, no trouble, and it wears her out!

Kim, I don't think it is bad that you laugh, I probably would too!!! :7 Pets are so much fun and they are so cute sometimes. If it really does bother you, I would just keep doing what you have been doing to try to train her. Consistency and reward are key when training. :) Good luck!

Missy
 
>If your asking why I take her out myself to potty when we have
>a fenced yard - if I just let her out by herself she won't
>leave the front porch. She just stands there and stares at
>the door wondering where I am.


awwwww! Lucy does that, too! :D

Missy
 
Why not do both? It sounds like your worry is that when she's on the leash or in the yard in the morning doing her business, is that she stay or come to you. Instead of trying to break her of a behavior she obviously enjoys, why not train her to come to you before all else. This will take practice and patience. But you can practice in the yard easily enough. What you want to do is make coming to you more exciting and more rewarding than chasing the car. What is her favorite thing? Does she like to play tug? Does she like a certain food more than anything else? Decide what her favorite thing is, then use it only to reward her when she comes to you. Be consistent. Make sure you have it every time. My Aussie love tug more than anything. I use that as his special reward. My American Eskimo will stop in her tracks for a piece of turkey. I use that for her. Of course, now that it's so totally enforced in them, I don't have to use the reward every time, but I still do occasionally. Keep 'em guessing. They never know if THIS might be the time they get the reward.

Think about it - if you can train her to come to you whenever and where ever you call, then the rest is easy.
 
Kim,

The people in the cubicles around me must think I'm insane; you have made me laugh out loud with that 'standing at the door staring" part. One of our dogs, Gilda, is so weird, three days after it rains, she STILL won't go outside without being on her leash! Now, I've seen this dog walk right into mud puddles and stay outside FOREVER before "doing her business" IF she's on a leash. I swear she looks at us like we're insane to expect her to go out in the back yard. But, if little psycho thinks that the ground is the least bit damp, she won't step one paw out if she's not on a leash.

Come to think of it, we're not sure what breed she is (we found "wild girl" at a boat landing when we were on a canoe trip, bless her heart), but we think she might be part border collie or sheltie. We think there might be some pit in there, too, so if she is sheltie/pit, we could shorten her breed to a Sh_t!!!!

Our crazy little babies, what would we do if they were "normal?"
 
One weird thing with the vaccum. It doesn't even have to be running. I can go to the closet where I keep it and all I have to do is reach for it and she'll bark like she's going to rip it to pieces. But if my husband is home when I am vaccuming she doesn't chase or bark at it she just goes and stands by him. It's almost like a playfull bark sometimes. It's high pitched and short and then she'll get in that play stance with her head down and butt stuck up in the air - tail waggin. If I firmly tell her no she'll sometimes stop.

Re: the outside chasing. I think I will work on the come here command first. She loves to play fetch - but she won't ever give it back. Maybe if I have a treat ready it'll be easier. Thanks guys for the tips and thoughts.

Kim
 
The dog trainer at the Petsmart had a good idea for helping me teach my dog to fetch:

Take a tennis ball and cut a slit in it - but not too big. Put in some little dog treats. Let the dog sniff the tennis ball and take out a treat and give it to her. She will learn that the treats come from the ball.

After she 'gets it', you can start tossing the ball a short distance from you. She should pick it up. If she does, take out a treat and give it to her.

As she catches on, you can toss the ball further and further away. Hopefully she will bring the ball back to you, because she's learned that's how she gets the treats.

Good Luck!

Susan L.G.
 
Hopefully this worked. Here are a couple of pictures of her.

gracie.jpg


gracie2b.jpg
 
What a gorgeous dog! Thanks for sharing.

By the way - I cannot fault you for laughing when you pup runs and does silly things. My Aussie is a smiler and whenever he's in deep trouble he'll walk kind of like a crab and grin away. It's the funniest thing and I have to laugh at him. He knows it (he's smarter than I am) so he uses this whenever I give him "that" look.
 
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