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I often hear things stated as facts that really aren’t. I’m sure you do as well. In this case, the statements are about things like prey drive in dogs. Things like: “You can’t teach a dog not to chase wildlife.” Or, “You can’t teach a dog not to chase wildlife without the use of punishment/corrections.” (usually referring to shock collars.) Or, “Once a dog has a taste for blood (has killed another animal) you can’t stop them, they will do it again.”
Does it take work to accomplish those things? Of course! Is it impossible? No! Dogs CAN be taught not to chase wildlife. Dogs can be kept under control despite having caught an animal previously. And it CAN be done without shock collars or other harsh punishments.
How do I know? I’ve done it. More than once. My Greyhound Jahzara passed away in 2012. She was an awesome dog, very well trained and very bonded with her Momma. Most Greyhound rescue groups ask that dogs adopted from them never be allowed off leash in unfenced areas. Some dogs, given the chance, will run. And run. But I did allow Jahzara off leash (once she was well trained, of course!) She hiked with me off leash. When we moved to Sedalia, she walked off leash on our property every day. She loved to chase bunnies. And sometimes I would let her. She just loved the chase and had no intent to kill. She could be in full pursuit of a bunny and I could call her off. She caught a bunny once and had it in her mouth. I told her to drop it, she did so immediately, and the bunny ran off.
Romeo loves to chase bunnies too. He’s actually had several bunnies in his mouth. most of them were baby bunnies, as he’s very good at finding their nests. I sometimes allow him to chase as well, but I have also called him off the chase. And he sometimes refrains from chasing without me saying a word. I have also asked him to drop bunnies that were already in his mouth, and he did.
These skills are not easy to attain, especially for dogs who really are hunters at heart. They take a lot of work. But they don’t require harsh punishments. I have never used a shock collar on my dogs and have no intention of ever using one. And I can and have trained my dogs to a high level of reliability. But I won’t use harsh punishments, because that, in my opinion, would be a failure on my part as a trainer. The reason punishment is “needed” is because we are either too lazy to put in the work or don’t have the right skills to do it. (But guess what, there are trainers out there with the right skills who can help you get there!)
So, before you accept something as “fact” about dogs in general or about your dog specifically and his/her ability to learn, reconsider whether you’ve been led to believe something that is not true.
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Allowing a dog to chase or to pick up native wildlife with its mouth is not harmless. The animal chased — and its mother if a juvenile — will experience a huge amount of stress, even if there’s no physical injury (and an animal that runs away is not necessarily ok). And it’s not necessarily safe for a dog to drop the animal anywhere — a junenile may not make it back to its mother, or a wild predator may take advantage of a more open location.
Dogs should be prevented from chasing any native wildlife in the first place, because any chasing at all can have negative ramifications.
I found a feral puppy whilst on holiday in Bulgaria and managed to have her looked after while i arranged for her to come to the UK. She was about 5/6 months old by the time she arrived to live with me (she is now 3yrs) and everything was so alien to her as she had never even been inside a house before, she was scared of absolutely everything and still is very nervous. I have enjoyed helping her to make a little sense of my world and we took everything at a snails pace and i managed to train her to a reasonable standard until recently when she has decided to chase deer, even killing a youngster. Teaching the recall has been difficult because she won’t take treats, she’s not really interested in food and doesn’t like toys or petting but i used a whistle and she would respond to that. But now the recall has just gone, she totally ignores me and the whistle. I have resorted to keeping her on an extending lead but she ‘needs’ to run. I want to see her exploring and having a good time and i hate to keep her tethered to me. I would love some help please.
Hi Janet, it is definitely more challenging when it’s hard to find rewards to offer. Think about what this dog does enjoy and then figure out how to use that to reward your dog. For example, if my dog loves sniffing and exploring, I find ways to use that as a reward. I will give you an example with our own Vizsla. When he was younger, he loved to chase bunnies and loved to smell and explore. I did a ton of work on a long line before allowing him off leash. When there was something he wanted to investigate or chase after, he learned to come back and check in with me before he got to head off to sniff/explore/chase. He learned that I controlled access to the really good stuff! Now he gets lots of chances to explore and be off leash because he will always check in with me when I call him. For example, the other day he was trying to flush a bunny out of a wood pile. I called him to me, he came and checked in and I rewarded him by giving him permission to go back to what he was doing (only because the bunny was safely hidden in the midst of the wood pile!) It takes more work when there is no food or toy we can offer quickly, but it can still be done! Takes time and patience and limiting the dogs freedoms until they respond better to us. Good luck!
I have a lab/Dalmatian mix that’s just over a year old. We have 10 acres of unfenced land and some neighbors here and there (close enough to hear loud noises from their/our property). Bexley (our dog), tends to chase animals and bark excessively, mainly at night and will run all over our property and others, which is the issue. We have black bear that have literally came up on our porch, and I’ve already lost a dog from getting too close (she was small, but mighty – a great dog), and I don’t want that to happen to Bexley. I’ve recently started using a small air horn to get her attention while she’s out barking (it’s the only thing loud enough for her to hear from afar and over her barking), which worked for the most part, within a few minutes she would come inside (should mention we have a doggy door and they come and go as they please), I reward her and close a baby gate (blocking the doggy door), and that’s it. Everything is good. But, a close neighbor has started using an air horn to scare off bears (we had a small one stealing trash bags out of our garage, yes, he opened the garage door – we lock it now), so that confuses her now when she hears it from their property. My husband gets so upset with me about her barking and wants me to put a shock collar on her, but I refuse (we had one for one of other dogs and training him with it broke my heart and since I’ve refused to use them). It’s not every night that she’ll run off chasing something and barking, and I know 95% of it is an animal – possum, raccoon, deer (she LOVES chasing those) and now bear (though she has been known to bark at grass if it smells weird, yes, seriously), it’s often enough to become an issue. And I think she chased the small bear up a tree the other night and it took 30 minutes for her to finally come when called. She’s not lonely, I’m home pretty much 24/7, we have two other dogs(small breeds), and cats. I take her out every evening and have her chase a laser light around till she’s panting a good bit (she loves that light), so she gets some exercise before night fall. I’m at a loss as to why she does and how to stop it, so I’ve started closing the baby gate at a certain time at night to prevent her from going out, and leashing her to go outside for potty breaks, but that also hinders my other dogs and cats from going out when they need to. It’s a solution, in a sense, but I’d feel better knowing she would stop immediately and come when called. So, please, any advice would be greatly appreciated. I know I wrote a lot (sorry), but I wanted to be as detailed as possible about the situation so that you understand everything better with her behavior. So, please, what can I do?
Hi Angel, first, I agree with you about NOT using a shock collar. That will not teach your dog what TO DO. However, allowing your dog to have free run before she is able to make better decisions is also not teaching her what TO DO. If you want to be successful, you need to back up a few steps. Limit her choices while you are helping her learn what you want her to do. Every chance she gets to chase wildlife is allowing her to reward herself with the thrill of the chase. While it’s more cumbersome for us in the short term having to manage that, and taking her out on leash for now, in the long run it could be the thing that saves the life of your dog. Back up, work on a better recall (Come) with her on a long line so it’s easier to make the right choice. Reward her heavily for coming immediately when called. Right now, you are giving a teenager the “car keys” to do whatever she wants and she’s not ready to make those decisions yet! I suggest getting a copy of my Juvenile Delinquent Dogs book and working through some of the things in there, including the Recall/Come. And find yourself a great trainer in your area (one who uses positive reinforcement or reward-based training – never shock collars) to help you work on your dog’s off leash reliability. Good luck!
My Pomeranian does not chase after anything… I would throw a ball and he would just watch the ball rolling on the floor… I took him out (to my friend’s farm) and there were a lot of chickens and bunnies walking around and he just did not care about them. Completely ignored them… He just looked at them and continued doing whatever he was doing (in this case was just walking beside me and glancing up at me).
Is there something wrong with him? I mean I personally don’t feel like there is anything wrong with him. He loves going out and about but just doesn’t care for other animals. He would only interact with small dogs (or puppies) and growl at big dogs (I make sure to correct him everytime he does that).
Some dogs have a higher prey drive or chase instinct than others. Most of us would be thrilled if our dogs had no desire to chase wildlife! It makes it harder to play if they don’t even want to chase a ball, but there are other ways to play and interact. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your dog!
I have a 7 1/2 yo golden x australian shepherd who is not well trained thanks to me ..1st dog. I have to do something major to prepare for life on an island where there are deer in abundace. Is it too late to teach her to come and stop always?
Hi Sharon, dogs are never “too old” to learn, but the longer they have had to develop bad habits, the more challenging it can be to change those (think about when we try to change our own bad habits!) The key will be preventing your dog from practicing unwanted behaviors any longer while you work to train the new behaviors you want. It will be well worth it if you can avoid problems in your new life on an island! Just keep in mind that it does take work, there are no quick fixes, despite what some people will try to tell you. Good luck!
I enjoyed reading your comments very much. I have a long haired German Shepherd who is 14 mos. old and was brought up off leash. He seems to be in the defiant stage right now when it comes to chasing deer. The command “come falls on deaf ears. I am extremely frustrated with him as he does all his commands very well. He is a “huge sniffer” even when he is with a pack of other dogs he will break out on his own to hunt the deer. I feel betrayed by him as he CLEARLY UNDERSTANDS but obviously I can’t seem to make it worth his while as he can take it or leave it in the many treats and toys I have tried.As of this morning, I am thinking of resorting to the shock collar before he gets shot, hit by a car or a fight with another wild animal. He has taken off now on 6 occasions, the last one was yesterday and the longest which was 1.5 hours.I live in Rochester, NY. Any suggestions on what could possibly make it worth while for him??? This is my 4th Shepherd and I have NEVER encountered this before.
Hi Kathy, sometimes we have to take a few steps backwards when dogs reach a certain point in their development. I have had to do that with both of my current dogs at certain stages. The problem right now is that your dog is being given the chance to reward himself in a bigger way than you can reward him. Romeo, my Vizsla, slipped up when he was around 1.5 years old or so too. He chased the deer and did not come when I called him. And everyone ran straight for the busy road. Fortunately, in my case, Romeo did respect our boundary training and did not pursue beyond our property – good boy! But he did not come when I called him. So he went back on his long line (that we’d worked on earlier) while we worked harder on better responsiveness. Once he earned his off leash privileges back, he never lost them again. He’s 8 years old now and has been reliable ever since. Don’t feel betrayed, listen to your dog. He is telling you through his actions that he is (because of his teenage brain) not capable of making the right choices at this time and he needs your help! Limit his options and re-work his Come with fewer choices so he can be successful! Good luck!
I wish you were closer. We adopted a German Shepherd possibly Husky/Wolf mix named Ranger. He is very loving toward us and our grandchildren, very talkative, very large, over 110 pds. When I say loving, he lays his head on my lap and is always aware of where I am in the house. But, he is extremely strong. When my husband (68) runs him on the tractor (small JD mowing tractor) to exercise him and they see a deer, Ranger goes nuts. He is always trying to chase the horse and anything else he sees. He is obedience trained. Both my parents were trainer/show people, even attack training for the local police department. I have put him through his paces and he does well. But if he gets loose, he runs. We do not have a fenced yard in the country, so he is always on a leash. We take him with all over the property whenever we are out working on something. We tie him up to a tree or we now have special hooks all throughout the place to just hang his retracting leash on so he can be with us.
Husband is getting up in age and he said it is getting too much. He would prefer getting rid of him. Luckily for me, when it comes to my animals, they stay with me till they pass. I have a lab that’s 21 years old and another young rescue that is 2. My dogs have all passed of old age.
I want to let him run and play, but I want him to come back. When he gets out which has happened a few times, I’ve clocked him at 22 miles per hour and only slows down when he gets tired, then he jumps into the truck. I worry that he may hurt other peoples animals so it is stressful. He likes other dogs, but he is so big that other dogs think he is being aggressive. I could use some help as he may have a good 15-18 years with me and I’m getting up there in age too.
It definitely takes work to reliably train a dog on a solid recall when they love to chase wildlife! But it can be done. Where are you located?
What did you do to train your dog to not chase when you didn’t want them to? Or to redirect their attention? I have a 9 month old Vizsla.
Hi Samantha. It definitely takes a commitment if you have a dog who loves to chase! I have had Greyhounds my entire adult life. Always been told Greyhounds should never be allowed off leash as they will run and not come back. I have trained all of mine so far for off leash reliability, but it takes work! My Vizsla is also off leash trained. His first serious test was when he was about 1.5-2 years old and had never seen a coyote up close. Took off after it before I saw it. Fortunately I had trained a rock solid recall (Come) and even though he was in full on pursuit, when I said “Romeo, come!” he turned on a dime and flew back to me! Teaching NOT to chase or to recall even if a chase has begun, takes a rock solid recall. But more than that, I work hard on a good Leave It or redirect cue (for me, that’s This Way!) which I use with my current Greyhound who loves to chase deer. When I say This Way, I turn and walk in the opposite direction and she goes w me. My dogs are all trained, when off leash, to keep track of me and periodically check in with me of their own accord, not just when I call them. I do give them some opportunities to chase which, contrary to what some people think, does NOT mean they will always chase and not listen. Quite the opposite is what I have found. Hope that helps!
What is the best exercise to strengthen the recall? We do “come” as well but it is his least responsive command. Especially outside. Thanks for your help!
There is no one best “exercise”, but it’s very important to take the right approach. In a nutshell, I find the two biggest problems boil down to (1) not setting a clear expectation and teaching it to your dog so they clearly understand what is expected (most people assume their dog “knows” it but that’s not what I see); and (2) making sure we make it worth their while to do it once they understand it. This is also where people tend to fall way too short. The value provided just isn’t worth the effort from the dog’s perspective. I make sure to provide lots and lots of high value for what I want! We cover building a solid recall in our online training course and our Juvenile Delinquent Dogs book. Too much detail to cover in quick reply!